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2021 Penn State

7–⁠6 (4–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by James Franklin.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2021, game by game: won at No. 12 Wisconsin 16–10; won vs. Ball State 44–13; won vs. No. 22 Auburn 28–20; won vs. Villanova 38–17; won vs. Indiana 24–0; lost at No. 3 Iowa 20–23; lost vs. Illinois 18–20; lost at No. 5 Ohio State 24–33; won at Maryland 31–14; lost vs. No. 9 Michigan 17–21; won vs. Rutgers 28–0; lost at No. 12 Michigan State 27–30; lost vs. No. 22 Arkansas 10–24+31−14Won 16–10 at No. 12 Wisconsin+6No. 12 WisconsinWon 44–13 vs. Ball State+31Ball StateWon 28–20 vs. No. 22 Auburn+8No. 22 AuburnWon 38–17 vs. Villanova+21VillanovaWon 24–0 vs. Indiana+24IndianaLost 20–23 at No. 3 Iowa-3No. 3 IowaLost 18–20 vs. Illinois-2IllinoisLost 24–33 at No. 5 Ohio State-9No. 5 Ohio StateWon 31–14 at Maryland+17MarylandLost 17–21 vs. No. 9 Michigan-4No. 9 MichiganWon 28–0 vs. Rutgers+28RutgersLost 27–30 at No. 12 Michigan State-3No. 12 Michigan StateLost 10–24 vs. No. 22 Arkansas-14No. 22 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4at12WisconsinW 16–⁠1039%
Sep 11vsBall StateW 44–⁠1362%
Sep 18vs22AuburnW 28–⁠2063%
Sep 25vsVillanovaW 38–⁠1783%
Oct 2vsIndianaW 24–⁠070%
Oct 9at3IowaL 20–⁠2333%
Oct 23vsIllinoisL 18–⁠2086%
Oct 30at5Ohio StateL 24–⁠3326%
Nov 6atMarylandW 31–⁠1462%
Nov 13vs9MichiganL 17–⁠2155%
Nov 20vsRutgersW 28–⁠077%
Nov 27at12Michigan StateL 27–⁠3046%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs22ArkansasOutback BowlL 10–⁠2458%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arkansas 24–⁠10 in the Outback Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 73rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 10
  4. Wk 4: 6
  5. Wk 5: 4
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 20
  10. Wk 10: 22
  11. Wk 11: 23
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠5 tied for 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 4
Points
325–⁠225
Coach
James Franklin
Elo
1600 +22 this season
SP+ rating
14.3 No. 19 of 130; offense No. 72, defense No. 6
SRS
12.9 No. 11 of 130 in FBS
Returning
84% of last season’s EPA, No. 46 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 21 roster talent No. 16 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mike Yurcich
Defensive coordinators
Brent Pry and Anthony Poindexter
Offense
Spread

How good, play by play

  • Offense97th of 130
  • Defense12th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted79th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted10th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0741%1.2597th of 130
Defense0.0139%1.1212th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.12 off
0.03 def		42% off
38% def		—79th off
10th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.4own 2715% allowed
Defense2.6own 2616% caused

CORE rating 3.4, 61st of 130 (offense -8.3, defense -11.7).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsSean Clifford QB3,107 yds
Passing touchdownsSean Clifford QB21 TD
Rushing yardsKeyvone Lee RB530 yds
Rushing touchdownsNoah Cain RB4 TD
Receiving yardsJahan Dotson WR1,182 yds
Receiving touchdownsJahan Dotson WR12 TD
TacklesEllis Brooks LB100 tkl
SacksArnold Ebiketie DE9.5 sacks
InterceptionsJi’Ayir Brown S6 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Landon Tengwall OT★★★★No. 54
Lonnie White Jr. WR★★★★No. 170
Kalen King CB★★★★No. 222
Jaylen Reed S★★★★No. 281
Davon Townley Jr. DL★★★★No. 312
Zakee Wheatley S★★★★No. 350
Jamari Buddin LB★★★★No. 372

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.886
Receivers43.30.890
Offensive line33.00.880
Defensive line23.50.893
Linebackers23.50.891
Defensive backs43.80.899
Athletes and specialists13.00.834
Whole class173.40.887

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 1Jahan Dotson WRWashington Commanders
Rd 2Arnold Ebiketie DEAtlanta Falcons
Rd 2Jaquan Brisker SChicago Bears
Rd 4Brandon Smith ILBCarolina Panthers
Rd 4Jordan Stout PBaltimore Ravens
Rd 6Tariq Castro-Fields CBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Rasheed Walker OTGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Jesse Luketa OLBArizona Cardinals

Roster 109

The 2021 roster

109 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 6

The 2021 portal
Arnold Ebiketie DL★★★from Temple
A.J. Lytton S★★★from Florida State
Derrick Tangelo DT★★★from Duke
Eric Wilson OG★★★from Harvard
John Dixon CB★★★from South Carolina
John Lovett RB★★★from Baylor

Transfers out 14

Lance Dixon OLB★★★to Michigan
Will Levis QB★★★to Kentucky
Antonio Valentino DL★★★to Florida
Shane Simmons DL★★★to Marshall
C.J. Thorpe OL★★★no new school on file
John Dunmore WR★★★to Florida Atlantic
Trent Gordon CB★★★to Arkansas
Joseph Johnson III CB★★★to Snow College
Micah Bowens DUAL★★★to Oklahoma
Zack Kuntz TE★★★★to Old Dominion
Brandon Taylor DL★★★no new school on file
Judge Culpepper DL★★★to Toledo

And 2 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠112–⁠23
Ohio State8–⁠111–⁠26
Michigan State7–⁠211–⁠29
Iowa7–⁠210–⁠423
Wisconsin6–⁠39–⁠4
Minnesota6–⁠39–⁠4
Purdue6–⁠39–⁠4
Penn State4–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠55–⁠7
Maryland3–⁠67–⁠6
Rutgers2–⁠75–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠83–⁠9
Nebraska1–⁠83–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠92–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.