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2022 Penn State

11–⁠2 (7–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by James Franklin, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2022, game by game: won at Purdue 35–31; won vs. Ohio 46–10; won at Auburn 41–12; won vs. Central Michigan 33–14; won vs. Northwestern 17–7; lost at No. 5 Michigan 17–41; won vs. Minnesota 45–17; lost vs. No. 2 Ohio State 31–44; won at Indiana 45–14; won vs. Maryland 30–0; won at Rutgers 55–10; won vs. Michigan State 35–16; won vs. No. 7 Utah 35–21+45−24Won 35–31 at Purdue+4PurdueWon 46–10 vs. Ohio+36OhioWon 41–12 at Auburn+29AuburnWon 33–14 vs. Central Michigan+19Central MichiganWon 17–7 vs. Northwestern+10NorthwesternLost 17–41 at No. 5 Michigan-24No. 5 MichiganWon 45–17 vs. Minnesota+28MinnesotaLost 31–44 vs. No. 2 Ohio State-13No. 2 Ohio StateWon 45–14 at Indiana+31IndianaWon 30–0 vs. Maryland+30MarylandWon 55–10 at Rutgers+45RutgersWon 35–16 vs. Michigan State+19Michigan StateWon 35–21 vs. No. 7 Utah+14No. 7 Utah
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atPurdueW 35–⁠3143%
Sep 10vsOhioW 46–⁠1076%
Sep 17atAuburnW 41–⁠1248%
Sep 24vsCentral MichiganW 33–⁠1474%
Oct 1vsNorthwesternW 17–⁠787%
Oct 15at5MichiganL 17–⁠4132%
Oct 22vsMinnesotaW 45–⁠1763%
Oct 29vs2Ohio StateL 31–⁠4440%
Nov 5atIndianaW 45–⁠1475%
Nov 12vsMarylandW 30–⁠070%
Nov 19atRutgersW 55–⁠1077%
Nov 26vsMichigan StateW 35–⁠1677%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs7UtahRose BowlW 35–⁠2147%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Utah 35–⁠21 in the Rose Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 22
  2. Wk 4: 14
  3. Wk 5: 11
  4. Wk 6: 10
  5. Wk 7: 10
  6. Wk 8: 16
  7. Wk 9: 13
  8. Wk 10: 16
  9. Wk 11: 14
  10. Wk 12: 11
  11. Wk 13: 11
  12. Wk 14: 8
  13. Wk 15: 9
  14. Final: 7
Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠2 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 7
Points
465–⁠237
Coach
James Franklin
Elo
1734 +167 this season
SP+ rating
22.4 No. 8 of 131; offense No. 28, defense No. 11, special teams No. 71
SRS
18.6 No. 6 of 131 in FBS
Returning
76% of last season’s EPA, No. 27 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 6 roster talent No. 15 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mike Yurcich
Defensive coordinators
Manny Diaz and Anthony Poindexter
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense44th of 131
  • Defense8th of 131
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted30th of 131
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted7th of 131
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1643%1.3844th of 131
Defense-0.0438%1.208th of 131
Opponent-adjusted0.17 off
-0.03 def		44% off
37% def		—30th off
7th 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
Offense4.6own 3012% allowed
Defense3.0own 2724% caused

CORE rating 15.6, 10th of 131 (offense 2.9, defense -12.8).

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 QB2,822 yds
Passing touchdownsSean Clifford QB24 TD
Rushing yardsNicholas Singleton RB1,052 yds
Rushing touchdownsNicholas Singleton RB12 TD
Receiving yardsParker Washington WR611 yds
Receiving touchdownsBrenton Strange TE5 TD
TacklesJi’Ayir Brown S68 tkl
SacksAbdul Carter DE6.5 sacks
InterceptionsJi’Ayir Brown S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2022 class

Dani Dennis-Sutton DL★★★★★No. 29
Nick Singleton RB★★★★★No. 31
Drew Allar QB★★★★★No. 32
Kaden Saunders WR★★★★No. 55
Drew Shelton OT★★★★No. 122
Kaytron Allen RB★★★★No. 155
Mehki Flowers ATH★★★★No. 182
Anthony Ivey WR★★★★No. 225

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

The 2022 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks24.00.936
Running backs24.50.962
Receivers53.60.912
Offensive line33.30.898
Defensive line44.00.917
Linebackers23.50.896
Defensive backs34.00.905
Athletes and specialists23.50.877
Whole class233.80.912

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 2023

The 2023 draft
Rd 2Joey Porter Jr. CBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 2Brenton Strange TEJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 2Juice Scruggs CHouston Texans
Rd 3Ji’Ayir Brown SSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5Sean Clifford QBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 6Parker Washington WRJacksonville Jaguars

Roster 121

The 2022 roster

121 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2022 line; 66 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 3

The 2022 portal
Hunter Nourzad OL★★★from Cornell
Mitchell Tinsley WR★★★from Western Kentucky
Chop Robinson DE★★★★from Maryland

Transfers out 15

Noah Cain RB★★★to LSU
A.J. Lytton CB★★★no new school on file
Ta’Quan Roberson QB★★★to UConn
Des Holmes OL★★★to Arizona State
Joseph Appiah Darkwa DL★★★to Temple
Tyler Rudolph S★★★to Massachusetts
Anthony Whigan OL★★★★to Akron
Cole Brevard DL★★★★to Purdue
Daniel George WR★★★★to Akron
Enzo Jennings S★★★★no new school on file
Ken Talley DE★★★★to Michigan State
Cam Sullivan-Brown WR★★★to Massachusetts

And 3 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2022 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2022 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan9–⁠013–⁠13
Ohio State8–⁠111–⁠24
Penn State7–⁠211–⁠27
Purdue6–⁠38–⁠6
Minnesota5–⁠49–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠48–⁠5
Illinois5–⁠48–⁠5
Maryland4–⁠58–⁠5
Wisconsin4–⁠57–⁠6
Michigan State3–⁠65–⁠7
Nebraska3–⁠64–⁠8
Indiana2–⁠74–⁠8
Rutgers1–⁠84–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠81–⁠11

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