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2025 Penn State

7–⁠6 (3–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by James Franklin, then Terry Smith (interim, remainder of season).

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2025, game by game: won vs. Nevada 46–11; won vs. Florida International 34–0; won vs. Villanova 52–6; lost vs. No. 6 Oregon 24–30; lost at UCLA 37–42; lost vs. Northwestern 21–22; lost at Iowa 24–25; lost at No. 1 Ohio State 14–38; lost vs. No. 2 Indiana 24–27; won at Michigan State 28–10; won vs. Nebraska 37–10; won at Rutgers 40–36; won vs. Clemson 22–10+46−24Won 46–11 vs. Nevada+35NevadaWon 34–0 vs. Florida International+34Florida Interna…Won 52–6 vs. Villanova+46VillanovaLost 24–30 vs. No. 6 Oregon-6No. 6 OregonLost 37–42 at UCLA-5UCLALost 21–22 vs. Northwestern-1NorthwesternLost 24–25 at Iowa-1IowaLost 14–38 at No. 1 Ohio State-24No. 1 Ohio StateLost 24–27 vs. No. 2 Indiana-3No. 2 IndianaWon 28–10 at Michigan State+18Michigan StateWon 37–10 vs. Nebraska+27NebraskaWon 40–36 at Rutgers+4RutgersWon 22–10 vs. Clemson+12Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsNevadaW 46–⁠1190%
Sep 6vsFlorida InternationalW 34–⁠087%
Sep 13vsVillanovaW 52–⁠688%
Sep 27vs6OregonL 24–⁠3052%
Oct 4atUCLAL 37–⁠4279%
Oct 11vsNorthwesternL 21–⁠2278%
Oct 18atIowaL 24–⁠2544%
Nov 1at1Ohio StateL 14–⁠3818%
Nov 8vs2IndianaL 24–⁠2740%
Nov 15atMichigan StateW 28–⁠1072%
Nov 22vsNebraskaW 37–⁠1066%
Nov 29atRutgersW 40–⁠3663%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsClemsonPinstripe BowlW 22–⁠1054%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Clemson 22–⁠10 in the Pinstripe Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 12th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 38th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 2
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 7
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠6 tied for 12th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 2
Points
403–⁠267
Coach
James Franklin, then Terry Smith (interim, remainder of season)
Elo
1690 +3 this season
SP+ rating
18.1 No. 15 of 136; offense No. 17, defense No. 22, special teams No. 4
SRS
14.4 No. 15 of 136 in FBS
Returning
56% of last season’s EPA, No. 31 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 15 roster talent No. 10 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Andy Kotelnicki and Ty Howle
Defensive coordinators
Jim Knowles and Anthony Poindexter
Captains
Drew Allar, Nick Dawkins, Dominic DeLuca, Zane Durant and Tyler Duzansky
Offense
Pro spread
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense29th of 136
  • Defense44th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted23rd of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted40th of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1746%1.2129th of 136
Defense0.0542%1.1744th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.19 off
0.03 def		47% off
39% def		—23rd off
40th def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense47%7.0 yds11%3.2014%
Defense41%8.7 yds13%3.0016%
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. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.3own 3214% allowed
Defense3.3own 2716% caused

CORE rating 14.0, 26th of 136 (offense 8.5, defense -5.5).

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 yardsEthan Grunkemeyer QB1,339 yds
Passing touchdownsDrew Allar QB8 TD
Rushing yardsKaytron Allen RB1,303 yds
Rushing touchdownsKaytron Allen RB15 TD
Receiving yardsTrebor Pena WR552 yds
Receiving touchdownsDevonte Ross WR5 TD
TacklesAmare Campbell LB103 tkl
SacksDani Dennis-Sutton DE7.5 sacks
InterceptionsAlonzo Ford DT1 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Andrew Olesh TE★★★★No. 57
Malachi Goodman OT★★★★No. 56
Daryus Dixson CB★★★★No. 112
Jahmir Joseph CB★★★★No. 248
Chaz Coleman DE★★★★No. 293
Jabree Coleman RB★★★★No. 296
Matt Outten ATH★★★★No. 311
Yvan Kemajou DL★★★★No. 316

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

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.874
Running backs24.00.900
Receivers63.80.907
Offensive line43.50.906
Defensive line63.80.897
Linebackers34.00.901
Defensive backs53.40.898
Athletes and specialists23.00.847
Whole class293.70.897

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 2026

The 2026 draft
Rd 1Olaivavega Ioane OGBaltimore Ravens
Rd 3Drew Allar QBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Drew Shelton OTDallas Cowboys
Rd 4Dani Dennis-Sutton DEGreen Bay Packers
Rd 5Zakee Wheatley SCarolina Panthers
Rd 5Nicholas Singleton RBTennessee Titans
Rd 5Zane Durant DTBuffalo Bills
Rd 6Kaytron Allen RBWashington Commanders

Roster 127

The 2025 roster

127 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 8

The 2025 portal
Amare Campbell LB★★★★from North Carolina
Trebor Pena WR★★★★from Syracuse
King Mack S★★★from Alabama
T.J. Shanahan Jr. OL★★★from Texas A&M
Kyron Ware-Hudson WR★★★from USC
Devonte Ross WR★★★from Troy
Enai White DE★★★from Texas A&M
Owen Wafle DE★★★from Michigan

Transfers out 16

Harrison Wallace III WR★★★★to Ole Miss
Beau Pribula QB★★★★to Missouri
Smith Vilbert DE★★★★to North Carolina
Ta’Mere Robinson LB★★★to USC
J.B. Nelson OL★★★to Kansas State
Cam Miller CB★★★to Rutgers
Jon Mitchell CB★★★to Georgia Tech
Joseph Mupoyi DE★★★to North Carolina
Omari Evans WR★★★to Washington
Jerry Cross TE★★★to Memphis
Tyler Johnson WR★★★to East Carolina
Mehki Flowers S★★★★to Akron

And 4 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big Ten

2 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2025 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2025 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Indiana9–⁠016–⁠01
Ohio State9–⁠012–⁠25
Oregon8–⁠113–⁠24
Michigan7–⁠29–⁠421
USC7–⁠29–⁠420
Iowa6–⁠39–⁠417
Illinois5–⁠49–⁠4
Washington5–⁠49–⁠4
Minnesota5–⁠48–⁠5
Nebraska4–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern4–⁠57–⁠6
Penn State3–⁠67–⁠6
UCLA3–⁠63–⁠9
Rutgers2–⁠75–⁠7
Wisconsin2–⁠74–⁠8
Michigan State1–⁠84–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠84–⁠8
Purdue0–⁠92–⁠10

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