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Penn State Football Team History


Penn State Nittany Lions
The Pennsylvania State University
 University Park, PA
Founded: 1855
Stadium: Beaver Stadium
Capacity: 106,537
Colors: Blue & White
Coach: James Franklin
Conference: Big 10-

Team Home Summary  Coaches Games by Year Opponents Rankings Bowls Conference

Penn State 
Team Timeline
First Team: 1881  
  2011 - Paterno coached the first nine games of the season before he was fired on November 9. Tom Bradley was named interim head coach.
  2012 -  Ineligible for Big Ten title, bowl game and Coaches Poll.
  2013 -  Ineligible for Big Ten title, bowl game and Coaches Poll.
 
Championships
National Championships
1911, 1912, 1982, 1986
Conference Championships
  1891, 1994, 2005, 2008, 2016
Division Championships
  2016
 
Team Records
 Overall Record 941-411-42
 Winning Pct. 70%
 Vacated Wins 0
 Forfeit Games 0
 Adjusted Record 941-411-42
 Winning Pct. 70%
 National Championships 4
 Conference Titles 0
 Division Titles 0
 Conference Record 171-95-0
 All American Players 
 NFL Players (#2)
 Home Record 580-127-14
 Away Record 326-263-26
 
By The Numbers
 Seasons 138
 Winning Seasons (#1) 116
 Losing Seasons (#1)17
 Most Wins in A Season 12 (1994)
 Most Loses in A Season 9 (2003)
 10 Win Seasons 28
 Most Points Scored in a Game 99 (10/13/1917)
 Most Points Scored in a Season 564 (1994)
 Most Points Allowed in a Game 106 (11/11/1889)
 Most Points Allowed in a Season 356 (2016)
 Largest Margin of Victory 99 (10/13/1917)
 Largest Margin of Defeat 106 (11/11/1889)
 Most Points Both Teams in a Game 106 (11/11/1889)
 Last Shutout 9/21/2024
 Last Time Shutout 10/6/2001
 Shutouts All-Time 298
 Been Shutout All-Time 131
 
Streaks
 Longest Win 23 (9/21/1968-9/19/1970)
 Longest Losing  7 (10/10/1931-11/21/1931)
 
Bowl Records
 Overall Record 31-20-2
 Rose 2-3-0
 Cotton 3-0-1
 Orange 4-1-0
 Fiesta 7-0-0
 Sugar 1-3-0
 
By the Decade
 2020-29  43-18
 2010-19  88-42
 2000-09  77-46
 1990-99 97-26
 1980-89 89-28-2
 1970-79 96-22
 1960-69 77-27-1
 1950-59 62-28-4
 1940-49 62-20-5
 1930-39 34-41-6
 1920-29 57-27-10
Next Game
 12/21/2024 (Sat)  
vs. Southern Methodist in Playoff1 Bowl
Last Time: Penn State won 26-21 in 1978.
All-Time:
 Penn State vs. Southern Methodist 1-0-1 100.0% 
 
2024 Season
 Sat., Aug. 31  @ West Virginia  34-12 W
 Sat., Sep. 7  vs. Bowling Green  34-27 W
 Sat., Sep. 14  OPEN 
 Sat., Sep. 21  vs. Kent State  56-0 W
 Sat., Sep. 28  vs. Illinois  21-7 W
 Sat., Oct. 5  vs. UCLA  27-11 W
 Sat., Oct. 12  @ Southern California  33-30 W
 Sat., Oct. 19  OPEN 
 Sat., Oct. 26  @ Wisconsin  28-13 W
 Sat., Nov. 2  vs. Ohio State  13-20 L
 Sat., Nov. 9  vs. Washington  35-6 W
 Sat., Nov. 16  @ Purdue  49-10 W
 Sat., Nov. 23  @ Minnesota  26-25 W
 Sat., Nov. 30  vs. Maryland  44-7 W
 Sat., Dec. 7  vs. Oregon  37-45 L
 Sat., Dec. 21  vs. Southern Methodist  
 
2024 Season Totals
  Record11-2
  Scoring437-213
  Conference Record8-1
  Home Record6-1
  Away Record5-0
 
2024 Big 10  Standings
 Season   Conference 
Oregon 13-09-0
Indiana 11-18-1
Penn State 11-28-1
Ohio State 10-27-2
Illinois 9-36-3
Iowa 8-46-3
Michigan 7-55-4
Minnesota 7-55-4
Rutgers 7-54-5
Southern California 6-64-5
Washington 6-64-5
Michigan State 5-73-6
Nebraska 6-63-6
UCLA 5-73-6
Wisconsin 5-73-6
Maryland 5-72-7
Northwestern 3-91-8
Purdue 1-110-9
 
Longest Running Rivalry
 Penn State & Pittsburgh have played 100 games.
Penn State has won 53 games.
Pittsburgh has won 43 games.
with 4 tie games.
 
Record when scoring..... (since 2000)
 Scoring  Record 
 less than 10 0-24
 10 or more 208-82
 20 or more  192-37
 30 or more 142-9
 40 or more 69-1
 
Record when allowing..... (since 2000)
 Points Allowed  Record 
 less than 10 69-1
 10 or more 139-105
 20 or more 60-89
 30 or more 15-42
 40 or more 2-16
 
  
 
Some records may be incomplete.

NOTES:
(1) Winning and losing seasons counted only if team plays at least 8 games.
(2) NFL Players counted for any player that participated in a regular season game.

Great Moments in College Football History

Quarterbacks from Alabama won the first three Super Bowls. They also have more Super Bowl wins than quarterbacks from any other school (Kenny Stabler 1, Joe Namath 1 and Bart Starr 2).