The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 after playing as an Independent from 1892 to 1992.
Established in 1887, the Nittany Lions have achieved numerous on-field successes, including two consensus national championships in 1982 and 1986; four Big Ten Conference championships in 1994, 2005, 2008 and 2016; 13 undefeated seasons in 1887, 1894, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1920, 1921, 1947, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1986 and 1994; and 53 appearances in college bowl games, with an all-time post-season bowl record of 34-21-2. The team ranks seventh among NCAA Division I college football programs in all-time total wins.
The Nittany Lions play their home games at Beaver Stadium, located on campus in University Park, Pennsylvania.
History
Early history (1887–1949)
The first recorded game in Penn State football history occurred on November 12, 1881, when Penn State traveled to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, to play Bucknell, known until 1886 as the University at Lewisburg. Penn State won 9–0, which was nine goals to none. At the time, this was really a game of "American rugby". The father of American football, Walter Camp, did not develop the "scrimmage", the "first down" and the "gridiron" (yard markings) until 1882. Although this game was reported in two State College newspapers and the Mirror (University at Lewisburg campus newspaper), Bucknell denies that this game ever happened. Penn State did not field teams from 1882 through 1886. Penn State played its first season in 1887, but had no head coach for their first five years, from 1887 to 1891. The teams played its home games on the Old Main lawn on campus in State College, Pennsylvania. They compiled a 12–8–1 record in these seasons, playing as an independent from 1887 to 1890.
In 1891, the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Football Association (PIFA) was formed. It consisted of Bucknell University (then known as the University at Lewisburg), Dickinson College, Franklin & Marshall, Haverford College, Penn State and Swarthmore College. Lafayette and Lehigh were excluded because it was felt they would dominate the Association. Penn State won the championship with a 4–1–0 record. Bucknell's record was 3–1–1, losing to Franklin & Marshall and tying Dickinson. The Association was dissolved prior to the 1892 season.
George W. Hoskins was the first head football coach at Penn State. He posted a 17–4–4 record in his from 1892 to 1895 as head coach, and his .760 winning percentage ranks highest in program history. His first team played its home game on the Old Main lawn on campus in State College, Pennsylvania, before the 500-seat Beaver Field opened in 1893. He was succeeded by Samuel B. Newton, who posted a 12–14 (.462) record in three seasons, 1896–1898. Sam Boyle coached for only one year in 1899 and compiled a 4–6–1 record (.409). Pop Golden coached the Nittany Lions for three seasons from 1900 to 1902, tallying a record of 16–12–1 (.569). Daniel A. Reed took over for the 1903 season and went 5–3 (.625). Tom Fennell coached the Nittany Lions for five seasons from 1904 to 1908, posting a 33–17–1 (.657) record.
In 1907, the school adopted the Nittany Lion mascot, a mountain lion named after nearby Mount Nittany. An early mascot was "Old Coaly", a mule that hauled stone for the original Old Main (completed in 1863 and demolished in 1929). Bill Hollenback took over the Nittany Lions as head coach for the 1909 season and went undefeated at 5–0–2, but left for Missouri for 1910. Bill's older brother Jack Hollenback took over for the 1910 season and went 5–2–1 (.688), but Bill returned to Penn State from 1911 to 1914. Bill went 23–9–2 in his second tenure for a combined record of 28–9–4 (.732). In 1911 and 1912, his teams went 8–0–1 and 8–0, and were awarded retroactive national championships by the National Championship Foundation which are recognized by the NCAA. Head coach Dick Harlow brought a new form of defense, trying to go in-between or around offensive blockers rather than try to overpower them. Harlow's Nittany Lions compiled a 20–8 (.714) record in his three seasons (1915–1917) and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach for his accomplishments.
Hugo Bezdek was Penn State's head football coach for 12 seasons, and was the Nittany Lions' first athletics director. Bezdek posted a 65–30–11 record, which included two undefeated seasons and a berth in the 1922 Rose Bowl, a game they lost. Bezdek's Nittany Lions posted a losing record in only two of Bezdek's seasons, going 1–2–1 in 1918 and 3–5–1 in 1928. Bezdek retired after the 1929 season and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954. Bob Higgins returned to his alma mater and served as Penn State's head football coach for 19 seasons. He compiled a 91–57–11 overall record, which included 11 winning seasons and only five losing seasons. Higgins' 1947 team tied SMU in the Cotton Bowl. Higgins was forced to retire due to poor health following the 1948 season. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954. For one season, Joe Bedenk, also a Penn State alum, served as the Nittany Lions' head football coach. He was promoted from offensive line coach after the retirement of his predecessor. Bedenk posted a 5–4 record in his 1949, his lone season as head coach, before requesting to return to his previous post as offensive line coach.
Rip Engle era (1950–1965) Rip Engle came to Penn State from Brown. Engle posted a 104–48–4 record during his 16-season tenure as head coach and developed a game known as Angleball as a way for his players to maintain fitness in the off-season. Engle never had a losing season at Penn State, and his 5–5 final season was his only non-winning season. His 1959 and 1960 Nittany Lions teams won the Liberty Bowl, while his 1961 and 1962 teams reached the Gator Bowl, winning the first and losing the second. Engle retired following the 1965 season and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973.
Joe Paterno era (1966–2011)
Penn State assistant Joe Paterno was promoted to head coach following the retirement of Engle. Paterno spent 46 seasons as the head football coach, the longest tenure of any head coach in the FBS, and 16 more seasons as an assistant, making his 62 total years coaching at Penn State the most of any coach at any school. Under Paterno, Penn State played as an Independent from 1966 to 1992, and he continued to coach them when they joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993–2011. He also served as Penn State's athletic director from 1980 to 1982. His final record is 409–136–3. His teams won national championships in 1982 and 1986, posted non-losing records in all seasons but five, and appeared in 37 bowl games with 24 wins. His teams also won the Orange Bowl in 1968, 1969, 1973 and 2005; the Fiesta Bowl in 1977, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1996; the Sugar Bowl in 1982; and the Rose Bowl in 1994. In June 1990, Penn State's athletics program, after a century as a Division I-A independent, joined the Big Ten Conference. Beaver Stadium was expanded six times during Paterno's tenure. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and was a major reason why the longtime rule of waiting until retirement to be inducted into the Hall of Fame was changed to any coach over 75 years of age. Players including Kerry Collins, Charlie Zapiec, Matt Millen, Shane Conlan, Jack Ham, Dennis Onkotz, Franco Harris, Greg Buttle, Keith Dorney, John Cappelletti, Curt Warner, Larry Johnson, LaVar Arrington and Ted Kwalick played collegiately for him. He won numerous coaching and sportsman honors during his long run at Penn State.
Paterno has the most wins in FBS football (409).
Following the Pennsylvania Attorney General's release of a grand jury summary of child sexual abuse charges involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State board of trustees fired Paterno in November 2011. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley finished out the 2011 season as interim head coach after Paterno's ouster. In July 2012, the NCAA decided to vacate all of the team's wins from 1998 to 2011. Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium was also taken down. The revised record dropped Paterno from first to twelfth on the all-time wins list, but on January 16, 2015, the NCAA restored Paterno's vacated wins, and thus his record as the winningest FBS football coach. To many he is "The best Penn State head coach ever."
Bill O'Brien tenure (2012–2013) New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien was hired as the 15th head football coach at Penn State, taking over the Nittany Lions football program in January 2012. Early in O'Brien's tenure, the NCAA sanctioned Penn State with a four-season postseason ban and a loss of 40 scholarships due to the child sex abuse scandal. O'Brien posted an 8–4 record in his first season as head coach of the Nittany Lions.
O'Brien's 2013 Nittany Lions team posted a 7–5 record in the second of four years they were ineligible for the postseason. In January 2014, Bill O'Brien left Penn State to accept the head coaching position with the NFL's Houston Texans.
James Franklin era (2014–2025)
On January 11, 2014, Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin was hired as the 16th Penn State head football coach. He is the first African American head football coach at Penn State. In Franklin's first year, the NCAA lifted Penn State's postseason ban and the Nittany Lions were bowl eligible. The Nittany Lions were named to the Pinstripe Bowl where they won against Boston College on December 27, 2014, at Yankee Stadium.
To start off the 2015 season, Penn State lost to Temple 27–10, its first loss to the Owls since 1941. The loss was followed by victories against Buffalo, Rutgers, San Diego State, Army and Indiana. The Nittany Lions then lost to Ohio State 38–10 in Columbus before winning, 31–30, at Maryland. The victory against Maryland brought the Nittany Lions to six wins, making them bowl eligible for the second year since the postseason ban was lifted. Penn State then shut out the Illinois 39–0 in the second to last home game of the 2015 season. They then lost to Michigan in Happy Valley 28–16 and to Michigan State 55–16 at MSU. The win–loss record for Penn State in the 2015 regular season was 7–5, and 7–6 after a loss to Georgia in the Taxslayer Bowl in Jacksonville.