The 2019 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by sixth-year head coach James Franklin and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Penn State competed as a member of the Big Ten East Division of the Big Ten Conference.
Offseason
Staff changes On January 2, 2019, James Franklin announced that wide receivers coach David Corley was relieved of his duties. This came just one day after Penn State's 27–24 loss to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. On January 10, former Duke assistant coach Gerad Parker was announced as the team's new wide receivers coach. On February 15, 2019, it was announced that special teams coordinator and assistant defensive line coach Phil Galiano would be leaving Penn State to become an assistant special teams coach with the New Orleans Saints. On February 21, 2019, Penn State hired Joe Lorig, from Texas Tech, as special teams coordinator and defensive assistant.
Recruiting The Nittany Lions signed 19 recruits on early signing day in December 2018. Four recruits signed with Penn State on February 6, 2019, pushing their total commitments to 23.
2019 NFL draft
Miles Sanders Running back 2 53 Philadelphia Eagles Connor McGovern Offensive lineman 3 90 Dallas Cowboys Shareef Miller Defensive end 4 138 Philadelphia Eagles Amani Oruwariye Cornerback 5 146 Detroit Lions Trace McSorley Quarterback 6 197 Baltimore Ravens Nick Scott Safety 7 243 Los Angeles Rams Kyle Vasey Long snapper UFA Atlanta Falcons Kevin Givens Defensive tackle UFA San Francisco 49ers Ryan Bates Offensive lineman UFA Philadelphia Eagles DeAndre Thompkins Wide receiver UFA Philadelphia Eagles Koa Farmer Outside linebacker UFA Oakland Raiders Johnathan Thomas Running back UFA Cincinnati Bengals Chasz Wright Offensive tackle UFA
Transfers
The Nittany Lions added 2 players and lost 12 players due to transfer.
Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Transfer from Weston Carr WR 6'2 200 Senior Benicia, CA Azusa Pacific Jordan Stout K 6'2 197 Sophomore Honaker, VA Virginia Tech
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Transfer to Manny Bowen #43 OLB 6'2 231 Senior Barnegat, NJ Utah Torrence Brown #19 DE 6'3 257 Senior Tuscaloosa, AL Southern Miss Danny Dalton #80 TE 6'4 247 Junior Marshfield, MA Boston College Dae'lun Darien #41 OLB 6'4 223 Junior Baltimore, MD Delaware Alex Gellerstedt #51 OL 6'6 311 Junior Dublin, OH Virginia Isaiah Humphries #2 S 6'0 187 Freshman Rowlett, TX California Sterling Jenkins #76 OT 6'8 334 Senior Pittsburgh, PA Duquesne Juwan Johnson #84 WR 6'4 225 Senior Glassboro, NJ Oregon Zech McPhearson #14 CB 5'11 184 Junior Columbia, MD Texas Tech Jarvis Miller #9 OLB 6'2 223 Senior Suffield, CT UMass Ayron Monroe #23 S 5'11 206 Senior Largo, MD Temple Tommy Stevens #2 QB 6'5 230 Senior Indianapolis, IN Mississippi State
Returning starters
Offense (9) Player Class Position 2018 Career Steven Gonzalez Senior Guard 13 games 29 games Will Fries Junior Offensive tackle 11 games 20 games K. J. Hamler Sophomore Wide receiver 13 games 13 games Michal Menet Junior Center 12 games 12 games Pat Freiermuth Sophomore Tight end 9 games 9 games Jahan Dotson Sophomore Wide receiver 4 games 4 games Mac Hippenhammer Sophomore Wide receiver 1 game 1 game Mike Miranda Sophomore Guard 1 game 1 game Cam Sullivan-Brown Sophomore Wide receiver 1 game 1 gameReference:
Defense (11) Player Class Position 2018 Career John Reid Senior Cornerback 11 games 27 games Cam Brown Senior Linebacker 12 games 14 games Jan Johnson Senior Linebacker 13 games 13 games Robert Windsor Senior Defensive tackle 12 games 13 games Yetur Gross-Matos Junior Defensive end 13 games 13 games Garrett Taylor Senior Safety 12 game 12 games Tariq Castro-Fields Junior Cornerback 2 games 2 games Fred Hansard Sophomore Defensive tackle 1 game 1 game Micah Parsons Sophomore Linebacker 1 game 1 game Antonio Shelton Junior Defensive tackle 1 game 1 game Jonathan Sutherland Sophomore Safety 1 game 1 gameReference:
Special teams (2) Player Class Position 2018 Career Blake Gillikin Senior Punter 13 games 39 games Jake Pinegar Sophomore Kicker 13 games 13 gamesReference:
Preseason Big Ten poll Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Penn State was projected to finish in fourth in the East Division.
Schedule Spring game Date Time Spring Game Site Result Attendance April 13 3:00p.m. Blue vs. White Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA Blue 24–7 61,000
Regular season The team hosted three non-conference games against the Idaho Vandals (first ever meeting) from the Big Sky Conference, Buffalo Bulls from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the Pittsburgh Panthers from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
During the 2019 Nittany Lions season, Penn State went against Big Ten conference opponents Maryland, Purdue, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio State and Rutgers. The 2019 schedule consisted of 7 home games and 5 away.
Game summaries
Idaho
Buffalo
Pittsburgh
At Maryland
Purdue
At No. 17 Iowa
No. 16 Michigan
At Michigan State
At No. 13AP/17CFP Minnesota
No. 24AP Indiana
At No. 2AP/CFP Ohio State
Rutgers
vs. No. 15AP/17CFP Memphis (Cotton Bowl)
Rankings
Personnel
Coaching staff +Penn State football current coaching staffJames Franklin Head CoachEast Stroudsburg University (1995) 6thBrent Pry Defensive coordinator/linebackers University at Buffalo (1993) 6thRicky Rahne Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Cornell University (2002) 6thTim Banks Co-defensive coordinator/safeties Central Michigan University (1995) 4thTyler Bowen Off. Recruiting coordinator/tight endsUniversity of Maryland (2010)2ndMatt Limegrover Run Game Coordinator/offensive line University of Chicago (1991) 4thSean Spencer Associate head coach/Run Game Coord./defensive line Clarion University (1995)6thGerad Parker Wide receivers University of Kentucky (2003) 1stJa'Juan Seider Running backs West Virginia University (2000) 2ndTerry Smith Assistant head coach/defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks Penn State University (1991) 6thJoe LorigSpecial teams coordinator/defensive Assistant Western Oregon University (1995) 1stDwight Galt III Assistant AD, Performance Enhancement University of Maryland (1981) 6thV'Angelo Bentley Graduate Assistant University of Illinois (2015) 1stKevin Smith Graduate Assistant Urbana University (2014) 3rdKevin Reihner Graduate Assistant Stanford University (2015) 1stMark Dupuis Graduate Assistant University of Connecticut (2011) 3rd
Roster 2019 Penn State Nittany Lions football rosterQuarterback 7 Will Levis – freshman (6'3, 229) 9 Ta'Quan Roberson – freshman (5'11, 192) 13 Michael Johnson Jr. – freshman (6'2, 199) 14 Sean Clifford – sophomore (6'2, 216) 15 Michael Shuster – junior (6'2, 210) 19 Isaac Rumery – freshman (5'11, 203)
Running back 3 Ricky Slade – sophomore (5'9, 198) 4 Journey Brown – sophomore (5'11, 206) 21 Noah Cain – freshman (5'10, 206) 28 Devyn Ford – freshman (5'11, 194) 40 Nick Eury – junior (5'9, 212)
Wide receiver 1 K. J. Hamler – sophomore (5'9, 176) 5 Jahan Dotson – sophomore (5'11, 175) 6 Justin Shorter – freshman (6'4, 235) 8 John Dunmore – freshman (6'1, 179) 10 TJ Jones – freshman (6'1, 196) 11 Daniel George – freshman (6'2, 220) 12 Mac Hippenhammer – sophomore (5'11, 182) 23 Weston Carr – senior (6'2, 202) 29 Henry Fessler – freshman (5'10, 172) 44 Cameron Pica – sophomore (6'2, 215) 80 Justin Weller – sophomore (6'0, 190) 81 Cam Sullivan-Brown – sophomore (6'0, 194) 83 Alex Hoenstine – sophomore (6'1, 190) 84 Benjamin Wilson – junior (6'2, 204) 85 Isaac Lutz – junior (5'11, 193) 86 Alec Berger – sophomore (5'11, 175) 88 Dan Chisena – senior (6'3, 202) 89 Colton Maxwell – junior (6'0, 194)
Tight end 17 Grayson Kline – freshman (6'5, 239) 43 Trevor Baker – sophomore (6'3, 227) 82 Zack Kuntz – freshman (6'7, 243) 83 Nick Bowers – senior (6'4, 260) 86 Brenton Strange – freshman (6'3, 233) 87 Pat Freiermuth – sophomore (6'5, 256)
Placekicker 90 Rafael Checa – sophomore (6'2, 201) 92 Jake Pinegar – sophomore (6'2, 195) 95 Vlad Hilling – freshman (5'10, 226) 97 Sebastian Costantini – freshman (5'11, 195) 98 Jordan Stout – sophomore (6'3, 205) 99 Justin Tobin – junior (6'2, 208) Offensive lineman 50 Will Knutsson – freshman (6'2, 296) 53 Rasheed Walker – freshman (6'6, 324) 55 Anthony Whigan – junior (6'4, 301) 59 Kaleb Konigus – freshman (6'2, 302) 62 Michal Menet – junior (6'4, 313) 63 Collin De Boef – freshman (6'5, 258) 68 Hunter Kelly – junior (6'2, 309) 69 C.J. Thorpe – sophomore (6'3, 322) 70 Juice Scruggs – freshman (6'3, 285) 71 Will Fries – junior (6'6, 313) 72 Bryce Effner – freshman (6'5, 297) 73 Mike Miranda – sophomore (6'3, 295) 74 Steven Gonzalez – senior (6'4, 341) 75 Des Holmes – sophomore (6'5, 315) 77 Sal Wormley – freshman (6'3, 319) 79 Caedan Wallace – freshman (6'5, 333)
Defensive lineman 18 Shaka Toney – DE – junior (6'3, 243) 20 Adisa Isaac – DE – freshman (6'4, 241) 27 Aeneas Hawkins – DT – freshman (6'2, 272) 28 Odafe Oweh – DE – freshman (6'5, 255) 34 Shane Simmons – DE – junior (6'3, 259) 42 Ellison Jordan – DT – junior (6'0, 320) 44 Joseph Darkwa – DT – freshman (6'5, 272) 46 Nick Tarburton – DE – freshman (6'3, 263) 49 Daniel Joseph – DE – junior (6'3, 260) 51 Hakeem Beamon – DE – freshman (6'3, 259) 53 Fred Hansard – DT – sophomore (6'3, 316) 54 Robert Windsor – DT – senior (6'4, 285) 55 Antonio Shelton – DT – junior (6'2, 311) 58 Evan Presta – DT – sophomore (6'3, 288) 88 Judge Culpepper – DT – freshman (6'4, 284) 90 Damion Barber – DT – sophomore (6'3, 290) 91 Dvon Ellies – DT – freshman (6'1, 304) 92 Smith Vilbert – DE – freshman (6'6, 253) 93 P. J. Mustipher – DT – sophomore (6'4, 311) 98 Dan Vasey – DE – sophomore (6'4, 252) 99 Yetur Gross-Matos – DE – junior (6'5, 264)
Punter 49 Cade Pollard – freshman (5'11, 225) 93 Blake Gillikin – senior (6'2, 196) 97 Carson Landis – sophomore (6'2, 205) Linebacker 6 Cam Brown – senior (6'5, 233) 10 Lance Dixon – freshman (6'2, 213) 11 Micah Parsons – sophomore (6'3, 245) 12 Brandon Smith – freshman (6'3, 240) 13 Ellis Brooks – sophomore (6'1, 234) 36 Jan Johnson – senior (6'2, 231) 39 Robbie Dwyer – freshman (6'1, 235) 40 Jesse Luketa – sophomore (6'3, 247) 45 Charlie Katshir – freshman (6'3, 229) 50 Max Chizmar – sophomore (6'2, 230)
Defensive back 2 Keaton Ellis – CB – freshman (5'11, 190) 3 Donovan Johnson – CB – sophomore (5'9, 185) 5 Tariq Castro-Fields – CB – junior (6'0, 197) 7 Jaquan Brisker – S – junior (6'1, 210) 8 Marquis Wilson – CB – freshman (5'11, 173) 9 Joey Porter Jr. – CB – freshman (6'2, 180) 16 John Petrishen – S – senior (6'0, 211) 17 Garrett Taylor – S – senior (6'0, 198) 19 Trent Gordon – CB – freshman (5'11, 188) 21 Tyler Rudolph – S – freshman (6'0, 204) 24 DJ Brown – CB – sophomore (5'10, 183) 25 Daequan Hardy – CB – freshman (5'9, 170) 26 Jonathan Sutherland – S – sophomore (5'11, 201) 27 Cody Romano– S – freshman (6'2, 209) 29 John Reid – CB – senior (5'10, 181) 35 Justin Neff – S – sophomore (6'1, 195) 36 Makai Self – CB – freshman (5'9, 167) 37 Drew Hartlaub – S – sophomore (5'11, 183) 38 Lamont Wade – S – junior (5'9, 199) 48 C.J. Holmes – S – sophomore (6'0, 216)
Long snappers 91 Chris Stoll – sophomore (6'2, 245) 94 Joe Calcagno – sophomore (6'0, 279)
Source:
Players drafted into the NFL
2 38 Yetur Gross-Matos DE Carolina Panthers 2 46 K. J. Hamler WR Denver Broncos 4 141 John Reid CB Houston Texans 6 183 Cam Brown OLB New York Giants 6 193 Robert Windsor DT Indianapolis Colts
References