50 Fun Facts About Penn State Football

Which conference did Penn State join in 1993 after a century as an independent?

The athletics program accepted the invitation in June 1990; football competition began three years later.

In which two seasons did Penn State win consensus national championships?

Both came under Joe Paterno; the 1986 title was sealed with a Fiesta Bowl upset of Miami in which linebacker Shane Conlan was defensive MVP.

Penn State's first recorded game, in 1881, was against which school?

Penn State won 9–0 in Lewisburg, nine goals to none in what was really American rugby. Bucknell denies the game ever happened.

Who was Penn State's first head football coach, starting in 1892?

His 17–4–4 record and .760 winning percentage still rank highest in program history; the team had played its first five seasons with no head coach at all.

What were Penn State's original school colors before blue and white?

A student referendum changed them in 1890. Legend says the originals faded in the sun to navy and near-white, though evidence for that is thin.

Penn State's mascot, adopted in 1907, is what kind of big cat?

It is named for the mountain overlooking campus, where eastern mountain lions roamed until the 1880s. An earlier mascot was Old Coaly, a mule that hauled stone for Old Main.

Student H. D. 'Joe' Mason invented the Nittany Lion in 1904 on a trip to which university?

Embarrassed that Penn State had no mascot, he made one up on the spot and declared it would easily beat the Princeton Bengal tiger.

Which coach was also Penn State's first athletics director and took the team to the 1922 Rose Bowl?

He coached 12 seasons with a 65–30–11 record and two undefeated years; the Rose Bowl trip ended in a loss.

From which school did Rip Engle arrive to coach Penn State in 1950?

He never had a losing season in 16 years, went 104–48–4 and invented a fitness game called Angleball for off-season conditioning.

What game did Rip Engle develop to keep his players fit in the off-season?

His 1959 and 1960 teams won the Liberty Bowl and his 1961 side won the Gator Bowl; he entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

How many seasons did Joe Paterno spend as Penn State's head coach?

Add 16 more as an assistant and his 62 years at one school are the most of any coach anywhere. He was promoted when Engle retired after 1965.

How many career wins did Joe Paterno finish with, the most in FBS history?

His final record was 409–136–3. The NCAA vacated 112 wins in 2012, dropping him to twelfth, then restored them in January 2015.

Joe Paterno is the only coach to have won which five bowls during his career?

He went 14–5 in those major bowls and made 37 bowl appearances overall, more than any other coach in college football.

Who became Penn State's interim head coach after Joe Paterno was fired in November 2011?

The defensive coordinator finished out the season. The board acted days after the grand jury summary on Jerry Sandusky was released.

Bill O'Brien came to Penn State in 2012 from which NFL job?

He went 8–4 and 7–5 under a postseason ban, then left in January 2014 to coach the Houston Texans.

How large a fine did the NCAA impose on Penn State football in July 2012?

The penalties also included a four-year bowl ban and 112 vacated wins; the ban was lifted in 2014 and the wins restored in 2015.

James Franklin was hired from which school in January 2014?

He became Penn State's first African American head football coach and won a bowl game in his first season.

Where was Penn State's 2014 Pinstripe Bowl win over Boston College played?

The NCAA lifted the postseason ban in Franklin's first year, and the Lions won in the Bronx on December 27.

Penn State's 2015 opener was a loss to which in-state team for the first time since 1941?

The Owls won 27–10. The Lions recovered to go 7–5 in the regular season before losing to Georgia in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

Whom did Penn State beat in the 2016 Big Ten Championship Game after trailing 28–14?

The Lions outscored the Badgers 24–3 in the second half in Indianapolis for the program's fourth conference title.

Penn State's 2016 White Out upset of No. 2 Ohio State earned its first AP ranking since which year?

The Lions came in at No. 24 after the win and finished the regular season 10–2, 8–1 in the Big Ten.

Penn State ended the 2017 season by beating which team 35–28 in the Fiesta Bowl?

Saquon Barkley's 92-yard touchdown run in that game was his last play as a Nittany Lion before he declared for the NFL draft.

Who did Penn State beat 53–39 in the Cotton Bowl to finish the 2019 season 11–2?

The Tigers were 12–1 American Athletic Conference champions; Penn State's only losses that year were to Minnesota and Ohio State.

Penn State's 2020 season began with how many straight losses, a first in program history?

It started with an overtime loss at Indiana on a two-point conversion by Michael Penix Jr. The team rallied to 4–5 and voted to skip a bowl.

In October 2021 Penn State lost an NCAA-record nine-overtime game 20–18 to whom?

The marathon came two weeks after a 23–20 loss at No. 3 Iowa; the Lions finished 7–6 with an Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas.

Penn State capped its 11–2 2022 season by beating which Pac-12 champion in the Rose Bowl?

It was the program's first Rose Bowl win since the 1994 team's trip to Pasadena.

As which seed did Penn State enter the first 12-team College Football Playoff in 2024?

After losing the Big Ten title game to Oregon, the Lions beat SMU at home and Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl before losing in the Orange Bowl semifinal.

Which team ended Penn State's 2024 Playoff run with a late interception in the Orange Bowl?

The pick in the final minute set up the winning score. Penn State had beaten SMU and Boise State to reach the semifinal.

James Franklin was fired in 2025 after a loss to which previously winless team?

It followed a defeat at winless UCLA the week before, both as 20-point favorites. He left with a 104–45 record at Penn State.

Which Iowa State head coach was hired by Penn State in December 2025?

Interim coach Terry Smith had finished the 2025 regular season at 6–6 after Franklin's dismissal.

Penn State and Michigan State play each year for which prize?

The series began when Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993 and is nearly even; the Lions led 19–18–1 as of 2024.

The Governor's Victory Bell commemorates Penn State's first Big Ten game against which school?

The governors of both states commissioned the trophy for that 1993 meeting; Penn State led the series 11–6.

Penn State's rivalry with Pittsburgh began in 1893 at the inaugural game of which venue?

Penn State won 32–0 at the new 500-seat ground. The schools have met 100 times, with Penn State ahead 53–43–4 through 2024.

In 2014 Maryland's captains refused to do what before beating Penn State 20–19?

It was the first meeting since both became Big Ten rivals. Penn State led the overall series 44–3–1 through 2024.

What term did Penn State trademark in 2015, nodding to its lack of a true Big Ten rival?

It appears on merchandise and social posts ending in #PSUnrivaled, and a weekly preview show carries the name.

The White Out tradition began with a 2004 student section against which opponent?

It has since spread to the whole stadium and other Penn State venues. Beano Cook compared doubting it to thinking the moon landing was faked.

What was the student camp-out renamed Nittanyville in 2012 originally called?

Students first pitched tents six days before the 2005 Ohio State game; the name changed in 2012 after the coaching change.

The 2005 upset of No. 6 Ohio State turned on a fumble by which future Heisman winner?

Tamba Hali forced it and Scott Paxson recovered; Penn State won 17–10 in front of nearly 110,000 and students rushed the field.

What song blasts through Beaver Stadium after a big play, setting off the 'We Are' chant?

The Zombie Nation track tradition started in 2004 and got national attention after the 2005 win over Ohio State.

Beaver Stadium is named after James A. Beaver, who held which office?

Beaver served 1887–91, was president of the university's board of trustees and came from nearby Millerstown.

What happened to Penn State's 30,000-seat 1909 stadium in the 1959–60 offseason?

It was reassembled at the east end of campus, bolted to a new upper grandstand and renamed Beaver Stadium, seating 46,284.

Before its 2025 renovation began, what was Beaver Stadium's official seating capacity?

It was trimmed from 107,282 in 2011 to comply with the ADA and stood as the second-largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1978 how were 16,000 seats added to Beaver Stadium?

New seating was slid in where the track had been, lifting capacity to 76,639. A visible color change marks the old steel stands from the newer concrete.

The 2001 south upper deck at Beaver Stadium controversially blocked the view of what?

The project raised capacity to 107,282, making it the nation's second-largest stadium behind Michigan's.

Who was the first Penn State player to win the Heisman Trophy?

In 1973 he ran for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns on an undefeated team and dedicated the award to his dying younger brother in a famous speech.

Which jersey number is the only one retired by any sport at Penn State?

The number was retired at halftime of the 2013 home opener, when the undefeated 1973 team was honored.

The 1977 TV movie about Penn State's 1973 Heisman winner and his brother was called what?

Based on Richard E. Peck's book, it starred Marc Singer as the running back. His brother died of leukemia in April 1976.

Which Penn State linebacker finished as the program's all-time leading tackler with 419?

He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers. Posluszny, his teammate, won the Butkus Award in 2005 and the Bednarik Award twice.

Which NFL team drafted Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons 11th overall in 2021?

He had opted out of the 2020 college season and was the first linebacker taken in that draft, extending the Linebacker U line.

How many career rushing touchdowns did Saquon Barkley score, a Penn State record?

He also set school marks for all-purpose yards (5,538) and finished fourth in the 2017 Heisman vote before the Giants took him second overall.