List of Penn State Nittany Lions football seasons

Beaver Stadium, the home venue since 1960

This is a list of seasons completed by the Penn State Nittany Lions football team of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Since the team's creation in 1887, the Nittany Lions have participated in 1,320 officially sanctioned games, including 49 bowl games.

For most of its existence, Penn State competed as an independent. In 1993, Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference, where it has been a member ever since.

Seasons[]

National Champions	Conference Champions	Division Champions	Bowl game berth

Total			902	398	42	(all games)
Year	Coach(es)	Conference	Record^[1]^[2]			Bowl	Final AP Ranking
Year	Coach(es)	Conference	Wins	Losses	Ties	Bowl	Final AP Ranking
Penn State Nittany Lions
1887	NO COACH	Ind	2	0	0		N/A
1888		Ind	0	2	1		N/A
1889		Ind	2	2	0		N/A
1890		Ind	2	2	0		N/A
1891		PIFA	6	2	0		N/A
1892	George Hoskins	Ind	5	1	0		N/A
1893		Ind	4	1	0		N/A
1894		Ind	6	0	1		N/A
1895		Ind	2	2	3		N/A
1896	Samuel B. Newton	Ind	3	4	0		N/A
1897		Ind	3	6	0		N/A
1898		Ind	6	4	0		N/A
1899	Sam B. Boyle	Ind	4	6	1		N/A
1900	William N. "Pop" Golden	Ind	4	6	1		N/A
1901		Ind	5	3	0		N/A
1902		Ind	7	3	0		N/A
1903	Daniel A. "Dan" Reed	Ind	5	3	0		N/A
1904	Thomas F. "Tom" Fennell	Ind	6	4	0		N/A
1905		Ind	8	3	0		N/A
1906		Ind	8	1	1		N/A
1907		Ind	6	4	0		N/A
1908		Ind	5	5	0		N/A
1909	William M. "Bill" Hollenback	Ind	5	0	2		N/A
1910	Jack Hollenback	Ind	5	2	1		N/A
1911	William M. Hollenback	Ind	8	0	1		N/A
1912		Ind	8	0	0		N/A
1913		Ind	2	6	0		N/A
1914		Ind	5	3	1		N/A
1915	Richard C. "Dick" Harlow	Ind	7	2	0		N/A
1916		Ind	8	2	0		N/A
1917		Ind	5	4	0		N/A
1918	Hugo F. Bezdek	Ind	1	2	1		N/A
1919		Ind	7	1	0		N/A
1920		Ind	7	0	2		N/A
1921		Ind	8	0	2		N/A
1922		Ind	6	4	1	Lost Rose vs. USC, 3–14	N/A
1923		Ind	6	2	1		N/A
1924		Ind	6	3	1		N/A
1925		Ind	4	4	1		N/A
1926		Ind	5	4	0		N/A
1927		Ind	6	2	1		N/A
1928		Ind	3	5	1		N/A
1929		Ind	6	3	0		N/A
1930	Robert A. "Bob" Higgins	Ind	3	4	2		N/A
1931		Ind	2	8	0		N/A
1932		Ind	2	5	0		N/A
1933		Ind	3	3	1		N/A
1934		Ind	4	4	0		N/A
1935		Ind	4	4	0		N/A
1936		Ind	3	5	0		—
1937		Ind	5	3	0		—
1938		Ind	3	4	1		—
1939		Ind	5	1	2		—
1940		Ind	6	1	1		—
1941		Ind	7	2	0		—
1942		Ind	6	1	1		19
1943		Ind	5	3	1		—
1944		Ind	6	3	0		—
1945		Ind	5	3	0		—
1946		Ind	6	2	0		—
1947		Ind	9	0	1	Tied Cotton vs. SMU, 13–13	4
1948		Ind	7	1	1		18
1949	F. Joseph "Joe" Bedenk	Ind	5	4	0		—
1950	Charles A. "Rip" Engle	Ind	5	3	1		—
1951		Ind	5	4	0		—
1952		Ind	7	2	1		—
1953		Ind	6	3	0		—
1954		Ind	7	2	0		20
1955		Ind	5	4	0		—
1956		Ind	6	2	1		—
1957		Ind	6	3	0		—
1958		Ind	6	3	1		—
1959		Ind	9	2	0	Won Liberty vs. Alabama, 7–0	12
1960		Ind	7	3	0	Won Liberty vs. Oregon, 41–12	16
1961		Ind	8	3	0	Won Gator vs. Georgia Tech, 30–15	17
1962		Ind	9	2	0	Lost Gator vs. Florida 7–17	9
1963		Ind	7	3	0		—
1964		Ind	6	4	0		—
1965		Ind	5	5	0		—
1966	Joe Paterno	Ind	5	5	0		—
1967		Ind	8	2	1	Tied Gator vs. Florida State, 17–17	10
1968		Ind	11	0	0	Won Orange vs. Kansas, 15–14	2
1969		Ind	11	0	0	Won Orange vs. Missouri 10–3	2
1970		Ind	7	3	0		18
1971		Ind	11	1	0	Won Cotton vs. Texas, 30–6	5
1972		Ind	10	2	0	Lost Sugar vs. Oklahoma, 0–14	10
1973		Ind	12	0	0	Won Orange vs. LSU, 16–9	5
1974		Ind	10	2	0	Won Cotton vs. Baylor, 41–20	7
1975		Ind	9	3	0	Lost Sugar vs. Alabama, 6–13	10
1976		Ind	7	5	0	Lost Gator vs. Notre Dame, 9–20	—
1977		Ind	11	1	0	Won Fiesta vs. Arizona State, 42–30	5
1978		Ind	11	1	0	Lost Sugar vs. Alabama, 7–14	4
1979		Ind	8	4	0	Won Liberty vs. Tulane, 9–6	20
1980		Ind	10	2	0	Won Fiesta vs. Ohio State, 31–19	8
1981		Ind	10	2	0	Won Fiesta vs. USC, 26–10	3
1982		Ind	11	1	0	Won Sugar vs. Georgia, 27–23	1
1983		Ind	8	4	1	Won Aloha vs. Washington, 13–10	—
1984		Ind	6	5	0		—
1985		Ind	11	1	0	Lost Orange vs. Oklahoma 10–25	3
1986		Ind	12	0	0	Won Fiesta vs. Miami (FL), 14–10	1
1987		Ind	8	4	0	Lost Citrus vs. Clemson, 10–35	—
1988		Ind	5	6	0		—
1989		Ind	8	3	1	Won Holiday vs. BYU, 50–39	15
1990		Ind	9	3	0	Lost Blockbuster vs. Florida State, 17–24	11
1991		Ind	11	2	0	Won Fiesta vs. Tennessee, 42–17	3
1992		Ind	7	5	0	Lost Blockbuster vs. Stanford, 3–24	—
1993			10	2	0	Won Citrus vs. Tennessee, 31–13	8
1994			12	0	0	Won Rose vs. Oregon, 38–20	2
1995			9	3	0	Won Outback vs. Auburn, 43–14	13
1996			11	2	-^{[A 1]}	Won Fiesta Bowl vs. Texas, 38–15	7
1997		Big Ten	9	3	-	Lost Citrus vs. Florida, 6–21	16
1998			9	3	-	Won Outback vs. Kentucky, 26–14	17
1999			10	3	-	Won Alamo vs. Texas A&M, 24–0	11
2000			5	7	-		—
2001			5	6	-		—
2002		Big Ten	9	4	-	Lost Capital One vs. Auburn, 9–13	16
2003		Big Ten	3	9	-		—
2004		Big Ten	4	7	-		—
2005		Big Ten	11	1	-	Won Orange vs. Florida State, 26–23 ^{3 OT}	3
2006		Big Ten	9	4	-	Won Outback vs. Tennessee, 20–10	24
2007		Big Ten	9	4	-	Won Alamo vs. Texas A&M, 24–17	—
2008		Big Ten	11	2	-	Lost Rose vs. USC, 24–38	8
2009		Big Ten	11	2	-	Won Capital One vs. LSU, 19–17	9
2010		Big Ten	7	6	-	Lost Outback vs. Florida, 24–37	—
2011	Joe Paterno Tom Bradley (interim)^{[A 2]}	Big Ten (Leaders Division)	9	4	-	Lost TicketCity vs. Houston, 14–30	—
2012	Bill O' Brien	Big Ten	8	4	-	Ineligible	—
2013	Bill O' Brien	Big Ten	7	5	-	Ineligible	—
2014	James Franklin	Big Ten (East Division)	7	6	-	Won Pinstripe vs. Boston College, 31–30 ^OT	—
2015		Big Ten	7	6	-	Lost TaxSlayer vs. Georgia, 17–24	—
2016		Big Ten	11	3	-	Lost Rose vs. USC 49–52	7
2017		Big Ten	11	2	-	Won Fiesta vs. Washington 35–28	8
2018		Big Ten	9	4	-	Lost Citrus vs. Kentucky 24–27	17
2019		Big Ten	11	2	-	Won Cotton vs. Memphis 53–39	9
2020		Big Ten	4	5	-	Opted out^[7]	—

Notes[]

^ Overtime introduced for regular season in Division I-A in 1996, eliminating ties.^[3]
^ Joe Paterno was fired in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal on November 9, 2011, and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was named the interim head coach in his place.^[4]^[5]^[6]

References[]

^ Penn State Nittany Lions Index. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
^ Penn State Yearly Totals Archived 2010-02-16 at the Wayback Machine. College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
^ "Penn State fires Joe Paterno as head coach amid sex-abuse scandal". The Star-Ledger. November 9, 2011.
^ "Board of Trustees announces leadership changes at Penn State". Penn State Live. The Pennsylvania State University. November 9, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011.
^ "Trustees: Penn State president removed, Paterno out immediately". CNN. November 10, 2011.
^ "2020 Football Season Concludes". GoPSUsports.com. December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.

[4] Overtime introduced for regular season in Division I-A in 1996, eliminating ties.^[3]

[8] Joe Paterno was fired in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal on November 9, 2011, and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was named the interim head coach in his place.^[4]^[5]^[6]

[seasons-1] Penn State Nittany Lions Index. Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.

[warehouse-2] Penn State Yearly Totals Archived 2010-02-16 at the Wayback Machine. College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved October 18, 2011.

[3] Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Retrieved September 29, 2008.

[5] "Penn State fires Joe Paterno as head coach amid sex-abuse scandal". The Star-Ledger. November 9, 2011.

[6] "Board of Trustees announces leadership changes at Penn State". Penn State Live. The Pennsylvania State University. November 9, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011.

[7] "Trustees: Penn State president removed, Paterno out immediately". CNN. November 10, 2011.

[9] "2020 Football Season Concludes". GoPSUsports.com. December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[A 1]

[A 2]

[7]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse Temple West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game Penn State child sex abuse scandal 2016 Ohio State game Paterno White Out
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold

v t Big Ten Conference football team seasons
East Division	Indiana Hoosiers Maryland Terrapins Michigan Wolverines Michigan State Spartans Ohio State Buckeyes Penn State Nittany Lions Rutgers Scarlet Knights
West Division	Illinois Fighting Illini Iowa Hawkeyes Minnesota Golden Gophers Nebraska Cornhuskers Northwestern Wildcats Purdue Boilermakers Wisconsin Badgers