Penn State 2011

Penn State 2010 Statistics

(Big Ten) The Nittany Lions play on a grass field at Beaver Stadium (107,282)

• Joe Paterno is in his 46th year as head coach at Penn State!
• Last year Joe Paterno became the first FBS coach to reach 400 wins. And Penn State did it in memorable fashion.  The game against Northwestern started off with a 21 point deficit for the Nittany
  

  Head Coach Joe Paterno (he's 84 & hilarious)

  Lions, but they came back from being down 21-0 to score 35 unanswered points and give their head coach his history-making victory.  They finished the year 7-6 with a pretty bad defeat against Florida in the Outback bowl in their final game.

• Uncertainty as to who is the starting quarterback.  Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin both impressed coaches for PSU during the season.  Both struggled with completion percentage and touchdown-interception ratios, meaning they were inaccurate and inconsistent.  However, both looked more comfortable in the offense during spring and both showed leadership. Experience and learning a new system, especially for Bolden who was a true freshman last year (the first true freshman to ever start at quarterback for Paterno).  No starter was named but  Joe Pa said, “As far as the quarterbacks, I think we’re in good shape.”
• Running Back Evan Royster departs as the school’s all-time leading rusher.  However, there is plenty of experience as everyone else returns. That includes Silas Redd who played as a true freshman last year.  In addition, Stephfon Green is a senior and this is his last chance to live up to the hype developed around him during his freshman year.  He has the speed, talent, leadership and dedication to make it happen. Now it’s just a question of everything falling into place.
• There was a significant amount of offensive linemen shuffling around last year in the spring and during the season as a result of  injury and lack of productivity. This year they return three starters so they have more experience and stability compared to last year.  This should help with the running game.
• A big part of the reason this team fell to 7-6 last year was because of defense.  What happened to the defense in 2010?  They lost four of their top five tacklers, all who went to the NFL. This didn’t impact the passing defense, which actually improved a smidgen from their previous level.  But their rushing defense did a nose dive.  They went from having a top 10 defense every year since 2004 to putting up a rather mediocre performance in 2011.  And their scoring defense, which in the end is what matters the most for this unit, almost doubled the amount of points they allowed.
• The good news for the defense this year is that they return 7 starters, including five of their top 6 tacklers. The defensive line has the responsibility for the rushing defense and after such a poor performance last year, the expectation is that they will fix whatever went wrong and work on their weaknesses. And while they technically lose two of their starters at linebacker, they are in a much better position compared to last year when they had to replace all three of their starting linebackers.  Plus, this is “Linebacker U” and there’s always plenty of talent at that position.