2022 Penn State Nittany Lions football team explained

Year:2022
Team:Penn State Nittany Lions
Sport:football
Conference:Big Ten Conference
Division:East Division
Short Conf:Big Ten
Record:11–2
Conf Record:7–2
Coachrank:7
Aprank:7
Hc Year:9th
Oc Year:2nd
Dc Year:1st
Codc1 Year:2nd
Champion:Rose Bowl champion

The 2022 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by ninth-year head coach James Franklin.[1] The Nittany Lions entered the season unranked for the first time since 2016.[2] Prior to the season, the team recruited the former number one quarterback Drew Allar, and the number one running back Nicholas Singleton.[3]

The Nittany Lions sought to improve from their previous disappointing season, where after starting 5–0, went on to lose six out of their last eight games, culminating in a loss to Arkansas in the Outback Bowl. Despite losing impact players such as Jahan Dotson, Arnold Ebiketie, and Jaquan Brisker to the NFL Draft, the Nittany Lions rebounded going 10–2, only losing to top 4 ranked Michigan and Ohio State, securing them a place in the Rose Bowl, where they would beat Utah to win their first Rose Bowl since 1995,[4] ending the season 11–2.[5] This marked Coach James Franklin's third New Years Six win with the Nittany Lions, and his first Rose Bowl win.[6]

Offseason

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2022 NFL draft.

116Jahan DotsonWRWashington Commanders
238Arnold EbiketieOLBAtlanta Falcons
248Jaquan BriskerSChicago Bears
4120Brandon SmithLBCarolina Panthers
4130Jordan StoutPBaltimore Ravens
6221Tariq Castro-FieldsCBSan Francisco 49ers
7249Rasheed WalkerOTGreen Bay Packers
7256Jesse LuketaLBArizona Cardinals

Transfers

Outgoing

Tyler RudolphS
Enzo JenningsSUnknown
Des HolmesOLArizona State
Ta'Quan RobersonQBUConn
Norval BlackWRSaint Francis
Joseph Appiah DarkwaDLTemple
Justin WellerWRLong Island
Noah CainRBLSU
A.J. LyttonCBUnknown

Incoming

Hunter NourzadOL
Chop RobinsonDL
Mitchell TinsleyWR

Transfer References:[7]

Recruiting

See main article: 2022 college football recruiting class. Going into the 2022 season, the Nittany Lions have the #6 overall recruiting class in the country, and the #2 overall in the Big Ten.[8]

Recruiting Reference

Preseason

Preseason Big Ten poll

Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2022 poll, Penn State was projected to finish third in the East Division.[9]

Media poll (East Division)
1 Ohio State 252 (36)
2 Michigan 203
3 Penn State169
4 Michigan State 162
5 Maryland 104
6 Rutgers 60
7 Indiana 58

Personnel

Coaching staff

Penn State football current coaching staff[10]
Head CoachEast Stroudsburg University (1995) 9th
Defensive coordinator/linebackers Florida State (1995) 1st
Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach California University of Pennsylvania (1999) 2nd
Stacy CollinsSpecial teams coordinator/outside linebackers/Nickels Western Oregon University (1998) 1st
Assistant head coach/defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks Penn State University (1991) 9th
Tight ends coach Penn State University (2013) 3rd
Co-defensive coordinator/safeties University of Virginia (1999) 2nd
Run game coordinator/defensive line Western Carolina University (2000)3rd
Co-offensive coordinator/running backs West Virginia University (2000) 5th
Offensive recruiting coordinator/wide receivers Purdue University (2004) 3rd
Offensive line University of Florida (2007) 3rd
David Parker Graduate Assistant University of Arkansas (2015) 1st
Graduate Assistant Penn State University (2014) 2nd

Schedule

[11]

Game summaries

At Purdue

See also: 2022 Purdue Boilermakers football team.

To open the season, the Nittany Lions went on the road to West Layfette to play the Purdue Boilermakers. In recent years, Purdue has been known as "The Spoilermakers," defeating high ranked opponents including
  1. 2 Ohio State
,
  1. 2 Iowa
, and
  1. 3 Michigan State
, costing all of them potential spots in the College Football Playoff.[12] This game was also Purdue's "Blackout" game, similar to Penn State's "Whiteout" game, further increasing the hostility of the already tough environment.[13] Due to these factors sport analysts thought the game would be close, with most saying Penn State would win narrowly, while some thought Purdue would upset them narrowly.[14] [15] The Nittany Lions started the game slow, allowing only a field goal in the first quarter. Penn State was able to get on the board after quarterback Sean Clifford threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Tinsley early in the second. Purdue answered with a touchdown of their own, making the score 10–7. In the last minutes of the quarter, the Nittany Lions scored another touchdown via a 2-yard rush by Clifford, then recovered a fumble by Purdue allowing Clifford to throw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Brenton Strange before halftime, making the score 21–10 at the end of the first half.

Purdue received the ball at the beginning of the third quarter, scoring another touchdown via a 2-yard run from running back King Doerue. Upon receiving the ball, backup quarterback Drew Allar, the former number 1 rated quarterback of his high school class, made his debut for the Nittany Lions after Clifford experienced leg cramps as a result of a tackle made in the last minutes of the second quarter. Clifford was able to return to the game on the following drive.[16] Purdue was able to throw a 7-yard pass to Charlie Jones for a touchdown, giving Purdue a 24–21 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Nittany Lions quickly responded with a 29-yard touchdown pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, giving them a 28–24 lead. The Boilermakers were forced to punt, then Clifford threw an interception to Chris Jefferson, who returned it for a 72-yard defensive touchdown, giving Purdue a 31–28 lead. The Nittany Lions were given one final chance to win the game, having 2:22 left in the fourth, and 2 timeouts, Sean Clifford was able to march them down the field and throw a 10-yard touchdown to Keyvone Lee, ending the game at 35–31.[17] [18]

Despite throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown, Sean Clifford was named Big Ten co-offensive player of the week, after he completed 20-of-37 passes for 282 yards and a career-high-tying four touchdowns.[19]

Ohio

See also: 2022 Ohio Bobcats football team.

At Auburn

See also: 2022 Auburn Tigers football team.

Central Michigan

See also: 2022 Central Michigan Chippewas football team.

Northwestern

See also: 2022 Northwestern Wildcats football team.

At No. 5 Michigan

See also: 2022 Michigan Wolverines football team.

Minnesota

See also: 2022 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team.

No. 2 Ohio State

See also: 2022 Ohio State Buckeyes football team and Ohio State–Penn State football rivalry.

At Indiana

See also: 2022 Indiana Hoosiers football team.

Maryland

See also: 2022 Maryland Terrapins football team and Maryland–Penn State football rivalry.

At Rutgers

See also: 2022 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team.

Michigan State

See also: 2022 Michigan State Spartans football team and Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry.

Vs. No. 8 Utah (Rose Bowl)

See also: 2022 Utah Utes football team and 2023 Rose Bowl.

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2023 NFL draft.

2 32 CB Pittsburgh Steelers
2 61 TE Jacksonville Jaguars
2 62 C Houston Texans
3 87 S San Francisco 49ers
5 149 QB Green Bay Packers
6 185 WR Jacksonville Jaguars

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Football Schedule. FBSchedules.
  2. Web site: Penn State is unranked in AP Preseason Poll for first time since 2016. August 15, 2022. ABC27.com.
  3. Web site: AP Top 25 reactions: Clemson overrated, Penn State underrated in preseason college football rankings. August 15, 2022. cbssports.com.
  4. Web site: Rose Bowl Rewind: Penn State vs. Oregon - 1995. December 21, 2016. gopsusports.com.
  5. Web site: 2022 Football Schedule. January 2, 2023. gopsusports.com.
  6. Web site: James Franklin Overview. January 2, 2023. sports reference.com.
  7. Web site: 2022 College Football Transfer Portal . 2022-03-05 . 247Sports.
  8. Web site: Penn State 2022 Football Commits . 2022-03-06 . 247Sports . en-US.
  9. Web site: Ohio State football unanimously picked as Big Ten champion in 12th annual cleveland.com preseason poll. July 25, 2022. Cleveland.com.
  10. Web site: Football Coaching Staff . January 12, 2019 . GoPSUsports.com . Penn State Nittany Lions.
  11. Web site: 2022 Football Schedule.
  12. Web site: Sutelan . Edward . Spoilermakers? Purdue takes down Michigan State for another historic top-five win . SportingNews . November 10, 2021 . 7 September 2022.
  13. Web site: Kreiser . Nick . Purdue has planned a "Blackout" for their game against Penn State Football . VictoryBellRings . July 13, 2022 . Fansided.
  14. Web site: McGuire . Kevin . Penn State fans won't like ESPN's pick for biggest upset in Big Ten this season . NittanyLionsWire . August 27, 2022 . USA Today.
  15. Web site: Parks . James . Penn State vs. Purdue football prediction, preview . FanNation . Sports Illustrated.
  16. Web site: Andrews . Kyle . Penn State freshman QB Drew Allar makes his first appearance as a Nittany Lion. Centre Daily News.
  17. Web site: Sean Clifford's masterful drive propels Penn State past Purdue . New York Post. September 2, 2022 .
  18. Web site: ESPN Play-by-Play . ESPN.
  19. Web site: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska and Penn State Earn Weekly Football Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20220905150246/https://bigten.org/news/2022/9/5/iowa-maryland-michigan-state-nebraska-and-penn-state-earn-weekly-football-honors.aspx . dead . September 5, 2022 . BigTen. 7 September 2022.