Penn State Record
(9-1 overall); (6-1 Big Ten): Last week beat Indiana 34-27
All-Time Record vs. Ohio State
14-19 (.412)
All-Time Vitals
Record: 896-392-42, No. 10 All-Time
National Championships: 2, No. 25 All-Time
Conference Championships: 4, No. 95 All-Time
Bowl Games: 49, No. 9 All-Time
Bowl Record: 29-16-2, No. 10 All-Time
Consensus All-Americans: 42, No. 11 All-Time
Heisman Winners: 1, No. 18 All-Time
NFL Draft Picks: 356, No. 8 All-Time
Best All-Time Season
1986 – Since Penn State has two national titles to their credit, that sounds like a good place to start. The Nittany Lions also won the whole thing in 1982, but there was one blemish on the record, a loss at No. 4 Alabama. That wasn’t the case in 1986. Penn State beat everyone on its schedule, including a 14-10 victory over a heavily favored Miami (FL) squad, in one of the all-time Fiesta Bowl thrillers.
That team was led by quarterback John Shaffer and running back D.J. Dozier on offense. On the way to history, the Nittany Lions knocked off No. 2 Alabama and Notre Dame both on the road, and finished the regular season with a 11-0 record before the epic showdown with No. 1 Miami.
Best Player Of All-Time
What a way to start off a game! #TBT to @saquon's opening kickoff return in the 2017 Ohio State vs. @PennStateFball game. pic.twitter.com/e6PcOZyxET
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) September 27, 2018
Saquon Barkley, RB, 2015-2017 – Yeah, maybe it’s a bold choice for those historical traditionalists, but Barkley came to Happy Valley out of the package ready to play. He had the size to jump right in and immediately made a splash. He rushed for over 1,000 yards as a freshman (194 against Ohio State) to set up the next couple of years.
His sophomore season, Barkley rushed for nearly 1,500 yards, then followed that up his senior season with just over 1,900 all-purpose yards. He was the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year and Running Back of the Year in both 2016 and 2017 and flirted with winning the Heisman Trophy his junior season, before getting lost in the mix when Penn State lost a couple of games.
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