The 2016 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the

2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2016 and ended on D ...

. The team was led by third-year head coach James Franklin and played its home games in

Beaver Stadium Beaver Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium on the campus of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. It has been home to the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Big Ten Conference since 1960, though some parts of ...

University Park, Pennsylvania University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was ...

. They were a member of the Big Ten East Division of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. They lost to Pitt and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in early September but then had a winning streak that included signature victories over

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

en route to a Big Ten championship. Despite their Big Ten title, the Nittany Lions just missed a playoff berth. They represented the Big Ten in the

2017 Rose Bowl The 2017 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2017 at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. This 103rd Rose Bowl Game matched the Big Ten Conference champions Penn State Nittany Lions against the USC Trojans ...

, losing to USC on a game winning field goal.

Background

Previous season

During the previous season the Nittany Lions started the year with a 5–1 record and 2–0 in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

play. Then on October, 17 they lost to #1 ranked

. After which they won their next two games including a 39–0 rout over

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Following the rout the Nittany Lions finished the year 0–4 including losses to #6 Michigan State and #14 Michigan and a

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

loss to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

2016 NFL Draft

Schedule

Overview

Penn State announced its 2016 football schedule on July 11, 2013. The 2016 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Nittany Lions hosted Big Ten foes

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and

, and traveled to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, Purdue, and

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

. The team hosted two of the three non-conference games against the

Kent State Golden Flashes The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level with football competing in ...

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

(MAC),

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 1 ...

from the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(AAC). :Schedule Source:

Roster

Coaching staff

Rankings

Game summaries

Kent State

Pittsburgh

Temple

#4 Michigan

Minnesota

Maryland

#2 Ohio State

Purdue

Iowa

Indiana

Rutgers

Michigan State

#6 Wisconsin (Big Ten Championship Game)

#9 USC (Rose Bowl)

Awards and honors

Players

Coaches

References

{{Big Ten Conference football champions Penn State Penn State Nittany Lions football seasons Big Ten Conference football champion seasons Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy seasons

Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 af ...