The 2020 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by seventh-year head coach James Franklin.
On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 16, the Big Ten reinstated the football season, announcing an eight-game season beginning on October 24.
On November 21, after losing to Iowa, Penn State's record dropped to 0–5, the worst start in the program's history, dating to 1887. The team went on to win its final four games, finishing the regular season at 4–5. On December 19, the program announced that it was removing itself from consideration for a bowl game.
Offseason
Staff changes
2020 NFL draft +RoundPickPlayerTeam238Yetur Gross-MatosCarolina Panthers246K. J. HamlerDenver Broncos4141John ReidHouston Texans6183Cam BrownNew York Giants6193Robert WindsorIndianapolis ColtsUndraftedSteven GonzalezArizona CardinalsNick BowersLas Vegas RaidersGarrett TaylorBuffalo BillsJan JohnsonHouston TexansBlake GillikinNew Orleans SaintsDan ChisenaMinnesota Vikings
Recruiting The Nittany Lions signed 27 recruits during the 2020 signing cycle, securing the 15th ranked recruiting class in the country. This was Penn State's fourth consecutive top 15 recruiting class. 11 of the 27 signings in the 2020 class enrolled early.
Transfers
Returning starters +Offensive returning starters (8)PlayerYearPosition2019 Games StartedSean CliffordSeniorQB13Journey BrownSeniorRB13Rasheed WalkerJuniorOL13Mike MirandaSeniorOL8Michal Menet5th-SrOL13C.J. ThorpeSeniorOL5Will FriesGraduate studentOL13Pat FreiermuthJuniorTE13
Personnel
Coaching staff +Penn State football current coaching staffJames Franklin Head CoachEast Stroudsburg University (1995) 7thBrent Pry Defensive coordinator/linebackers University at Buffalo (1993) 7thKirk Ciarrocca Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Temple University (1990) 1stTim Banks Co-defensive coordinator/safeties Central Michigan University (1995) 5thTyler Bowen Co-offensive coordinator/offensive recruiting coordinator/tight endsUniversity of Maryland (2010)3rdPhil Trautwein Offensive line University of Florida (2007) 1stJohn Scott Defensive line Western Carolina University (2000)1stTaylor Stubblefield Wide receivers Purdue University (2004) 1stJa'Juan Seider Run Game Coordinator/running backs West Virginia University (2000) 3rdTerry Smith Assistant head coach/defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks Penn State University (1991) 7thJoe LorigSpecial teams coordinator/outside Linebacker Western Oregon University (1995) 2ndDwight Galt III Assistant AD, Performance Enhancement University of Maryland (1981) 7thV'Angelo Bentley Graduate Assistant University of Illinois (2015) 2ndJeff Carpenter Graduate Assistant Penn State University (2015) 1stDeion Barnes Graduate Assistant Penn State University (2014) 1stWendy Laurent Graduate Assistant Penn State University (2016) 1st Ty Howle Offensive assistant Penn State University (2013) 1st
Roster 2020 Penn State Nittany Lions football rosterQuarterback 2 Micah Bowens – freshman (5'11, 196) 7 Will Levis – sophomore (6'3, 222) 9 Ta'Quan Roberson – freshman (5'11, 195) 14 Sean Clifford – junior (6'2, 217) 17 Mason Stahl – freshman (6'0, 204)
Running back 4 Journey Brown – junior (5'11, 217) 21 Noah Cain – sophomore (5'10, 226) 24 Keyvone Lee – freshman (6'0, 230) 26 Caziah Holmes – freshman (5'11, 209) 28 Devyn Ford – sophomore (5'11, 205) 30 Joseph Bruno – freshman (6'0, 202) 38 Tank Smith – freshman (5'7, 227)
Wide receiver 3 Parker Washington – freshman (5'10, 205) 5 Jahan Dotson – junior (5'11, 182) 6 Cam Sullivan-Brown – junior (6'0, 191) 10 TJ Jones – freshman (6'1, 202) 11 Daniel George – sophomore (6'2, 210) 13 KeAndre Lambert-Smith – freshman (6'1, 185) 19 Jaden Dottin – freshman (6'2, 190) 29 Henry Fessler – sophomore (5'10, 182) 80 Malick Meiga – freshman (6'4, 198) 80 Justin Weller – junior (6'0, 194) 83 Johnny Crise – freshman (6'5, 201) 84 Benjamin Wilson – senior (6'2, 212) 85 Isaac Lutz – senior (5'11, 197) 88 Norval Black – junior (6'1, 178)
Tight end 43 Trevor Baker – junior (6'3, 246) 44 Tyler Warren – freshman (6'6, 244) 47 Tommy Friberg – freshman (6'3, 210) 82 Zack Kuntz – sophomore (6'7, 258) 84 Theo Johnson – freshman (6'6, 254) 86 Brenton Strange – freshman (6'3, 252) 87 Pat Freiermuth – junior (6'5, 258) 89 Grayson Kline – sophomore (6'5, 261)
Placekicker 90 Rafael Checa – sophomore (6'2, 203) 92 Jake Pinegar – junior (6'2, 192) 95 Vlad Hilling – sophomore (5'10, 213) 96 Anthony DaSilva – freshman (5'11, 157) Offensive lineman 50 Will Knutsson – sophomore (6'2, 319) 51 Jimmy Christ – freshman (6'7, 298) 52 Blake Zalar – freshman (6'1, 289) 53 Rasheed Walker – sophomore (6'6, 310) 54 George French II – freshman (6'8, 320) 55 Anthony Whigan – junior (6'4, 315) 57 Ibrahim Traore – freshman (6'5, 325) 59 Kaleb Konigus – sophomore (6'2, 291) 62 Michal Menet – senior (6'4, 306) 63 Collin De Boef – sophomore (6'5, 264) 66 Nick Dawkins – freshman (6'4, 310) 69 C.J. Thorpe – junior (6'3, 313) 70 Juice Scruggs – sophomore (6'3, 302) 71 Will Fries – senior (6'6, 306) 72 Bryce Effner – sophomore (6'5, 301) 73 Mike Miranda – junior (6'3, 301) 74 Olu Fashanu – freshman (6'6, 300) 75 Des Holmes – junior (6'5, 312) 76 Justin Kopko – freshman (6'3, 318) 77 Sal Wormley – freshman (6'3, 317) 78 Golden Israel-Achumba – freshman (6'4, 345) 79 Caedan Wallace – freshman (6'5, 313)
Defensive lineman 18 Shaka Toney – DE – senior (6'3, 252) 20 Adisa Isaac – DE – sophomore (6'4, 251) 27 Aeneas Hawkins – DT – sophomore (6'2, 288) 28 Odafe Oweh – DE – sophomore (6'5, 252) 33 Bryce Mostella – DE – freshman (6'6, 248) 34 Shane Simmons – DE – senior (6'3, 257) 42 Ellison Jordan – DT – junior (6'0, 320) 44 Joseph Darkwa – DT – freshman (6'5, 293) 46 Nick Tarburton – DE – sophomore (6'3, 252) 51 Hakeem Beamon – DE – freshman (6'3, 292) 53 Fred Hansard – DT – junior (6'3, 324) 54 Fatorma Mulbah – DT – freshman (6'3, 289) 55 Antonio Shelton – DT – senior (6'2, 327) 56 Amin Vanover – DT – freshman (6'4, 279) 77 Judge Culpepper – DT – sophomore (6'4, 295) 91 Dvon Ellies – DT – freshman (6'1, 296) 92 Smith Vilbert – DE – freshman (6'6, 251) 94 Jake Wilson – DE – freshman (6'3, 241) 95 Cole Brevard – DT – freshman (6'3, 312) 97 P. J. Mustipher – DT – junior (6'4, 300) 98 Dan Vasey – DE – junior (6'4, 251) 99 Coziah Izzard – DT – freshman (6'3, 290)
Punter 93 Levi Forrest – freshman(6'5, 184) 93 Bradley King – junior (6'2, 214) 97 Carson Landis – junior (6'2, 206) 98 Jordan Stout – junior (6'3, 208) Linebacker 10 Lance Dixon – freshman (6'2, 225) 12 Brandon Smith – sophomore (6'3, 244) 13 Ellis Brooks – junior (6'1, 233) 23 Curtis Jacobs – freshman (6'1, 226) 36 Zuriah Fisher – freshman (6'3, 244) 39 Robbie Dwyer – freshman(6'1, 247) 40 Jesse Luketa – junior (6'3, 242) 43 Tyler Elsdon – freshman (6'2, 230) 45 Charlie Katshir – sophomore (6'3, 231) 47 Alex Furmanek – freshman(6'2, 265) 50 Max Chizmar – junior (6'2, 229)
Defensive back 0 Jonathan Sutherland – S – junior (5'11, 202) 1 Jaquan Brisker – S – senior (6'1, 210) 2 Keaton Ellis – CB – sophomore (5'11, 186) 3 Donovan Johnson – CB – junior (5'9, 180) 5 Tariq Castro-Fields – CB – senior (6'0, 191) 8 Marquis Wilson – CB – sophomore (5'11, 181) 9 Joey Porter Jr. – CB – freshman (6'2, 193) 15 Enzo Jennings – S – freshman (6'1, 197) 16 Ji'Ayir Brown – S – junior (5'11, 209) 17 Joseph Johnson III – CB – freshman (6'2, 168) 19 Trent Gordon – S – sophomore (5'11, 199) 21 Tyler Rudolph – S – freshman (6'0, 203) 25 Daequan Hardy – CB – freshman (5'9, 180) 27 Jaden Seider – S – freshman (5'10, 174) 29 Sebastian Costantini – CB – freshman (5'11, 185) 32 Dylan Farronato – S – freshman (5'11, 187) 36 Makai Self – CB – freshman (5'9, 170) 37 Drew Hartlaub – S – junior (5'11, 177) 38 Lamont Wade – S – senior (5'9, 191) 48 Cody Romano – S – sophomore (6'2, 207)
Long snappers 49 Michael Wright – freshman (6'1, 197) 91 Chris Stoll – junior (6'2, 242)
Source:
Depth chart
Schedule Spring game Date Time Network Spring Game Site Result Attendance April 18 1:30pm FS1 Blue vs. White Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA Canceled
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Penn State, like other institutions, switched to distance-learning during the spring semester and canceled all sporting events.
Regular season The Nittany Lions are a member of the Big Ten East Division, and will play all of the division's other six members. Cross-divisional opponents include the Iowa Hawkeyes, Northwestern Wildcats, Nebraska Cornhuskers, and Illinois Fighting Illini.
Three out-of-conference opponents were originally scheduled: a road game at Virginia Tech, and home games versus Kent State and San Jose State. However, these non-conference games were canceled on July 9 as a result of ongoing concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic. In early August, the 9-game conference schedule increased to 10 games, adding cross-divisional opponent Illinois.
A week later, the season was promptly postponed. On August 11, in the wake of multiple Group of Five conferences deciding to do so, the council of the Big Ten voted 11–3 to postpone fall athletics for the 2020–21 season (with all but Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State voting in favor). Commissioner Kevin Warren cited negative trends and uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 as a factor in the decision. The conference stated that it would evaluate options, including possibly playing in spring 2021 instead. After the decision to postpone the season, the Big Ten formed a taskforce to investigate options for a return to play. President Donald Trump criticized the Big Ten's decision to postpone fall football, as part of his general criticism of U.S. colleges and universities that have not resumed on-campus activities. All other Power Five conferences besides the Pac-12 (which also postponed its season shortly after the Big Ten's decision) were still planning to play in the fall.
On September 14, it was reported that the Big Ten was considering the possibility of reversing its decision and playing a shortened conference football season as early as mid-to-late October. On September 16, the Big Ten approved an eight-game conference season that would begin October 24, and conclude on December 19 (with the top seeds in each division playing for the conference championship, and all other seeds playing similar cross-division matchups). The conference is instituting a daily antigen testing protocol beginning September 30; PCR tests will be used to confirm positives found via antigen testing. Players who test positive on both tests will be removed from play for at least 21 days and undergo cardiac tests during this period, and will have to be cleared by a cardiologist before they can return to play. Positivity rates among participating teams and the local population will also be a factor: teams with a positivity rate above 5% or a population positivity rate above 7% will be required to halt all activity for seven days.
Penn State and Rutgers were the only 2 Big Ten teams to compete in all 9 regular season games. Following their victory over Illinois on December 19, Penn State opted out of a college bowl game appearance.
Game summaries
At Indiana
No. 3 Ohio State
Maryland
At Nebraska
Iowa
At Michigan
At Rutgers
Michigan State
Illinois
Statistics
Scores by quarter (Big Ten opponents)
Rankings
Players drafted into the NFL
1 12 Micah Parsons LB Dallas Cowboys 1 31 Odafe Oweh DE Baltimore Ravens 2 55 Pat Freiermuth TE Pittsburgh Steelers7246Shaka ToneyDEWashington Football Team7247Michal MenetCArizona Cardinals7248Will FriesOGIndianapolis Colts
Undrafted players Lamont Wade S Pittsburgh Steelers Source:
References