| Year: | 2019 |
| 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: | 9 |
| Aprank: | 9 |
| Hc Year: | 6th |
| Off Coach: |
|
| Dc Year: | 4th as DC; 6th overall |
| Codc1 Year: | 4th |
| Champion: | Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy Cotton Bowl Classic champion |
| Bowl Result: | W 53–39 vs. Memphis |
The 2019 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by sixth-year head coach James Franklin and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Penn State competed as a member of the Big Ten East Division of the Big Ten Conference.
On January 2, 2019, James Franklin announced that wide receivers coach David Corley was relieved of his duties. This came just one day after Penn State's 27–24 loss to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl.[1] On January 10, former Duke assistant coach Gerad Parker was announced as the team's new wide receivers coach.[2] On February 15, 2019, it was announced that special teams coordinator and assistant defensive line coach Phil Galiano would be leaving Penn State to become an assistant special teams coach with the New Orleans Saints.[3] On February 21, 2019, Penn State hired Joe Lorig, from Texas Tech, as special teams coordinator and defensive assistant.[4]
The Nittany Lions signed 19 recruits on early signing day in December 2018.[5] Four recruits signed with Penn State on February 6, 2019, pushing their total commitments to 23.[6]
See also: 2019 NFL draft.
The Nittany Lions added 2 players and lost 12 players due to transfer.
| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Transfer from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weston Carr | WR | 6'2 | 200 | Senior | Azusa Pacific[11] | ||
| K | 6'2 | 197 | Sophomore | Virginia Tech[12] |
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Transfer to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manny Bowen |
| OLB | 6'2 | 231 | Senior | Utah[13] | |
| Torrence Brown |
| DE | 6'3 | 257 | Senior | Southern Miss[14] | |
| Danny Dalton |
| TE | 6'4 | 247 | Junior | Boston College[15] | |
| Dae'lun Darien |
| OLB | 6'4 | 223 | Junior | Delaware[16] | |
| Alex Gellerstedt |
| OL | 6'6 | 311 | Junior | Virginia[17] | |
| Isaiah Humphries |
| S | 6'0 | 187 | Freshman | California[18] | |
| Sterling Jenkins |
| OT | 6'8 | 334 | Senior | Duquesne[19] | |
| WR | 6'4 | 225 | Senior | Oregon[20] | ||
| CB | 5'11 | 184 | Junior | Texas Tech[21] | ||
| Jarvis Miller |
| OLB | 6'2 | 223 | Senior | UMass[22] | |
| Ayron Monroe |
| S | 5'11 | 206 | Senior | Temple[23] | |
| QB | 6'5 | 230 | Senior | Mississippi State[24] | ||
| Player | Class | Position | 2018 | Career | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Gonzalez | Senior | Guard | 13 games | 29 games | |
| Will Fries | Junior | Offensive tackle | 11 games | 20 games | |
| K. J. Hamler | Sophomore | Wide receiver | 13 games | 13 games | |
| Michal Menet | Junior | Center | 12 games | 12 games | |
| Sophomore | Tight end | 9 games | 9 games | ||
| Jahan Dotson | Sophomore | Wide receiver | 4 games | 4 games | |
| Mac Hippenhammer | Sophomore | Wide receiver | 1 game | 1 game | |
| Mike Miranda | Sophomore | Guard | 1 game | 1 game | |
| Cam Sullivan-Brown | Sophomore | Wide receiver | 1 game | 1 game | |
| Reference:[25] [26] | |||||
| Player | Class | Position | 2018 | Career | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | Cornerback | 11 games | 27 games | ||
| Senior | Linebacker | 12 games | 14 games | ||
| Jan Johnson | Senior | Linebacker | 13 games | 13 games | |
| Senior | Defensive tackle | 12 games | 13 games | ||
| Junior | Defensive end | 13 games | 13 games | ||
| Garrett Taylor | Senior | Safety | 12 game | 12 games | |
| Tariq Castro-Fields | Junior | Cornerback | 2 games | 2 games | |
| Fred Hansard | Sophomore | Defensive tackle | 1 game | 1 game | |
| Micah Parsons | Sophomore | Linebacker | 1 game | 1 game | |
| Antonio Shelton | Junior | Defensive tackle | 1 game | 1 game | |
| Jonathan Sutherland | Sophomore | Safety | 1 game | 1 game | |
| Reference: | |||||
| Player | Class | Position | 2018 | Career | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blake Gillikin | Senior | Punter | 13 games | 39 games | |
| Jake Pinegar | Sophomore | Kicker | 13 games | 13 games | |
| Reference: | |||||
Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Penn State was projected to finish in fourth in the East Division.[27]
| Media poll (East Division) | |||
| 1 | Michigan | 222 (20) | |
| 2 | Ohio State | 214 (14) | |
| 3 | Michigan State | 156 | |
| 4 | Penn State | 154 | |
| 5 | Indiana | 86.5 | |
| 6 | Maryland | 82.5 | |
| 7 | Rutgers | 37 | |
The team hosted three non-conference games against the Idaho Vandals (first ever meeting) from the Big Sky Conference, Buffalo Bulls from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the Pittsburgh Panthers from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).[31] [32]
During the 2019 Nittany Lions season, Penn State went against Big Ten conference opponents Maryland, Purdue, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio State and Rutgers. The 2019 schedule consisted of 7 home games and 5 away.[33] [33] [34]
See also: 2019 Idaho Vandals football team.
See also: 2019 Buffalo Bulls football team.
See also: 2019 Pittsburgh Panthers football team and Penn State–Pittsburgh football rivalry.
See also: 2019 Maryland Terrapins football team and Maryland–Penn State football rivalry.
See also: 2019 Purdue Boilermakers football team.
See also: 2019 Iowa Hawkeyes football team.
See also: 2019 Michigan Wolverines football team.
See also: 2019 Michigan State Spartans football team and Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry.
See also: 2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team.
See also: 2019 Indiana Hoosiers football team.
See also: 2019 Ohio State Buckeyes football team and Ohio State–Penn State football rivalry.
See also: 2019 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team.
See also: 2019 Memphis Tigers football team and 2019 Cotton Bowl Classic.
| Head Coach | East Stroudsburg University (1995) | 6th | ||
| Defensive coordinator/linebackers | University at Buffalo (1993) | 6th | ||
| Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach | Cornell University (2002) | 6th | ||
| Co-defensive coordinator/safeties | Central Michigan University (1995) | 4th | ||
| Off. Recruiting coordinator/tight ends | University of Maryland (2010) | 2nd | ||
| Run Game Coordinator/offensive line | University of Chicago (1991) | 4th | ||
| Associate head coach/Run Game Coord./defensive line | Clarion University (1995) | 6th | ||
| Wide receivers | University of Kentucky (2003) | 1st | ||
| Running backs | West Virginia University (2000) | 2nd | ||
| Assistant head coach/defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks | Penn State University (1991) | 6th | ||
| Joe Lorig | Special teams coordinator/defensive Assistant | Western Oregon University (1995) | 1st | |
| Dwight Galt III | Assistant AD, Performance Enhancement | University of Maryland (1981) | 6th | |
| V'Angelo Bentley | Graduate Assistant | University of Illinois (2015) | 1st | |
| Kevin Smith | Graduate Assistant | Urbana University (2014) | 3rd | |
| Kevin Reihner | Graduate Assistant | Stanford University (2015) | 1st | |
| Mark Dupuis | Graduate Assistant | University of Connecticut (2011) | 3rd |
Source:[36]
See also: 2020 NFL draft.
| 2 | 38 | DE | Carolina Panthers | ||
| 2 | 46 | WR | Denver Broncos | ||
| 4 | 141 | CB | Houston Texans | ||
| 6 | 183 | OLB | New York Giants | ||
| 6 | 193 | DT | Indianapolis Colts |