Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley (11th year) | ||
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. They were members of the Big Ten Conference. Team captains for the season were wide receiver Brett Brackett and defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu.
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The Nittany Lions finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in Big Ten play and were invited to the Outback Bowl where they were defeated by Florida 37–24.
Previous season
The 2009 Penn State Nittany Lions football team had the highest graduation rate among all of the teams on the Associated Press Top 25 poll with 89% of its 2002 enrollees graduating. Miami and Alabama tied for second place with a graduation rate of 75%. The Nittany Lions finished the season with an 11–2 record and won the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy award to the best team in the ECAC for the 28th time and the second consecutive year. The Nittany Lions completed the season on New Years Day with a 19–17 victory over the LSU Tigers in the Capital One Bowl.
In the 2010 NFL draft, six Nittany Lions (Jared Odrick, Sean Lee, Navorro Bowman, Andrew Quarless, Mickey Shuler, Jr., and Josh Hull) were drafted, tied with Iowa for most among Big Ten Conference schools. Penn State was also tied for fifth nationally for the highest number of 2010 draft picks.
Schedule
Penn State did not play with Wisconsin and Purdue in the 2010 Big Ten Football Season.
Coaching staff
Awards
On November 29, 2010, three Penn State players were selected to the 2010 All-Big Ten Team in voting by the conference coaches and media. Guard Stefen Wisniewski was again selected to the first team (by coaches) after his 2009 All-Big Ten first team selection. Ollie Ogbu and Evan Royster were second team selections by coaches.