Conference Big Ten Conference 2011 record 9–4 (6–2 Big Ten) | Division Leaders Division Offensive coordinator Galen Hall (8th year) | |
Head coach Joe Paterno
(46th year, games 1–9)
Tom Bradley
(interim, games 10–13) Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley (12th year)
Larry Johnson (interim)
Ron Vanderlinden (interim) | ||
The 2011 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno for the first nine games until he was fired in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, with defensive coordinator Tom Bradley taking over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The team played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, US. They are members of the Big Ten Conference in the newly formed Leaders Division. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in the Leaders Division to be co–division champions with Wisconsin. Due to the head-to-head loss to Wisconsin, they did not represent the division in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game. They were invited to the TicketCity Bowl where they lost to Houston 14–30.
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The team was ranked number one in academic achievement out of the top 25 ranked BCS teams.
Pre-season
The team captains for Penn State's 125th season of football were tackle Quinn Barham, wide receiver Derek Moye, safety Drew Astorino, and defensive tackle Devon Still.
Penn State began the season with an unsettled quarterback situation. Sophomore Rob Bolden and former walk-on junior Matt McGloin split starting duties in the 2010 season. Rob Bolden was named the starter for the season opener against Indiana State.
Schedule
Penn State did not play Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota in the 2011 Big Ten football season. The schedule was as follows:
Coaching staff
Awards
Penn State's football players were recognized for outstanding academic performance by the New America Foundation's Academic Bowl Championship Series. The team was ranked number one out of the top 25 ranked BCS teams. The criteria in the rankings include the graduation rate of the team as compared to the rest of university, the difference between the graduation rate of African-American players and the rest of the squad as well as the same statistics for the rest of the students at Penn State, and the graduation rate differences between African American players and students. This marked the second time that the football team at Penn State was ranked number one. Chris White was awarded the Ray Guy Award for the nations best Punter. The 2009 team earned the same honor.
Post-season
Seven players were invited to the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine, held February 22 to 28 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana: Jack Crawford, D'Anton Lynn, Derek Moye, Chaz Powell, Devon Still, Nate Stupar, Johnnie Troutman.