FanBoardHQ

Penn State

Pennsylvania State University · 2025 · Big Ten

FanBoardHQ CFP
#39
Efficiency
+15.3
19th FBS
Record
7-6
Conf. record
3-6
Conf. finish
T-12th
of 18
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Penn State went 7-6 and was ranked 39th in the FanBoardHQ CFP Rankings (blended resume and efficiency). Their 18th-ranked offense was the engine, backed by a 31st-ranked defense. They ran the ball on 58% of offensive plays with a 41st-ranked rushing attack and passed the ball on the remaining 42% of plays with a 28th-ranked passing attack.

Quadrant record

By opponent strength, adjusted for where the game was played.

Q1
0-4
Q2
1-0
Q3
2-2
Q4
4-0

Projected wins

Per-game win probabilities combined across the full schedule.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Expected: 7.0 wins
Strength of Record
47th
-1.1 wins above a 25th-ranked team's expectation
Strength of Schedule
to date
32nd
full season
32nd
AP poll
Unranked
Conf. sched. difficulty
21st
a 25th-ranked team would win ~4.7 conference games on this schedule

The resume

Every game on the schedule. Click a row for the game breakdown (played) or the matchup projection (upcoming).

WkOpponentConfOpp rankResultExp. marginWin probGameScoreQuad
1vs NevadaMountain West#125W 4611+35.4100%19.9Q4
2vs FIUConference USA#89W 340+30.2100%11.3Q4
3vs VillanovaCoastal AthleticW 526+27.4100%22.4Q4
5vs OregonBig Ten#2L 2430-7.60%23.1Q1
6@ UCLABig Ten#97L 3742+16.90%-8.2Q3
7vs NorthwesternBig Ten#49L 2122+14.40%2.7Q3
8@ IowaBig Ten#16L 2425-4.00%17.2Q1
10@ Ohio StateBig Ten#4L 1438-16.20%0.2Q1
11vs IndianaBig Ten#1L 2427-13.60%25.8Q1
12@ Michigan StateBig Ten#86W 2810+12.6100%21.1Q3
13vs NebraskaBig Ten#52W 3710+15.0100%30.4Q4
14@ RutgersBig Ten#72W 4036+13.1100%9.4Q3
Postseason
vs ClemsonACC#53W 2210+7.4100%20.7Q2

13 played · 7-6. Expected margin and gamescore use the latest ratings — a completed game shows what the model would say now, not that week.

The season

The model’s read on Penn State, recomputed after every week. Toggle between overall, offensive, and defensive efficiency (each with a dot for that week’s game) or the FanBoardHQ CFP rank.

-5.1+11.1+27.320112223-831702621309Week 0Week 20
Line = the model's read each week; dots = that week's game (green above the line, red below).

Passing & rushing

Opponent-adjusted, FBS-only. The bar is the blended Eff rank — EPA/play (scoring value), success rate (staying on schedule), and yards/play (explosiveness), each standardized against the FBS field. The three ranks below each bar are those components, so you can see what's driving it.

Offense
PassingEff 28th
SR 23rdYPP 42ndEPA 23rd
RushingEff 41st
SR 40thYPP 55thEPA 38th
Defense
Pass defenseEff 23rd
SR 10thYPP 19thEPA 31st
Rush defenseEff 66th
SR 70thYPP 72ndEPA 62nd
Dropback rate 42%Tempo +0.8 snaps/game vs. averageFaced pass defenses ranked 54th on average
Success rate by down

Their offense vs. what their defense allows.

1st · Offense: 48%1st · Defense allowed: 43%1st2nd · Offense: 44%2nd · Defense allowed: 40%2nd3rd/4th · Offense: 48%3rd/4th · Defense allowed: 41%3rd/4th
OffenseDefense allowed
Points by quarter

Scored vs. allowed, all regular-season games.

Q1 · Scored: 69.0Q1 · Allowed: 51.0Q1Q2 · Scored: 98.0Q2 · Allowed: 69.0Q2Q3 · Scored: 67.0Q3 · Allowed: 52.0Q3Q4 · Scored: 132.0Q4 · Allowed: 90.0Q4
ScoredAllowed

What kind of team is this?

Every team by offensive and defensive efficiency (points/game vs. an average team, higher is better on both). Click a dot for that team.

elite bothdefense-ledrebuildingoffense-ledPenn StateOffenseDefense
Penn State Offense vs Defense, 2025
Offensive EffRanked 18th
+9.1
Field position: +3.0Finishing drives: +6.1
Field position +3.0Finishing drives +6.1= +9.1
Offensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 6th · Finishing 27th

Defensive EffRanked 31st
+5.8
Field position: +2.5Finishing drives: +3.3
Field position +2.5Finishing drives +3.3= +5.8
Defensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 6th · Finishing 41st

2.78 points per drive on offense, 1.88 allowed — starting, on average, at their own 34.

Play-calling & efficiency

What the offense did, by quarter and by down — raw, not opponent-adjusted.

By quarter
Quarter (att.)Pass / rushSuccessYd/play
Q1(170)35% / 65%51%6.3
Q2(217)53% / 47%41%4.8
Q3(188)46% / 54%48%5.4
Q4(213)40% / 60%47%6.8
how play-calling and results shifted through games — (n) = plays, season total
Passing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(140)10.049%7.2
2nd(108)8.144%6.1
3rd(84)7.039%6.3
4th(14)2.950%5.1
All (346)45%6.6
Rushing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(208)9.547%5.7
2nd(145)6.343%5.0
3rd(71)4.554%4.5
4th(18)1.767%3.4
All (442)48%5.2

Penn State, all games.