FanBoardHQ

Penn State

Pennsylvania State University · 2024 · Big Ten

FanBoardHQ CFP
#6
Efficiency
+22.5
4th FBS
Record
13-3
Conf. record
8-2
Conf. finish
T-2nd
of 18
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Penn State went 13-3 and was ranked 6th in the FanBoardHQ CFP Rankings (blended resume and efficiency). Their 4th-ranked defense carried them, with a 5th-ranked offense. They ran the ball on 54% of offensive plays with a 12th-ranked rushing attack and passed the ball on the remaining 46% of plays with a 6th-ranked passing attack.

Quadrant record

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

Q1
4-3
Q2
2-0
Q3
2-0
Q4
5-0

Projected wins

Per-game win probabilities combined across the full schedule.

0
1
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3
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9
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Expected: 13.0 wins
Strength of Record
6th
+3.3 wins above a 25th-ranked team's expectation
Strength of Schedule
to date
20th
full season
20th
CFP committee
#4
FanBoardHQ has them 2 spots lower
Conf. sched. difficulty
62nd
a 25th-ranked team would win ~5.9 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
1@ West VirginiaBig 12#68W 3412+20.5100%29.5Q3
2vs Bowling GreenMid-American#72W 3427+26.5100%2.8Q4
4vs Kent StateMid-American#134W 560+59.6100%6.5Q4
5vs IllinoisBig Ten#18W 217+17.2100%23.5Q2
6vs UCLABig Ten#58W 2711+23.7100%24.6Q4
7@ USCBig Ten#34W 3330+5.6100%17.9Q1
9@ WisconsinBig Ten#60W 2813+14.6100%24.5Q2
10vs Ohio StateBig Ten#1L 1320-4.70%19.2Q1
11vs WashingtonBig Ten#53W 356+20.4100%31.8Q3
12@ PurdueBig Ten#129W 4910+33.0100%27.1Q4
13@ MinnesotaBig Ten#32W 2625+6.0100%19.1Q1
14vs MarylandBig Ten#89W 447+24.9100%26.3Q4
15vs OregonBig Ten#3L 3745+0.70%14.5Q1
Postseason
vs SMUACC#14W 3810+8.5100%37.5Q1
vs Boise StateMountain West#19W 3114+9.3100%27.7Q1
vs Notre DameFBS Independents#2L 2427-3.00%22.6Q1

16 played · 13-3. 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.

+2.5+15.9+29.3293624251825193227192614Week 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 6th
SR 3rdYPP 13thEPA 9th
RushingEff 12th
SR 3rdYPP 23rdEPA 14th
Defense
Pass defenseEff 11th
SR 28thYPP 14thEPA 4th
Rush defenseEff 8th
SR 16thYPP 5thEPA 5th
Dropback rate 46%Tempo -2.6 snaps/game vs. averageFaced pass defenses ranked 50th on average
Success rate by down

Their offense vs. what their defense allows.

1st · Offense: 54%1st · Defense allowed: 38%1st2nd · Offense: 47%2nd · Defense allowed: 38%2nd3rd/4th · Offense: 50%3rd/4th · Defense allowed: 42%3rd/4th
OffenseDefense allowed
Points by quarter

Scored vs. allowed, all regular-season games.

Q1 · Scored: 75.0Q1 · Allowed: 62.0Q1Q2 · Scored: 193.0Q2 · Allowed: 90.0Q2Q3 · Scored: 100.0Q3 · Allowed: 39.0Q3Q4 · Scored: 135.0Q4 · Allowed: 71.0Q4
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, 2024
Offensive EffRanked 5th
+11.7
Field position: +0.6Finishing drives: +11.1
Field position +0.6Finishing drives +11.1= +11.7
Offensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 43rd · Finishing 6th

Defensive EffRanked 4th
+11.9
Field position: +1.7Finishing drives: +10.2
Field position +1.7Finishing drives +10.2= +11.9
Defensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 15th · Finishing 4th

2.86 points per drive on offense, 1.48 allowed — starting, on average, at their own 29.

Play-calling & efficiency

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

By quarter
Quarter (att.)Pass / rushSuccessYd/play
Q1(240)50% / 50%52%6.4
Q2(313)50% / 50%52%6.8
Q3(233)41% / 59%54%7.2
Q4(253)33% / 67%44%6.3
how play-calling and results shifted through games — (n) = plays, season total
Passing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(184)10.156%9.3
2nd(151)7.948%7.7
3rd(107)7.541%5.7
4th(12)6.167%6.6
All (454)50%7.8
Rushing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(305)9.752%6.1
2nd(183)6.346%5.3
3rd(85)4.753%5.9
4th(12)1.183%5.2
All (585)51%5.8

Penn State, all games.