2020 Penn State Nittany Lions football team


The 2020 Penn State Nittany Lions football team will represent the Pennsylvania State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team will be led by seventh-year head coach, James Franklin.

Previous season

The Nittany Lions finished the 2019 season 11–2, and had a conference record of 7–2. They received an invitation to the 2019 Cotton Bowl Classic where they defeated the #17 2019 Memphis Tigers 53–39. Penn State finished the 2019 season ranked #9 in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll.

Offseason

Staff changes

2020 NFL Draft

Recruiting

The Nittany Lions signed 27 recruits during the 2020 signing cycle, securing the 15th ranked recruiting class in the country. This was Penn State's fourth consecutive top 15 recruiting class. 11 of the 27 signings in the 2020 class enrolled early.

Transfers

Returning starters

Preseason

Preseason Big Ten poll

Preseason All Big Ten

Award watchlists

Personnel

Coaching staff

Rosters

Depth Chart

Schedule

Spring game

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Penn State, like other institutions, switched to distance-learning during the spring semester and canceled all sporting events.

Regular season

The Nittany Lions are a member of the Big Ten East Division, and will play all of the division's other six members. Cross-divisional opponents include the Iowa Hawkeyes, Northwestern Wildcats, and Nebraska cornhuskers. Three out-of-conference opponents were originally scheduled: a road game at Virginia Tech, and home games versus Kent State and San Jose State.. However, these non-conference games were canceled on July 9 as a result of ongoing concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic. The 9-game conference schedule will increase to 10 games.

Game summaries

Statistics

Scores by quarter (Big Ten opponents)

Rankings