Nov. 29, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
2007 SEASON: The Nittany Lions bring an 8-4 record into their 40th bowl game all-time. Three of the losses were by seven points or less. Penn State has won 30 of its last 39 games overall and ranks among the Top 15 nationally in best cumulative record from 2005-07 (28-9).
Joe Paterno: The bowl game will be Joe Paterno's 500th game as head coach of the Nittany Lions. In his 42nd season as head coach, Paterno owns a career record of 371-125-3 (74.6) and ranks second in victories among major college coaches and fourth among coaches across all NCAA divisions. He ranks fourth among active coaches in winning percentage (10 years or more).
Paterno is the all-time leader in bowl appearances (34th) and bowl victories (22-10-1 record). His 68.2 bowl winning percentage is third-best all-time among coaches with at least 12 bowl appearances. Paterno's teams are 16-6 in New Year's bowl games.
BOWL SUCCESS: The Nittany Lions are No. 3 in the nation with 25 post-season victories and first nationally in bowl winning percentage (66.7, 25-12-2) among schools with at least 10 bowl wins.
THREE SENIOR STARTERS: Penn State had just three senior starters for the last two games of the season: linebacker Dan Connor, tailback Rodney Kinlaw and quarterback Anthony Morelli. The Nittany Lions will return 21 starters for the 2008 campaign -- nine on offense, 10 starters on defense and both specialists.
FIVE LIONS FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG TEN: Five Nittany Lions earned first team All-Big Ten honors, the second-highest total among all teams. A total of seven Penn State players earned all-conference recognition. Penn State's five first team honorees were second only to Ohio State.
Senior All-America linebacker Dan Connor and junior cornerback Justin King were selected first team All-Big Ten after earning second team all-conference honors in 2006. Connor leads the league with 136 tackles and King leads the Big Ten with 17 passes defended.
Also garnering first team all-conference honors were freshman punter Jeremy Boone, sophomore defensive end Maurice Evans and junior center A.Q. Shipley.
Junior linebacker Sean Lee and junior guard Rich Ohrnberger earned second team honors.
TOP 10 DEFENSE: The Nittany Lion defense is ranked in the Top 10 nationally in rushing (6th, 87.9 ypg), scoring (7th, 17.6 ppg) and total defense (10th, 396.5 ypg), as well as sacks (2nd, 45) and tackles for loss (10th, 96). Penn State leads the Big Ten in sacks, and is No. 2 in rushing, scoring and total defense. The Nittany Lions have recorded two shutouts this season and held four other teams to either one offensive touchdown or field goals. Penn State has held eight opponents to 90 rushing yards or less in 2007.
ALL-AMERICAN CONNOR A FINALIST FOR BUTKUS & BEDNARIK AWARDS: Senior Dan Connor became "Linebacker U's" career tackle leader this season and is one of the nation's premier defensive players. He has 410 career tackles.
Connor leads the Big Ten and is sixth in the nation with 136 tackles. His tackle total is No. 4 on the school season list, needing eight stops to move into second place. Connor is a finalist for the Butkus Award, presented to the nation's top linebacker, and for the second consecutive year is a finalist for the Bednarik Award, presented to the nation's top defensive player. A 2006 first team All-American, Connor also ranks in the Big Ten top 10 with 14.0 tackles for losses and 6.5 sacks. Connor has 20 career double figure tackle games and has been selected the Walter Camp National and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week twice this season.
EVANS A FINALIST FOR TED HENDRICKS AWARD: Sophomore Maurice Evans is among the finalists Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award. Evans has had a superlative campaign in his first year as a starter. A first-team All-Big Ten selection by the media and coaches, he leads the Nittany Lions with 21.5 tackles for losses and 12.5 sacks (minus-94). He has 48 tackles (27 solo) to rank fifth on the team, has forced three fumbles, recovered a fumble and has three pass break-ups.
One of top defensive linemen in the nation, Evans is second in the Big Ten in TFL (No. 6 in the nation), third in sacks (No. 7 nationally) and tied for fifth in the conference in forced fumbles.
Evans was selected Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after a superlative effort in the Nittany Lions' win at Indiana. He recorded six tackles (five solo), setting career-highs with 4.5 tackles for losses, 3.5 sacks for minus-36, two forced fumbles, a 55-yard fumble return and a pass break-up against the Hoosiers.
QUICK STRIKE LIONS: Penn State leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 7 in the nation with 20 scoring drives of 2:00 or less this season. The Nittany Lions have 13 touchdown drives of 2:00 or less.
Penn State also has seven scoring drives this season that ended with less than 2:00 remaining in the first half, including five such drives in the last six games.
MID-GAME SUCCESS: Penn State has out-scored the opposition, 114-21, in the second quarter and 85-36 in the third quarter this season.
RED ZONE LEADER: Penn State leads the Big Ten in Red Zone success, scoring on 89.5 percent of its opportunities. The Nittany Lions are 51 of 57 in the Red Zone, with 33 touchdowns and 18 field goals.
KINLAW NEARS 1,200 YARDS: Senior tailback Rodney Kinlaw posted his fifth 100-yard rushing game this season at Michigan State. Kinlaw has 1,186 rushing yards this season on 222 carries (5.3) and 10 touchdowns. His 1,186 yards are No. 10 on Penn State's single season rushing chart.
MORELLI FIRST LION WITH PAIR OF 2,000-YARD PASSING SEASONS: Senior Anthony Morelli is the first Penn State quarterback to have at least 2,000 passing yards in multiple seasons. He has 2,508 yards this year and stands just 171 yards shy of Kerry Collins' season record of 2,679 set in 1994. Morelli has already broken his own season record with 219 completions this season and he has 18 touchdown passes this year, tied for the fifth-best season mark.
ATTENDANCE RECORD BROKEN: Penn State's loyal and enthusiastic fans came to Beaver Stadium to see the Nittany Lions in record numbers this season. A total of 762,419 fans attended the seven games in Beaver Stadium for a home record average of 108,917. The previous record was 107,576 for a six-game home schedule in 2001.
The 762,419 fans were the second-highest overall total attendance, surpassed only by the 857,911 fans that came for the eight-game home schedule in 2002.
Penn State has drawn seven of its top eight all-time home crowds over the past three seasons, led by 110,134 vs. Ohio State on Oct. 27 and 110,078 vs. Notre Dame on Sept. 8, the second and third-largest crowds in Beaver Stadium history, respectively.