2011 Penn State Nittany Lions football team 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 . The team was ranked number one in academic achievement out of the top 25 ranked BCS teams . On July 23 , 2012 , all nine wins in the season were vacated as a result of NCAA punishments handed down in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal . 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 : Game notes . September 3 vs . Indiana State . The Nittany Lions defeated the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision , Indiana State Sycamores 41 – 7 . Rob Bolden started for the Nittany Lions at quarterback and shared QB duties with Matt McGloin . The game began with a 95 yard kick - off return for touchdown by Chaz Powell . Silas Redd ran for 104 yards on 12 carries scored two touchdowns . and fullback s Joe Suhey and Michael Zordich each had one running touchdown . Third string quarterback Shane McGregor closed the scoring for Penn State with a 3 yard run in the fourth quarter . The Sycamores were able to score the final touchdown of the game against Penn State ' s third and fourth string defense . Head coach Joe Paterno , still recovering from injuries sustained in a practice collision with Devon Smith coached from the press box . TV announcers = Big Ten Network Matt Devlin , Glen Mason & Dionne Miller September 10 vs . Alabama . The third ranked Alabama Crimson Tide , coached by Nick Saban , defeated the Nittany Lions 27 – 11 at Beaver Stadium . Rob Bolden was once again the starting quarterback and shared playing time with Matt McGloin . Bolden completed 11 of 29 passes for 144 yards and one interception while McGloin was 1 of 10 for 0 yards . Penn State took the opening possession down the field and recorded a 43 - yard field goal by Evan Lewis . The Nittany Lions were held scoreless through the second , third , and most of the fourth quarters when Silas Redd scored a one - yard touchdown . Bolden converted the two - point conversion to bring the Penn State total to 11 points . TV announcers ABC : Brad Nessler , Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe September 18 at Temple . Penn State defeated Temple 14 – 10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia . Fullback Michael Zordich scored the game winning touchdown on a 1 - yard dive with 2 : 42 to play in the game . While the offense , once again led by quarterbacks Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin , struggled the defense was able to keep the game within reach . Derek Moye had 7 receptions for 112 yards with all 7 catches being good for a Penn State first down . Chaz Powell and Michael Mauti each picked off one Temple pass and Nick Sukay recovered a fumble . Mauti ' s interception set up the Penn State offense at the Temple 44 with 8 : 46 remaining . Bolden led the game winning drive that was highlighted by two successful fourth down conversions and a Zordich recovery of a fumbled snap between Bolden and center Matt Stankiewitch . Despite the close score , Temple finished with only 197 yards of offense , their fewest since a 27 – 13 win over Army in 2009 , where they had only 195 . It ' s also only the fourth time since 2008 that Temple has finished with less than 200 yards of offense . September 24 vs . Eastern Michigan . The Nittany Lions defeated the Eagles 34 – 6 . The victory marked the first time in the 2011 season that head coach Joe Paterno coached from the sidelines . He spent the first half on the field and coached the second half from the press box . Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin shared quarterback duties again . McGloin threw three touchdown passes , one to fullback Joe Suhey and two to wide receiver Derek Moye who became the sixth Nittany Lion to have more than 2 , 000 yards receiving in his career . Bolden threw a 71 - yard pass to receiver Devon Smith . Kickers Anthony Fera and Sam Ficken each kicked a field goal . Fera was the first Penn State player to punt , kick - off , and serve as the place kicker in a single game since 1975 when Chris Bahr did the same . The Penn State defense limited the Eagles offense to just two fourth quarter field goals and picked up three turnovers including an interception by Nick Sukay . Malcolm Willis blocked an Eastern Michigan punt . Linebacker Michael Mauti and cornerback D ' Anton Lynn both left the game with apparently severe injuries . Mauti injured his knee and is out for the season with an ACL injury to his left knee . Lynn was placed on a backboard as a precautionary measure and was admitted to the local hospital . Post game reports said that Lynn was able to move his arms and legs and may have suffered a stinger , which caused a burning sensation in his extremities . October 1 at Indiana . The game against the Indiana Hoosiers was Joe Paterno ' s 700th game as a member of the Penn State coaching staff . He has been coaching at Penn State since 1950 when he moved to Penn State from Brown University with his mentor and predecessor Rip Engle . The Nittany Lions defeated the Hoosiers 16 – 10 for Paterno ' s 405th career win as head coach . Both offenses struggled throughout most of the game . Rob Bolden started for Penn State at quarterback and shared playing time with Matt McGloin . Derek Moye caught a 74 - yard touchdown pass from McGloin in the third quarter . Kicker Anthony Fera was successful on 3 of 4 field goal attempts . Chaz Powell had one interception and Devon Still recovered a fumble that was forced by Sean Stanley . Silas Redd lead the Nittany Lion ground game with 126 yards on 30 carries . Penn State committed two turnovers in the red zone , Bolden threw an interception to Forisse Hardin and Redd fumbled the ball at the three yard line . October 8 vs . Iowa . Penn State defeated Iowa 13 – 3 . The victory over the Hawkeyes was just the second win in the series for the Nittany Lions since 2000 . Rob Bolden started the game , but played just two series . Matt McGloin took the rest of the snaps at quarterback and completed a 2 - yard touchdown to Kevin Haplea . The Penn State defense produced five sacks and three turnovers , one fumble and two interceptions to help control the game . The running game lead by Silas Redd and Curtis Dukes ran up 231 yards on the ground to help control the clock and keep the Iowa offense off the field . Joe Paterno , still recovering from off season injuries spent the first half on the sidelines before moving to the pressbox in the second half . Penn State honored the 1986 National Champions at halftime of the game to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Penn State ' s upset victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl . October 15 vs . Purdue . Penn State defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 23 – 18 for a homecoming victory and to go to 6 – 1 on the season and 3 – 0 in the Big Ten . Rob Bolden once again started at quarterback , but Matt McGloin took the great majority of the snaps . He threw one interception that bounced off the feet of receiver Bill Belton and into the arms of the Boilermaker ' s Albert Evans who returned it 55 yards from the endzone . Silas Redd ran for 131 yards and one touchdown . Backup tailback Curtis Dukes scored his first career touchown . The Penn State defense came up with three interceptions , two by linebacker Nate Stupar and one by safety Nick Sukay . Starting wide receiver Derek Moye missed the game with a foot injury and coach Joe Paterno , still recovering from off season injuries , spent the entire game in the pressbox . October 22 at Northwestern . Penn State defeated Northwestern 34 – 24 giving Joe Paterno his 408th career win and tying him with Grambling ' s legendary Eddie Robinson . Matt McGloin started and played the entire game at quarterback . The first half was an offensive shoot - out and the second a defensive struggle . Despite the fact that McGloin took every snap at quarterback , both Joe and quarterback coach Jay Paterno stated that the competition between McGloin and Rob Bolden to be the starter was still active . The defensive star of the game was linebacker Gerald Hodges . He had a career high 14 tackles and returned an interception thrown by Bethlehem , Pennsylvania native Dan Persa for 63 yards . Anthony Fera kicked two field goals to go with the four touchdowns produced by the Nittany Lions . McGloin threw touchdown passes to Justin Brown and Devon Smith . Silas Redd and Stephon Green both scored one running touchdown . October 29 vs . Illinois . Paterno earned his 409th win and passed Grambling State ' s Eddie Robinson as Division I ' s winningest coach in what would unexpectedly become his final game at Penn State . The game at halftime was 0 – 0 , Illinois took a 7 – 0 lead in the 3rd quarter on a 10 yard pass from quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase to wide receiver Spencer Harris . A blocked punt by Brad Bars set up Penn State ' s first score of the game , a thirty yard field goal by Anthong Fera with 7 : 00 remaining . Matt McGloin lead Penn State on the game winning drive that was sparked by the return from injury of Derek Moye . The Nittany Lions drove 80 yards down the field in the final three minutes of the game . A three yard touchdown run by running back Silas Redd put the Lions ahead 10 – 7 . Illinois drove into field goal range , and attempted a 42 yard field goal . The field goal hit the right upright , and Penn State won 10 – 7 . Redd topped 1 , 000 yards for the season while running for 137 yards on 30 carries . Linebacker Gerald Hodges lead the defense with 19 tackles , a forced fumble , and two pass break - ups . November 12 vs . Nebraska . This was the first Nittany Lion ' s game not coached by Joe Paterno in 46 years due to his firing over the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal . Penn State fell behind 10 – 0 at halftime and trailed 17 – 0 after a Matt McGloin fumble in the third quarter that led to a Nebraska touchdown . However , Penn State rallied and even had a chance to win after scoring two touchdowns and narrowing the deficit to 17 – 14 . Stephon Green , filling in for the injured Silas Redd , scored two touhdowns in his final game at Beaver Stadium . However , a last gasp play from near mid - field ended hopes of a comeback . This game was marked with much emotion with a blue - out ( in contrast to the normal white - out ) at Beaver Stadium in support of the alleged victims of Sandusky ' s crimes . Nebraska and Penn State gathered for a prayer at midfield for the victims and the fans showed the support for their team with a standing ovation at the end of the game despite the loss . TV Announcers Dave Pasch , Chris Spielman , Urban Meyer & Quint Kessenich TV Station ESPN November 19 at Ohio State . Penn State defeated Ohio State 20 – 14 . Stephon Green ran for two touchdowns and Anthony Fera kicked two field goals for the Nittany Lions . It was Penn State ' s first and only win with Tom Bradley as coach . All of the scoring in the game was contained to the first half . Penn State had success running the Wildcat formation with Curtis Drake and Bill Belton taking snaps while quarterback Matt McGloin lined up in the slot . This victory took the show down for the Leaders Division championship to their final regular season game at Wisconsin . Penn State won the game despite being a seven point underdog according to Las Vegas bookmaker s . It was the first time since 2001 against Northwestern that the Nittany Lions were victorious despite being so heavily favored to lose . November 26 at Wisconsin . The winner of this matchup was guaranteed to represent the Leaders division in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis . Penn State lost to Wisconsin 7 – 45 to close out the regular season . The Nittany Lions took a 7 – 0 lead in the first quarter on a 44 - yard touchdown pass from Matt McGloin to Curtis Drake . Penn State turned the ball over four times , three fumbles and one interception . The Badgers , led by quarterback Russell Wilson and tailback Montee Ball , were able to convert all four turnovers into scores . January 2 vs . Houston ( 2012 TicketCity Bowl ) . Penn State lost to Houston 17 – 30 in the TicketCity Bowl at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas , Texas to end the season . Houston quarterback , Case Keenum was the game MVP completing 45 of 69 passes for 532 yards and three touchdowns . Rob Bolden started at quarterback in place of the injured Matt McGloin for Penn State . Bolden , the offense , and the defense struggled throughout the game . 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 . 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 .