The 2010 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. They were members of the Big Ten Conference. Team captains for the season were wide receiver Brett Brackett and defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu.
The Nittany Lions finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in Big Ten play and were invited to the Outback Bowl where they were defeated by Florida 37–24.
Schedule
Penn State was scheduled to play eight of the other ten Big Ten schools, all but Purdue and Wisconsin.
Coaching staff
Joe Paterno – Head Coach
Dick Anderson – Offensive Line (Guards and Centers) Tom Bradley – Defensive Coordinator and Cornerbacks Kermit Buggs – Safeties Galen Hall – Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs Larry Johnson, Sr. – Defensive Line Bill Kenney – Offensive Tackles and Tight Ends Mike McQueary – Wide Receivers and Recruiting Coordinator Jay Paterno – Quarterbacks Ron Vanderlinden – Linebackers John Thomas – Strength and Conditioning
Roster
Game summaries
September 4: Youngstown State
Rob Bolden became the first true freshman to start the season opening game at quarterback for Penn State since Shorty Miller in 1910. Bolden led the Nittany Lions to at 44–14 victory over the Football Championship Subdivision Youngstown State Penguins. He passed for 239 yards and two touchdowns to wide receiver Brett Brackett. Collin Wagner was 3 for 3 in field goals over 40 yards. Chaz Powell returned the second half kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown.
Although Penn State trailed 7–6 much of the half, in all they scored 41 unanswered points and only punted once. On their final drive, Kevin Newsome and Silas Redd were in to put the Nittany Lions on top 44–7. Youngstown State got a final touchdown against reserves to make it 44–14 before Matt McGloin got some playing time near the end.
September 11: @ Alabama
Aided by turnovers, the #1 Crimson Tide defeated the #14 Nittany Lions in front of 101,821 in Tuscaloosa. After both teams exchanged punts, the Crimson Tide scored a touchdown to make it 7–0 with a pass to Julio Jones. Penn State blew a chance to tie the game after Bolden was picked off and the Tide marched downfield to make it 14–0. Alabama would add another field goal and miss one more as the Nittany Lions continued to have trouble finishing off drives. Early in the 4th, Alabama put the game away with a Trent Richardson touchdown dive to go up 24–0, but Penn State finally got on the board with a field goal to make it 24–3, yet the Nittany Lions could not close the gap any further. This game was the first time they had been held to 3 points since losing 13–3 in 2006 at Wisconsin, but avoided their first shutout loss since a 20–0 loss to Michigan in 2001. Penn State also got some playing time for backup Kevin Newsome who completed his first pass of 2010 (his only pass attempt against Youngstown State was an incompletion that led to a pass interference penalty on the Penguins). Despite the loss, the Nittany Lions still have not surrendered more than 24 points in the regular season since the 2007 35–31 loss to Michigan State.
Alabama finished the game with 409 total yards and Trent Richardson finished with 190 rushing yards by himself and a touchdown. Rob Bolden has yet to be sacked this year.
September 18: Kent State
Penn State's defense delivered their first shutout since the 2009 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers when the Nittany Lions defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes of the Mid-American Conference. Rob Bolden ran for and passed for a touchdown to Devon Smith. Evan Royster ran for his first touchdown of the season but was limited to just 38 yards. The defense garnered two interceptions to help offset the two interceptions thrown by Bolden, who has still not been sacked.
September 25: Temple
The Nittany Lions handed coach Al Golden's Owls their first loss on the season defeating them 22–13. Collin Wagner converted 5 of 6 field goal attempts and Michael Zordich, Jr. scored the lone Penn State touchdown from his fullback position. Senior Evan Royster had his first 100-yard game of the season in gaining 187 yards on 26 carries. True freshmen quarterback Rob Bolden completed 18 of 28 passes for 224 yards. Justin Brown was the leading Penn State receiver catching 4 throws for 84 yards. The defense gathered three interceptions, one by Nate Stupar and two by Nick Sukay. Pete Massaro recovered a Chester Stewart fumble on the final play of the game.