Penn State·Big Ten

2018 — The Winning Chapter

Penn State's 2018 season (9-4) is a middle chapter: table-stakes progress, no crown in the ledger, the program still writing the book.

Record 9-4
Final result Bowl season Lost the Citrus Bowl
AP final #13 post-bowls
SP+ +9.8 last-week
Era The Franklin Era
The shape of the season · week by week, cumulative W-L below
W vs App Sta 45-38 W @ Pittsb 51-6 W vs Kent Sta 63-10 W @ Illinois 63-24 L vs Ohio St 26-27 L vs Mich St 17-21 W @ Indiana 33-28 W vs Iowa 30-24 L @ Michigan 7-42 W vs Wiscon 22-10 W @ Rutgers 20-7 W vs Maryland 38-3 L vs Kentucky 24-27 Bowl

Who carried it

Season leaders, 2018.

Defining moments
The statement

The 2018 season's largest margin: Penn State 63, Kent State 10. A 53-point win — the year's high-water mark.

The setback

The season's deepest loss: Penn State 7, Michigan 42. A 35-point margin the season is remembered by.

The postseason

The season's last act: Penn State fell to Kentucky 24-27 in the postseason.

"We Are."
— Penn State fanbase voice · 2018· synthesized
What it meant

2018 is a middle chapter for Penn State — neither a crown year nor a crisis. It is the kind of season that fills the ledger between the named ones and gives the arc its shape.