2019 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 2019 Penn State Nittany Lions football team will represent Pennsylvania State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team is led by sixth-year head coach James Franklin and plays its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the Big Ten East Division of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season
In 2018, the Nittany Lions finished with a 9–4 overall record and finished third in the Big Ten East Division, with a 6–3 conference record. They finished ranked seventeenth nationally in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll after a 27–24 loss to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl.

Staff changes
On January 2, 2019, James Franklin announced that wide receivers coach David Corley was relieved of his duties. This came just one day after Penn State's 27–24 loss to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. On January 10, former Duke assistant coach Gerad Parker was announced as the team's new wide receivers coach. On February 15, 2019, it was announced that special teams coordinator and assistant defensive line coach Phil Galiano would be leaving Penn State to become an assistant special teams coach with the New Orleans Saints. On February 21, 2019, Penn State hired Joe Lorig, from Texas Tech, as special teams coordinator and defensive assistant.

Recruiting
The Nittany Lions signed 19 recruits on early signing day in December 2018. Four recruits signed with Penn State on February 6, 2019, pushing their total commitments to 23.

Transfers
The Nittany Lions added 2 players and lost 12 players due to transfer.

Award watch lists
Listed in the order that they were released

Preseason Big Ten poll
Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Penn State was projected to finish in fourth in the East Division.

Regular season
The team will host three non-conference games against the Idaho Vandals (first ever meeting) from the Big Sky Conference, Buffalo Bulls from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the Pittsburgh Panthers from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

During the 2019 Nittany Lions season, Penn State will be going against Big Ten conference opponents Maryland, Purdue, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio State and Rutgers. The 2019 schedule consists of 7 home games and 5 away.


 * Schedule Source:

Roster
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