Penn State tops Clemson in battle of 2025 disappointments, avoids losing season
Both Penn State and Clemson were ranked in the top five in the preseason. They ended the year in a pre-New Year's day bowl game.
A Penn State season that started with national championship hopes and a No. 2 ranking ended with a bowl win at Yankee Stadium to avoid the program’s first losing record in a full campaign since 2004.
The Nittany Lions beat Clemson 22-10 in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, finishing Terry Smith’s time as Penn State’s interim head coach with a four-game winning streak.
“I love this group. This is the greatest moment in my life,” Smith said in a postgame interview with ESPN. “I’m just so happy for our guys. I love Penn State. I love football. And the game and Penn State have done amazing things for me and my family. And I’m just thankful and grateful.”
Look at what Penn State and a bowl game win means for interim head coach Terry Smith 🥹 pic.twitter.com/35zdhXucNY
— ESPN (@espn) December 27, 2025
The Pinstripe Bowl featured two of the most disappointing teams in the country. Both the Tigers (7-6) and Nittany Lions (7-6) were coming off College Football Playoff appearances in 2024 and were ranked in the top five in the preseason. Instead of playing for a national title, Penn State and Clemson were matched in a pre-New Year’s bowl in the Bronx, the day after about 4 inches of snow fell on New York City.
For Penn State, three straight losses to start Big Ten play changed everything.
Smith took over six games into the season after the surprising firing of James Franklin, who had led Penn State for 12 years. Penn State also lost quarterback Drew Allar to a season-ending injury in a loss to Northwestern that dropped the Nittany Lions to 3-3 on Oct. 11. Franklin was dismissed the next day with a 104-45 record at Penn State.
Nearly two months after Franklin was let go by athletic director Pat Kraft, Penn State hired Matt Campbell away from Iowa State to fill the vacancy. Franklin landed at Virginia Tech as head coach.
Smith will remain on staff, a key retention for Campbell.
Penn State lost its first three games under Smith, a longtime assistant coach under Franklin and former Penn State player, with Ethan Grunkemeyer taking over at quarterback. Those losses included a one-point loss at Iowa and a three-point loss at home to Indiana.
A three-game winning streak to finish the season made the Nittany Lions bowl eligible for the 20th time in the last 21 seasons. The only exception was the 2020 pandemic-interrupted season, when Penn State played only nine games.
Penn State’s last losing season before that came in 2004 when the Nittany Lions went 4-7, their fourth losing season over a five-year run under Joe Paterno.