1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 42–30 vs. Arizona State
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 5
1977 record11–1
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (1st season as DC; 9th overall season)
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 60,203)
1977 NCAA Division I independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Notre Dame        11 1 0
No. 5 Penn State        11 1 0
Colgate        10 1 0
North Texas State *        10 1 0
No. 16 San Diego State        10 1 0
Tennessee State        8 1 1
No. 14 Florida State        10 2 0
No. 8 Pittsburgh        9 2 1
East Carolina        8 3 0
Rutgers        8 3 0
Army        7 4 0
Louisville        7 4 1
Boston College        6 5 0
Cincinnati        5 4 2
Georgia Tech        6 5 0
Memphis State        6 5 0
Northwestern State        6 5 0
Syracuse        6 5 0
William & Mary        6 5 0
Southern Miss        6 5 0
Temple        5 5 1
Hawaii        5 6 0
Navy        5 6 0
West Virginia        5 6 0
South Carolina        5 7 0
Utah State        4 7 0
Villanova        4 7 0
Illinois State        3 7 1
Virginia Tech        3 7 1
Indiana State        3 7 0
Miami (FL)        3 8 0
Richmond        3 8 0
Tulane        3 8 0
Air Force        2 8 1
Holy Cross        2 8 0
Northeast Louisiana        2 9 0
  • North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.[1]
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 2at RutgersNo. 13W 45–764,790
September 17No. 9 HoustonNo. 10W 31–1462,554
September 24MarylandNo. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 27–962,079
October 1KentuckyNo. 4
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
L 20–2462,196
October 8Utah StateNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 16–762,015
October 15at SyracuseNo. 10W 31–2427,029
October 22West VirginiaNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 49–2862,108
October 29Miami (FL)No. 9
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 49–761,853
November 5at North Carolina StateNo. 9W 21–1744,800
November 12TempleNo. 9
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 44–761,327
November 26at No. 10 PittsburghNo. 9ABCW 15–1356,500
December 25vs. No. 15 Arizona StateNo. 8CBSW 42–3057,766
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 81 Bob Bassett Jr
WR 44 Jimmy Cefalo Sr
WR 19 Tom Donovan So
OT 68 Eric Cummingham Jr
OT 71 Keith Dorney Jr
WR 46 Scott Fitzkee Jr
QB 14 Chuck Fusina Jr
RB 24 Mike Guman So
TE 82 Mickey Shuler Sr
RB 32 Matt Suhey So
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 25 Tom Bradley Jr
DE 54 Bruce Clark So
LB 95 Tom DePaso Sr
S 27 Pete Harris So
DE 74 Larry Kubin Fr
DT 57 Pete Kugler Fr
LB 56 Lance Mehl So
LB 60 Matt Millen So
DE 28 Rich Milot Jr
DT 78 Randy Sidler Sr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 10 Matt Bahr Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

Miami (FL)

1 234Total
Miami (FL) 0 007 7
Penn St 7 28140 49
  • Date: October 29
  • Location: Beaver Stadium • University Park, Pennsylvania
  • Game attendance: 61,853

[2]

Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl
#15 Arizona State vs. #8 Penn State
1 234Total
Arizona St 0 14016 30
Penn St 14 3718 42

[3]

Post season

NFL Draft

Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1978 NFL Draft.

RoundPickOverallNamePositionTeam
3rd561Mickey ShulerTight endNew York Jets
3rd2581Jimmy CefaloWide receiverMiami Dolphins
5th4113Randy SidlerNew York Jets
6th17155Steve GeiseCincinnati Bengals
9th5227Neil HuttonNew York Jets
10th17267Tom DePasoLinebackerCincinnati Bengals
11th25303Ron HostetlerLos Angeles Rams

References

  1. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1977-standings.html
  2. Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Oct 29.
  3. "Penn State runs mark to 11-1." Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Dec 26.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.