1979 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1979 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1979 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 9–6 vs. Tulane
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
APNo. 20
1979 record8–4
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 76,639)
1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 6 Florida State        11 1 0
No. 7 Pittsburgh        11 1 0
UNLV        9 1 2
No. 17 Temple        10 2 0
Tulane        9 3 0
Rutgers        8 3 0
East Carolina        7 3 1
No. 20 Penn State        8 4 0
South Carolina        8 4 0
Navy        7 4 0
Notre Dame        7 4 0
Southern Miss        6 4 1
Syracuse        7 5 0
Colgate        5 4 1
Boston College        5 6 0
Holy Cross        5 6 0
Memphis        5 6 0
Miami        5 6 0
North Texas State        5 6 0
Villanova        5 6 0
Virginia Tech        5 6 0
West Virginia        5 6 0
Georgia Tech        4 6 1
Louisville        4 6 1
William & Mary        4 7 0
Illinois State        3 8 0
Northeast Louisiana        3 8 0
Army        2 8 1
Air Force        2 9 0
Cincinnati        2 9 0
Richmond        0 11 0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 15RutgersNo. 7W 45–1077,309
September 22Texas A&MNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
L 14–2777,575
September 29at No. 6 NebraskaNo. 18ABCL 17–4276,151
October 6at MarylandW 27–752,348
October 13Army
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 24–377,157
October 20vs. SyracuseW 35–753,789
October 27West Virginia
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 31–677,923
November 3Miami (FL)No. 19
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
TCSL 10–2675,332
November 10at North Carolina StateW 9–751,200
November 17TempleNo. 18
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 22–776,000
December 1No. 11 PittsburghNo. 19
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCL 14–2976,958
December 22vs. No. 15 TulaneABCW 9–650,021
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 14 Todd Blackledge Fr
WR 29 Mark Cherewka Jr
WR 19 Tom Donovan Sr
T 77 Bill Dugan Jr
G 62 Sean Farrell So
RB 24 Mike Guman Sr
WR 41 Tracy Hall Jr
QB 15 Jeff Hostetler Fr
TE 85 Vyto Kab So
TE 90 Ron LaPointe Sr
RB 38 Mike Meade So
RB 48 Booker Moore Jr
G 78 Mike Munchak So
T 70 Irv Pankey Sr
QB Frank Rocco Fr
C 53 Jim Romano Jr
TE 80 Brad Scovill Jr
RB 32 Matt Suhey Sr
QB 17 Dayle Tate Jr
WR 13 Kip Vernaglia Sr
RB 25 Curt Warner Fr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 86 Jeff Bergstrom So
DB 30 Matt Bradley So
DE 54 Bruce Clark Sr
CB 20 Joel Coles So
DE 74 Larry Kubin Jr
DT 57 Pete Kugler Jr
CB 12 Jon Lebo So
LB 37 Walker Lee Ashley Fr
LB 56 Lance Mehl Sr
LB 60 Matt Millen Sr
LB 94 Chet Parlavecchio So
CB 47 Danny Rocco Fr
LB 89 Carlos Quirch Sr
S 23 John Walsh Jr
CB 49 Tom Wise Jr
DT 61 Leo Wisniewski So
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 10 Brian Franco So
P 21 Ralph Giacomarro Fr
K 31 Herb Menhardt Jr
LS 97 Brian Hand Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Season summary

Army

Army Cadets (2–1–1) at Penn State Nittany Lions (2–2)
1 2 34Total
Army 0 0 303
Penn State 7 10 0724

at Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania

  • Date: October 13
  • Game attendance: 77,157
  • [2]
  • Homecoming
  • Matt Suhey – 4th highest single game rushing total in school history, broke school record for career rushing attempts, moved into 4th place on all-time school rushing list
  • Booker Moore – 24 rushes, 103 yards

Post season

NFL Draft

Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1980 NFL Draft.

RoundPickOverallNamePositionTeam
1st44Bruce ClarkDefensive tackleGreen Bay Packers
2nd1543Matt MillenLinebackerOakland Raiders
2nd1846Matt SuheyRunning backChicago Bears
2nd2250Irv PankeyOffensive tackleLos Angeles Rams
3rd1369Lance MehlLinebackerNew York Jets
6th16154Mike GumanRunning backLos Angeles Rams
9th9230Tom DonovanWide receiverKansas City Chiefs

References

  1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. "Penn State unleashes infantry on Army." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Oct 14. Pg. 8B. Retrieved 2020-Dec-15.
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