1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was selected national champion by Dunkel, an NCAA-designated major selector,[2] while Clemson was the consensus national champion.

1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football
National champion (Dunkel)
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 26–10 vs. USC
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
1981 record10–2
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDick Anderson
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 83,770)
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 Penn State        10 2 0
No. 4 Pittsburgh        11 1 0
No. 8 Miami (FL)        9 2 0
Southern Miss        9 2 1
No. 17 West Virginia        9 3 0
Colgate        7 3 0
Virginia Tech        7 4 0
Navy        7 4 1
Cincinnati        6 5 0
Florida State        6 5 0
Holy Cross        6 5 0
Tulane        6 5 0
UNLV        6 6 0
South Carolina        6 6 0
Temple        5 5 0
Boston College        5 6 0
East Carolina        5 6 0
Northeast Louisiana        5 6 0
Louisville        5 6 0
Notre Dame        5 6 0
Rutgers        5 6 0
William & Mary        5 6 0
Syracuse        4 6 1
Richmond        4 7 0
Army        3 7 1
North Texas State        2 9 0
Georgia Tech        1 10 0
Memphis State        1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 12CincinnatiNo. 9ESPN (tape delay)W 52–084,342
September 26at No. 15 NebraskaNo. 3ESPN (tape delay)W 30–2476,308
October 3TempleNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 30–084,562
October 10Boston CollegeNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN (tape delay)W 38–784,473
October 17at SyracuseNo. 2W 41–1650,037
October 24West VirginiaNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPN (tape delay)W 30–785,012
October 31at MiamiNo. 1ABC NationalL 14–1732,117
November 7at North Carolina StateNo. 6W 22–1548,800
November 14No. 6 AlabamaNo. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABC RegionalL 16–3185,133
November 21Notre DameNo. 13
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN (tape delay)W 24–2184,175
November 28at No. 1 PittsburghNo. 11ABC NationalW 48–1460,260
January 1, 1982vs. No. 8 USCNo. 7NBCW 26–1071,053
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 14 Todd Blackledge Jr
TE 80 Kirk Bowman So
T 79 Bill Contz Jr
G 62 Sean Farrell Sr
WR 19 Gregg Garrity Jr
T 72 Ron Heller So
WR 82 Kenny Jackson So
TE 85 Vyto Kab Sr
RB 38 Mike Meade Sr
G 78 Mike Munchak Sr
C 53 Jim Romano Sr
FB 43 Jon Williams So
RB 25 Curt Warner Jr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 30 Matt Bradley Sr
Hero 17 Harry Hamilton So
CB 49 Roger Jackson Jr
LB 98 Ken Kelley Jr
CB 12 Paul Lankford Sr
LB 37 Walker Lee Ashley Jr
LB 94 Chet Parlavecchio Jr
LB 97 Scott Radecic So
DT 61 Leo Wisniewski Sr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 10 Brian Franco Sr
P 21 Ralph Giacomarro Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Game summaries

at Nebraska

Penn State at #15 Nebraska
1 234Total
#3 Penn State 3 14310 30
#15 Nebraska 0 10140 24

Boston College

1 234Total
Boston College 0 007 7
Penn St 10 1477 38

[3]

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at #13 Penn St
1 234Total
Notre Dame 7 770 21
Penn St 14 307 24

Following the game, Penn State accepted an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl.

Pittsburgh

#11 Penn St at #1 Pittsburgh
1 234Total
Penn St 0 141717 48
Pittsburgh 14 000 14
  • Source:

The Nittany Lions snapped the Panthers' 17-game winning streak in convincing fashion.[4]

vs. USC (Fiesta Bowl)

#7 Penn State vs. #8 USC
1 234Total
No. 7 Nittany Lions 7 1090 26
No. 8 Trojans 7 030 10
  • Source:

NFL Draft

Ten Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1982 NFL Draft.

RoundPickOverallNamePositionTeam
1st88Mike MunchakOffensive guardHouston Oilers
1st1717Sean FarrellOffensive guardTampa Bay Buccaneers
2nd128Leo WisniewskiNose tackleBaltimore Colts
2nd1037Jim RomanoCenterLos Angeles Raiders
3rd2378Vyto KabTight endPhiladelphia Eagles
3rd2580Paul LankfordDefensive backMiami Dolphins
5th15126Mike MeadeRunning backGreen Bay Packers
6th13152Chet ParlavecchioLinebackerGreen Bay Packers
9th11234Matt BradleyHouston Oilers
10th12263Rich D'AmicoLos Angeles Raiders

Awards

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award

References

  1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. p. 114. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  3. Eugene-Register Guard. 1981 Oct 11.
  4. John Feinstein (November 29, 1981). "Penn State Stuns No. 1 Pitt. 48-14. Bryant Wins No. 315". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.