1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Fiesta Bowl, W 42–30 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 5
1977 record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (12th year)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Captain	John Dunn
Captain	Steve Geise
Captain	Ron Hostetler
Captain	Randy Sidler
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 60,203)

1977 NCAA Division I Independents football records
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#1 Notre Dame		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
#5 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
#16 San Diego State		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	1	–	1
#14 Florida State		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
North Texas State		–		–		10	–	1	–	0*
#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		–		–		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 9–2–0) awarded a forfeit win after UCLA was found to be using an ineligible player.^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	at Rutgers	No. 13	Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, NJ		W 45–7	64,790
September 17	Houston	No. 10	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 31–14	62,554
September 24	Maryland	No. 5	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 27–9	62,079
October 1	Kentucky	No. 4	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		L 20–24	62,196
October 8	Utah State	No. 10	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 16–7	62,015
October 15	at Syracuse	No. 10	Archbold Stadium • Syracuse, NY (Rivalry)		W 31–24	27,029
October 22	West Virginia	No. 10	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 49–28	62,108
October 29	Miami (FL)	No. 9	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 49–7	61,853
November 5	at North Carolina State	No. 9	Carter-Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC		W 21–17	44,800
November 12	Temple	No. 9	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 44–7	61,327
November 26	at No. 10 Pittsburgh	No. 9	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 15–13	56,500
December 25	vs. No. 15 Arizona State	No. 9	Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	CBS	W 42–30	57,766
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	0	0	0	7	7
• Penn St	7	28	14	0	49

Scoring summary

1	PSU	Guthrie 56-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 7-0

2	PSU	Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 14-0

2	PSU	Torrey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 21-0

2	PSU	Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 28-0

2	PSU	Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 35-0

3	PSU	Fitzkee 72-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 42-0

3	PSU	LaPointe 17-yard pass from Capozzolli (Bahr kick)	Penn St 49-0

4	MIA	Hobbs 3-yard pass from McMillian (Dennis kick)	Penn St 49-7

Fiesta Bowl
#15 Arizona State vs. #8 Penn State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Arizona St	0	14	0	16	30
• Penn St	14	3	7	18	42

Scoring summary

1	PSU	Lally 21-yard blocked punt return (Bahr kick)	Penn St 7-0

1	PSU	Torrey 3-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 14-0

2	ASU	Lane 11-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 14-7

2	PSU	Bahr 23-yard field goal	Penn St 17-7

2	ASU	Washington 13-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 17-14

3	PSU	Geise 18-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 24-14

4	PSU	Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 31-14

4	ASU	Washington 30-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 31-21

4	PSU	Bahr 32-yard field goal	Penn St 34-21

4	ASU	Perry 1-yard run (Hicks kick)	Penn St 34-28

4	PSU	Suhey 2-yard run (Geise run)	Penn St 42-28

4	ASU	Safety, Fitzkee runs out of end zone	Penn St 42-30

Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1978 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
3rd	5	61	Mickey Shuler	Tight end	New York Jets
3rd	25	81	Jimmy Cefalo	Wide receiver	Miami Dolphins
5th	4	113	Randy Sidler	–	New York Jets
6th	17	155	Steve Geise	–	Cincinnati Bengals
9th	5	227	Neil Hutton	–	New York Jets
10th	17	267	Tom DePaso	Linebacker	Cincinnati Bengals
11th	25	303	Ron Hostetler	–	Los Angeles Rams

Penn State Nittany Lions football

Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia

Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game child sex abuse scandal

People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees

Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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