1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season.[2] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Gator Bowl, L 9–20 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Independent
1976 record	7–5
Head coach	Joe Paterno (11th season)
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 60,203)

1976 NCAA Division I independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Pittsburgh			–					12	–	0	–	0
No. 17 Rutgers			–					11	–	0	–	0
San Diego State			–					10	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Notre Dame			–					9	–	3	–	0
Colgate			–					8	–	2	–	0
Boston College			–					8	–	3	–	0
Cincinnati			–					8	–	3	–	0
Memphis State			–					7	–	4	–	0
North Texas State *			–					7	–	4	–	0
Southern Illinois			–					7	–	4	–	0
Penn State			–					7	–	5	–	0
Villanova			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	5	–	0
Army			–					5	–	6	–	0
Florida State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Illinois State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Richmond			–					5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia			–					5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					4	–	6	–	1
Temple			–					4	–	6	–	0
Air Force			–					4	–	7	–	0
Dayton			–					4	–	7	–	0
Louisville			–					4	–	7	–	0
Navy			–					4	–	7	–	0
Indiana State			–					3	–	7	–	0
Hawaii			–					3	–	8	–	0
Holy Cross			–					3	–	8	–	0
Miami (FL)			–					3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse			–					3	–	8	–	0
Utah State			–					3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana			–					2	–	9	–	0
Southern Miss			–					2	–	9	–	0
Tulane			–					2	–	9	–	0
North Texas State (originally 6–5–0) was awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 11	Stanford	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 15–12	61,645
September 18	No. 2 Ohio State	No. 7	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–12	62,503
September 25	Iowa	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 6–7	61,268
October 2	at Kentucky	No. 20	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY		L 6–22	57,723
October 9	Army		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 38–16	60,436
October 16	Syracuse		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 27–3	61,474
October 23	at West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)		W 33–0	37,762
October 30	at Temple		Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 31–30	42,005
November 6	North Carolina State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 41–20	60,426
November 13	at Miami (FL)		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 21–7	19,627
November 26	at No. 1 Pittsburgh	No. 16	Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–24	50,360
December 27	vs. No. 15 Notre Dame	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	L 9–20	67,827
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class T 71 Brad Benson Sr WR 44 Jimmy Cefalo Jr T 68 Eric Cummingham So T 71 Keith Dorney So WR 46 Scott Fitzkee So QB 14 Chuck Fusina So T 68 George Reihner Sr TE 82 Mickey Shuler Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 53 Kurt Allerman Sr DB 25 Tom Bradley So DE 64 Ron Crosby Sr DE 28 Rich Milot So DT 78 Randy Sidler Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1977 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
2nd	10	38	George Reihner	Offensive guard	Houston Oilers
3rd	22	78	Kurt Allerman	Linebacker	St. Louis Cardinals
5th	2	114	Ron Crosby	Linebacker	Detroit Lions
8th	24	219	Brad Benson	Offensive tackle	New England Patriots

References

1. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1976-standings.html
2. "Penn State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.