1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1980 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.

1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 31–19 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
1980 record	10–2
Head coach	Joe Paterno (15th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 83,770)

1980 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Florida State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Penn State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Notre Dame		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 18 Miami		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Boston College		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Tulane		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		–				5	–	4	–	1
North Texas State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Villanova		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Louisville		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Richmond		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Army		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–				1	–	9	–	1
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	Colgate	No. 18	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 54–10	78,926
September 20	at Texas A&M	No. 12	Kyle Field College Station, TX	ESPN (tape delay)	W 25–9	66,234
September 27	No. 3 Nebraska	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	L 7–21	84,585
October 4	at No. 9 Missouri	No. 17	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	ESPN (tape delay)	W 29–21	75,298
October 11	at Maryland	No. 14	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)		W 24–10	48,123
October 18	Syracuse	No. 12	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 24–7	84,000
October 25	at West Virginia	No. 13	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)		W 20–15	49,000
November 1	Miami (FL)	No. 13	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	TCS	W 27–12	83,661
November 8	North Carolina State	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 21–13	83,847
November 15	at Temple	No. 9	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 50–7	49,313
November 28	No. 4 Pittsburgh	No. 5	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 9–14	82,459
December 26	vs. No. 11 Ohio State	No. 10	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl / rivalry)	NBC	W 31–19	66,738
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 22 Tom Baar So QB 14 Todd Blackledge So WR 29 Mark Cherewka Sr T 77 Bill Dugan Sr G 62 Sean Farrell Jr WR 19 Gregg Garrity So TE 85 Vyto Kab Jr RB 38 Mike Meade Jr RB 48 Booker Moore Sr G 78 Mike Munchak Jr C 53 Jim Romano Jr TE 80 Brad Scovill Sr RB 25 Curt Warner So FB 44 Jon Williams Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 30 Matt Bradley Jr DT 94 Frank Case Sr Hero 17 Harry Hamilton Fr LB 98 Ken Kelley So DE 37 Walker Lee Ashley So LB 65 Dave Opfar Jr LB 94 Chet Parlavecchio Jr LB 97 Scott Radecic Fr S 23 John Walsh Sr DT 61 Leo Wisniewski Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Brian Franco Jr P 21 Ralph Giacomarro So	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Nebraska

#3 Nebraska at #11 Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 3 Cornhuskers 7 7 7 0 21 No. 11 Nittany Lions 0 7 0 0 7 Date: September 27 Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania Game attendance: 84,585

See also: 1980 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Syracuse

Syracuse at #12 Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total Orangemen 0 0 7 0 7 • No.12 Nittany Lions 3 7 0 14 24 Date: October 18 Location: Beaver Stadium Game attendance: 84,790

Scoring summary Q1 PSU Franco 26 yard field goal PSU 3–0 Q2 PSU Warner 3 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 10–0 Q3 SYR Zunic 11 yard interception return (Anderson kick) PSU 10–7 Q4 PSU Warner 6 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 17–7 Q4 PSU Jackson 13 yard pass from Blackledge (Franco kick) PSU 24–7

See also: 1980 Syracuse Orangemen football team

[2]

vs. Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl)

1980 Fiesta Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total No. 11 Buckeyes 6 13 0 0 19 • No. 10 Nittany Lions 7 3 7 14 31 Date: December 26 Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ Game attendance: 66,738 Television network: NBC

Scoring summary 1 PSU Curt Warner 64-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick) PSU 7-0 1 OSU Doug Donley 23-yard pass from Art Schlichter (kick failed) PSU 7-6 2 OSU Gary Williams 13-yard pass from Art Schlichter (kick failed) OSU 7-12 2 OSU Doug Donley 19-yard pass from Art Schlichter (Bob Atha kick) OSU 7-19 2 PSU Herb Menhardt 38-field goal OSU 10-19 3 PSU Todd Blackledge 3-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick) OSU 17-19 4 PSU Jonathan Williams 4-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick) PSU 24-19 4 PSU Booker Moore 37-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick) PSU 31-19

Main article: 1980 Fiesta Bowl

[3]

NFL Draft

Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1981 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	28	28	Booker Moore	Running back	Buffalo Bills
3rd	2	58	Bill Dugan	Offensive guard	Seattle Seahawks
6th	9	147	Pete Kugler	Nose tackle	San Francisco 49ers
6th	10	148	Larry Kubin	Linebacker	Washington Redskins
7th	20	186	Brad Scovill	–	Seattle Seahawks
8th	21	214	Gene Gladys	–	New Orleans Saints
11th	13	289	Frank Case	Defensive end	Kansas City Chiefs

References

1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. Gadsden Times. 1980 Oct 19. Retrieved 2018-Dec-16.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-04-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).