1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football
National champion (Dunkel) Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 26–10 vs. USC
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
1981 record	10–2
Head coach	Joe Paterno (16th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dick Anderson
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 83,770)
Seasons

1981 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Penn State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Miami		–		–				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		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	Cincinnati	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN (tape delay)	W 52–0	84,342
September 26	at No. 15 Nebraska	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN (tape delay)	W 30–24	76,308
October 3	Temple	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 30–0	84,562
October 10	Boston College	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN (tape delay)	W 38–7	84,473
October 17	at Syracuse	No. 2	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)		W 41–16	50,037
October 24	West Virginia	No. 1	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN (tape delay)	W 30–7	85,012
October 31	at Miami	No. 1	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ABC National	L 14–17	32,117
November 7	at North Carolina State	No. 6	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		W 22–15	48,800
November 14	No. 6 Alabama	No. 5	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC Regional	L 16–31	85,133
November 21	Notre Dame	No. 13	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN (tape delay)	W 24–21	84,175
November 28	at No. 1 Pittsburgh	No. 11	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC National	W 48–14	60,260
January 1, 1982	vs. No. 8 USC	No. 7	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	W 26–10	71,053
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Boston College

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Boston College 0 0 0 7 7 • Penn St 10 14 7 7 38 Date: October 10 Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA Game attendance: 84,473 Scoring summary Q1 PSU Warner 7 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 7–0 Q1 PSU Franco 33 yard field goal PSU 10–0 Q2 PSU Meade 1 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 17–0 Q2 PSU Jackson 39 yard pass from Blackledge (Franco kick) PSU 24–0 Q3 PSU Warner 1 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 31–0 Q4 PSU Williams 36 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 38–0 Q4 BC Nizolek 23 yard pass from Flutie (Cooper kick) PSU 38–7

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at #13 Penn St

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 7 7 7 0 21 • Penn St 14 3 0 7 24 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania Game attendance: 84,175 Source: Eugene Register-Guard Scoring summary 1 PSU Williams 4-yard run (Franco kick) PSU 7–0 1 ND Carter 1-yard run (Oliver kick) Tied 7–7 1 PSU Blackledge 1-yard run (Franco kick) PSU 14–7 2 PSU Franco 27-yard field goal PSU 17–7 2 ND Hunter 17-yard pass from Kiel (Oliver kick) PSU 17–14 3 ND Sweeney 4-yard pass from Kiel (Oliver kick) ND 21–17 4 3:48 PSU Blackledge 1-yard run (Franco kick) PSU 24–21

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

Pittsburgh

#11 Penn St at #1 Pittsburgh

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total • Penn St 0 14 17 17 48 Pittsburgh 14 0 0 0 14 Date: Saturday, November 28 Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game attendance: 60,260 Source:

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

Roster

1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 14 Blackledge, ToddTodd Blackledge 5.0 !Jr TE 80 Bowman, KirkKirk Bowman 3.0 !So T 79 Contz, BillBill Contz 5.0 !Jr G 62 Farrell, SeanSean Farrell 7.0 !Sr WR 19 Garrity, GreggGregg Garrity 5.0 !Jr T 72 Heller, RonRon Heller 3.0 !So WR 82 Jackson, KennyKenny Jackson 3.0 !So TE 85 Kab, VytoVyto Kab 7.0 !Sr RB 38 Meade, MikeMike Meade 7.0 !Sr G 78 Munchak, MikeMike Munchak 7.0 !Sr C 53 Romano, JimJim Romano 7.0 !Sr FB 43 Williams, JonJon Williams 3.0 !So RB 25 Warner, CurtCurt Warner 5.0 !Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 30 Bradley, MattMatt Bradley 7.0 !Sr Hero 17 Hamilton, HarryHarry Hamilton 3.0 !So CB 49 Jackson, RogerRoger Jackson 5.0 !Jr LB 98 Kelley, KenKen Kelley 5.0 !Jr CB 12 Lankford, PaulPaul Lankford 7.0 !Sr LB 37 Lee Ashley, WalkerWalker Lee Ashley 5.0 !Jr LB 94 Parlavecchio, ChetChet Parlavecchio 5.0 !Jr LB 97 Radecic, ScottScott Radecic 3.0 !So DT 61 Wisniewski, LeoLeo Wisniewski 7.0 !Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Franco, BrianBrian Franco 7.0 !Sr P 21 Giacomarro, RalphRalph Giacomarro 5.0 !Jr	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

NFL Draft

Ten Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1982 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	8	8	Mike Munchak	Offensive guard	Houston Oilers
1st	17	17	Sean Farrell	Offensive guard	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2nd	1	28	Leo Wisniewski	Nose tackle	Baltimore Colts
2nd	10	37	Jim Romano	Center	Los Angeles Raiders
3rd	23	78	Vyto Kab	Tight end	Philadelphia Eagles
3rd	25	80	Paul Lankford	Defensive back	Miami Dolphins
5th	15	126	Mike Meade	Running back	Green Bay Packers
6th	13	152	Chet Parlavecchio	Linebacker	Green Bay Packers
9th	11	234	Matt Bradley	–	Houston Oilers
10th	12	263	Rich D'Amico	–	Los Angeles Raiders

Awards

• Joe Paterno

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award