1987 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1987 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Florida Citrus Bowl, L 10–35 vs. Clemson
Conference	Independent
1987 record	8–4
Head coach	Joe Paterno (22nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 83,370)
Seasons

1987 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)		–		–				12	–	0	–	0
No. 4 Syracuse		–		–				11	–	0	–	1
No. 2 Florida State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 15 South Carolina		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
No. 17 Notre Dame		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Memphis		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Northern Illinois		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
West Virginia		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Boston College		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Akron		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Temple		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Penn State University during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	Bowling Green	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 45–19	84,574
September 12	No. 19 Alabama	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	CBS	L 13–24	85,619
September 19	Cincinnati	No. 20	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 41–0	82,000
September 26	at Boston College	No. 15	Sullivan Stadium Foxborough, MA	ESPN	W 27–17	50,267
October 3	Temple	No. 14	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 27–13	84,000
October 10	Rutgers	No. 14	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 35–21	85,376
October 17	at No. 13 Syracuse	No. 10	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	CBS	L 21–48	50,011
October 31	West Virginia	No. 18	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 25–21	85,108
November 7	at Maryland	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)		W 21–16	62,500
November 14	at Pittsburgh	No. 15	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 0–10	56,500
November 21	No. 7 Notre Dame		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	CBS	W 21–20	84,000
January 1, 1988	vs. No. 14 Clemson	No. 20	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC National	L 10–35	53,152
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Notre Dame

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 7 0 7 6 20 • Penn St 7 7 0 7 21 Date: November 21 Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania Game attendance: 84,000 Scoring summary Q1 PSU Greene 10 yard run (Taurasi kick) PSU 7–0 Q1 ND Rice 32 yard run (Gradel kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 PSU Thomas 1 yard run (Etze kick) PSU 14–7 Q3 ND Rice 11 yard run (Gradel kick) Tie 14–14 Q4 PSU Greene 3 yard run (Taurasi kick) PSU 21–14 Q4 ND Johnson 1 yard run (run failed) PSU 21–20

• Blair Thomas 35 Rush, 214 Yds

Roster

1987 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 9 Alexander, MikeMike Alexander 7.0 !Sr QB 12 Bill, TomTom Bill 1.0 !Fr T 74 Clayton, StanStan Clayton 7.0 !Sr WR 26 Daniels, DavidDavid Daniels 1.0 !Fr C 78 Duffy, RogerRoger Duffy 3.0 !So TE 89 Mrosko, BobBob Mrosko 5.0 !Jr WR 6 Roundtree, RayRay Roundtree 7.0 !Sr WR 79 Szott, DaveDave Szott 3.0 !So RB 32 Thomas, BlairBlair Thomas 3.0 !So WR 5 Timpson, MichaelMichael Timpson 5.0 !Jr G 66 Wisniewski, SteveSteve Wisniewski 5.0 !Jr C 72 Wolf, MikeMike Wolf 7.0 !Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 35 Bauer, TreyTrey Bauer 7.0 !Sr LB 31 Collins, AndreAndre Collins 3.0 !So DT 85 Giannetti, FrankFrank Giannetti 1.0 !Fr LB 90 Giftopoulos, PetePete Giftopoulos 7.0 !Sr S 3 Henderson, MarquesMarques Henderson 7.0 !Sr LB 84 Karpinski, KeithKeith Karpinski 5.0 !Jr LB 92 McDonald, QuintusQuintus McDonald 5.0 !Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1988 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
3rd	3	58	Ray Roundtree	Wide receiver	Detroit Lions
8th	6	199	Mike Alexander	Wide receiver	Los Angeles Raiders
10th	1	250	Stan Clayton	Offensive tackle	Atlanta Falcons
11th	11	289	Pete Curkendall	–	Buffalo Bills