1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Cotton Bowl champion
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 5
1971 record11–1
Head coach
  • Joe Paterno (6th season)
Captains
  • Dave Joyner
  • Charlie Zapiec
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 48,284)
Seasons
← 1970
1972 →
1971 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Penn State     11 1 0
Boston College     9 2 0
No. 17 Houston     9 3 0
No. 13 Notre Dame     8 2 0
Utah State     8 3 0
Florida State     8 4 0
Cincinnati     7 4 0
West Virginia     7 4 0
Temple     6 2 1
Air Force     6 4 0
Army     6 4 0
Colgate     6 4 0
Villanova     6 4 1
South Carolina     6 5 0
Southern Miss     6 5 0
Georgia Tech     6 6 0
New Mexico State     5 5 1
Northern Illinois     5 5 1
Syracuse     5 5 1
Dayton     5 6 0
Holy Cross     4 6 0
Miami (FL)     4 7 0
Rutgers     4 7 0
Virginia Tech     4 7 0
Navy     3 8 0
Pittsburgh     3 8 0
Tulane     3 8 0
Marshall     2 8 0
Xavier     1 9 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1971 NCAA University Division football season.[1] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 18at NavyNo. 14W 56–326,855
September 25at IowaNo. 12
  • Iowa Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
ABCW 44–1444,303
October 2Air ForceNo. 9
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 16–1450,459
October 9ArmyNo. 9
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 42–049,887
October 16at SyracuseNo. 9W 31–041,382
October 23TCUdaggerNo. 7
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 66–1451,896
October 30at West VirginiaNo. 6
W 35–737,000
November 6MarylandNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 63–2750,144
November 13NC StateNo. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 35–350,477
November 20at PittsburghNo. 6
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
W 55–1839,539
December 4at No. 12 TennesseeNo. 5
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN[2]
ABCL 11–3159,542
January 1, 1972vs. No. 12 TexasNo. 10
CBSW 30–672,000
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB Ken Andrews
OL Mike Botts
C 50 Rick Brown Jr
RB Carl Cayette
WR Glen Cole
WR Gary Debes
RB Tom Donchez
OL Don Gersh
OT 77 Charlie Getty So
RB 34 Franco Harris Sr
WR Chuck Herd So
QB 16 John Hufnagel Jr
TE John Hull
QB Steve Joachim
OL Dave Joyner (C)
OL Bob Knetchel
QB Jack Koniszewski
OL Craig Lyle
RB 23 Lydell Mitchell Sr
RB Bob Nagle
TE, P 86 Bob Parsons Sr
TE 40 Bob Rickenbach Sr
OG 69 Carl Schaukowitch Jr
WR Jim Scott
WR Scott Skarzynski
RB Steve Stilley
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL Frank Ahrenhold
DL Jack Aumiller
DE 83 Bruce Bannon Jr
DL John Booth
DB 22 John Cappelletti So
DT 53 Randy Crowder So
DB Gregg Ducatte
DB Buddy Ellis
LB Gary Gray
DL Gary Hager
DL Jim Heller
LB Tom Hull
DL 47 Jim Laslavic Jr
DB Chuck Mesko
LB 89 Ed O'Neil So
LB Paul Pasqualoni
DE 81 John Skorupan Jr
LB Jim Trent
LB 60 Charlie Zapiec (C) Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K Alberto Vitello
Head coach
  • Joe Paterno
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries[]

Air Force[]

Alberto Vitiello, a 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) junior college transfer, kicked a 22-yard field goal with four minutes to help Penn State escape with a 16–14 victory over Air Force.

[5]

Tennessee[]

#5 Penn State Nittany Lions (10–0) at #12 Tennessee Volunteers (8–2)
1 2 34Total
Penn St 0 3 0811
Tennessee 7 14 01031

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

  • Date: December 4, 1971
  • Game attendance: 54,529
  • TV: ABC
  • Ocala Star-Banner, 1971 Dec 05.

NFL Draft[]

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1972 NFL Draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
1st 13 13 Franco Harris Running back Pittsburgh Steelers
2nd 22 48 Lydell Mitchell Running back Baltimore Colts
4th 15 93 Charles Zapiec Dallas Cowboys
5th 13 117 Bob Parsons Punter Chicago Bears

References[]

  1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1970-1974)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Vols flatten Lions". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 5, 1971. p. 1, sports.
  3. ^ "Texas Wishbone catches in throat". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1972. p. 61.
  4. ^ "Penn State scuttles Texas for 30-6 Cotton Bowl win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1972. p. 1, sports.
  5. ^ "Penn State Edges Air Force on Field Goal." Palm Beach Post. 1971 Oct 3.


Retrieved from ""