1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1971 NCAA University Division independents football records
	Rankings from AP Poll

1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football
1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy; Cotton Bowl champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 30–6 vs. Texas
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 5
1971 record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (6th season);
Captains	Dave Joyner; Charlie Zapiec;
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium; (Capacity: 48,284)
	Seasons ← 1970 1972 →

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[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 18	at Navy	No. 14	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 56–3	26,855
September 25	at Iowa	No. 12	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	ABC	W 44–14	44,303
October 2	Air Force	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 16–14	50,459
October 9	Army	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 42–0	49,887
October 16	at Syracuse	No. 9	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)		W 31–0	41,382
October 23	TCU	No. 7	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 66–14	51,896
October 30	at West Virginia	No. 6	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)		W 35–7	37,000
November 6	Maryland	No. 6	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 63–27	50,144
November 13	NC State	No. 5	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 35–3	50,477
November 20	at Pittsburgh	No. 6	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)		W 55–18	39,539
December 4	at No. 12 Tennessee	No. 5	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN^[2]	ABC	L 11–31	59,542
January 1, 1972	vs. No. 12 Texas	No. 10	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX^[3]^[4] (Cotton Bowl)	CBS	W 30–6	72,000
Homecoming 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
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	3	4	Total
Penn St	0	3	0	8	11
Tennessee	7	14	0	10	31

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

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

Game information

First quarter

TENN – Conrad Graham 76-yard fumble return (George Hunt kick). Tennessee 7–0.

Second quarter

PSU – Alberto Vitello 27-yard field goal. Tennessee 7–3. Drive:
TENN – Bill Rudder 1-yard run (George Hunt kick). Tennessee 14–3. Drive: 5 plays, 15 yards.
TENN – Bobby Majors 44-yard punt return (George Hunt kick). Tennessee 21–3.

Fourth quarter

TENN – George Hunt 21-yard field goal. Tennessee 24–3. Drive:
TENN – Jackie Walker 43-yard interception return (George Hunt kick). Tennessee 31–3.
PSU – Lydell Mitchell 14-yard pass from John Hufnagel (run good). Tennessee 31–11. Drive:

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[]

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

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[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.

[vfltli-2] "Vols flatten Lions". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 5, 1971. p. 1, sports.

[twbcith-3] "Texas Wishbone catches in throat". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1972. p. 61.

[scttx-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.

[1]

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v t Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse Temple West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game Penn State child sex abuse scandal 2016 Ohio State game Paterno White Out 2021 Illinois game
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
National championship seasons in bold

1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy Cotton Bowl champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 30–6 vs. Texas
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 5
1971 record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (6th season)
Captains	Dave Joyner Charlie Zapiec
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 48,284)
Seasons ← 1970 1972 →

1971 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t	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