American college football season
1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football Conference Independent Coaches No. 4 AP No. 5 1977 record 11–1 Head coach Joe Paterno (12th season)Defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky (1st season as DC; 9th overall season)Captains
John Dunn
Steve Geise
Ron Hostetler
Randy Sidler
Home stadium Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 60,203)Seasons
The 1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season . 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 at Rutgers No. 13 Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ W 45–764,790
September 17 No. 9 Houston No. 10 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA W 31–1462,554
September 24 Maryland No. 5 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry ) ABC W 27–962,079
October 1 Kentucky No. 4 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA L 20–2462,196
October 8 Utah State No. 10 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA W 16–762,015
October 15 at Syracuse No. 10 W 31–2427,029
October 22 West Virginia No. 10 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry ) W 49–2862,108
October 29 Miami (FL) No. 9 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA W 49–761,853
November 5 at NC State No. 9 W 21–1744,800
November 12 Temple No. 9 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry ) W 44–761,327
November 26 at No. 10 Pittsburgh No. 9 Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry )ABC W 15–1356,500
vs. No. 15 Arizona State No. 8 CBS W 42–3057,766
HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Roster [ ]
1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Pos.
#
Name
Class
DB
25
Tom Bradley
Jr
DE
54
Bruce Clark
So
LB
95
Tom DePaso
Sr
S
27
Pete Harris
So
DE
74
Larry Kubin
Fr
DT
57
Pete Kugler
Fr
LB
56
Lance Mehl
So
LB
60
Matt Millen
So
DE
28
Rich Milot
Jr
DT
78
Randy Sidler
Sr
Special teams
Pos.
#
Name
Class
K
10
Matt Bahr
Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Roster
Game summaries [ ]
Miami (FL) [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Miami (FL)
0
0 0 7
7
• Penn St
7
28 14 0
49
Date: October 29Location: Beaver Stadium • University Park, PennsylvaniaGame attendance: 61,853
Scoring summary 1 PSU Guthrie 56-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick) Penn St 7-0
2 PSU Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick) Penn St 14-0
2 PSU Torrey 3-yard run (Bahr kick) Penn St 21-0
2 PSU Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick) Penn St 28-0
2 PSU Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick) Penn St 35-0
3 PSU Fitzkee 72-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick) Penn St 42-0
3 PSU LaPointe 17-yard pass from Capozzolli (Bahr kick) Penn St 49-0
4 MIA Hobbs 3-yard pass from McMillian (Dennis kick) Penn St 49-7
[2]
Fiesta Bowl [ ]
Fiesta Bowl #15 Arizona State vs. #8 Penn State
1
2 3 4 Total
Arizona St
0
14 0 16
30
• Penn St
14
3 7 18
42
Date: December 25Location: Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ Game attendance: 57,727Television network: CBS
Scoring summary 1 PSU Lally 21-yard blocked punt return (Bahr kick) Penn St 7-0
1 PSU Torrey 3-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick) Penn St 14-0
2 ASU Lane 11-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick) Penn St 14-7
2 PSU Bahr 23-yard field goal Penn St 17-7
2 ASU Washington 13-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick) Penn St 17-14
3 PSU Geise 18-yard run (Bahr kick) Penn St 24-14
4 PSU Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick) Penn St 31-14
4 ASU Washington 30-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick) Penn St 31-21
4 PSU Bahr 32-yard field goal Penn St 34-21
4 ASU Perry 1-yard run (Hicks kick) Penn St 34-28
4 PSU Suhey 2-yard run (Geise run) Penn St 42-28
4 ASU Safety, Fitzkee runs out of end zone Penn St 42-30
[3]
Post season [ ]
NFL Draft [ ]
Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1978 NFL Draft .
Round
Pick
Overall
Name
Position
Team
3rd
5
61
Mickey Shuler
Tight end
New York Jets
3rd
25
81
Jimmy Cefalo
Wide receiver
Miami Dolphins
5th
4
113
Randy Sidler
–
New York Jets
6th
17
155
–
Cincinnati Bengals
9th
5
227
–
New York Jets
10th
17
267
Tom DePaso
Linebacker
Cincinnati Bengals
11th
25
303
–
Los Angeles Rams
References [ ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold