1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football
National champion (Dunkel)
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 26–10 vs. USC
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
1981 record10–2
Head coach
  • Joe Paterno (16th season)
Offensive coordinatorDick Anderson
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 83,770)
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Pittsburgh   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
No. 3 Penn State   –   –   10 – 2 – 0
No. 8 Miami (FL)   –   –   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 State   –   –   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.[1] The team was selected national champion by Dunkel, an NCAA-designated major selector,[2] while Clemson was the consensus national champion.

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 12CincinnatiNo. 9
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN (tape delay)W 52–084,342
September 26at No. 15 NebraskaNo. 3
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Lincoln, NE
ESPN (tape delay)W 30–2476,308
October 3TempleNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 30–084,562
October 10Boston CollegedaggerNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN (tape delay)W 38–784,473
October 17at SyracuseNo. 2
W 41–1650,037
October 24West VirginiaNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPN (tape delay)W 30–785,012
October 31at MiamiNo. 1
  • Miami Orange Bowl
  • Miami, FL
ABC NationalL 14–1732,117
November 7at North Carolina StateNo. 6
W 22–1548,800
November 14No. 6 AlabamaNo. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABC RegionalL 16–3185,133
November 21Notre DameNo. 13
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN (tape delay)W 24–2184,175
November 28at No. 1 PittsburghNo. 11
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
ABC NationalW 48–1460,260
January 1, 1982vs. No. 8 USCNo. 7
NBCW 26–1071,053
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 14 Todd Blackledge Jr
TE 80 Kirk Bowman So
T 79 Bill Contz Jr
G 62 Sean Farrell Sr
WR 19 Gregg Garrity Jr
T 72 Ron Heller So
WR 82 Kenny Jackson So
TE 85 Vyto Kab Sr
TE 81 Mike McCloskey Jr
RB 38 Mike Meade Sr
G 78 Mike Munchak Sr
C 53 Jim Romano Sr
FB 43 Jon Williams So
RB 25 Curt Warner Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 30 Matt Bradley Sr
Hero 17 Harry Hamilton So
CB 49 Roger Jackson Jr
LB 98 Ken Kelley Jr
CB 12 Paul Lankford Sr
LB 37 Walker Lee Ashley Jr
LB 94 Chet Parlavecchio Jr
LB 97 Scott Radecic So
DT 61 Leo Wisniewski Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 10 Brian Franco Sr
P 21 Ralph Giacomarro Jr
Head coach
  • Joe Paterno
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries[]

at Nebraska[]

Penn State at #15 Nebraska
1 234Total
• #3 Penn State 3 14310 30
#15 Nebraska 0 10140 24
  • Date: September 26
  • Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Game attendance: 76,308
See also: 1981 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Boston College[]

1 234Total
Boston College 0 007 7
• Penn St 10 1477 38
  • Date: October 10
  • Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA
  • Game attendance: 84,473

[3]

Notre Dame[]

Notre Dame at #13 Penn St
1 234Total
Notre Dame 7 770 21
• Penn St 14 307 24
  • Date: Saturday, November 21
  • Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
  • Game attendance: 84,175

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

Pittsburgh[]

#11 Penn St at #1 Pittsburgh
1 234Total
• Penn St 0 141717 48
Pittsburgh 14 000 14
  • Date: Saturday, November 28
  • Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Game attendance: 60,260
  • TV announcers (ABC Sports): Bill Flemming, Darrell Royal, and Steve Zabriskie
  • Source:

The Nittany Lions snapped the Panthers' 17-game winning streak in convincing fashion.[4]

vs. USC (Fiesta Bowl)[]

#7 Penn State vs. #8 USC
1 234Total
• No. 7 Nittany Lions 7 1090 26
No. 8 Trojans 7 030 10
  • Date: January 1, 1982
  • Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
  • Game attendance: 71,053
  • TV announcers (NBC Sports): Charlie Jones, Len Dawson
  • Source:
Main article: 1982 Fiesta Bowl
See also: 1981 USC Trojans football team

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 – Los Angeles Raiders

Awards[]

  • Joe Paterno
Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award

References[]

  1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. p. 114. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  3. ^ Eugene-Register Guard. 1981 Oct 11.
  4. ^ John Feinstein (November 29, 1981). "Penn State Stuns No. 1 Pitt. 48-14. Bryant Wins No. 315". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
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