1991 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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1991 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Penn State text logo.svg
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 42–17 vs. Tennessee
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
1991 record11–2
Head coach
  • Joe Paterno (26th season)
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 93,967)
Seasons
← 1990
1992 →
1991 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 9 East Carolina     11 1 0
No. 4 Florida State     11 2 0
No. 3 Penn State     11 2 0
No. 21 Tulsa     10 2 0
Louisiana Tech     8 1 2
No. 13 Notre Dame     10 3 0
Akron     5 6 0
Memphis State     5 6 0
Army     4 7 0
Cincinnati     4 7 0
Southern Miss     4 7 0
South Carolina     3 6 2
Southwestern Louisiana     2 8 1
Louisville     2 9 0
Northern Illinois     2 9 0
Tulane     1 10 0
Navy     1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1991 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 28vs. No. 8 Georgia TechNo. 7
  • Giants Stadium
  • East Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic)
RaycomW 34–2277,409
September 7CincinnatiNo. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
PrimeW 81–094,000
September 14at USCNo. 5
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCL 10–2164,758
September 21BYUNo. 12
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ABCW 33–796,304
September 28Boston CollegeNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 28–2195,927
October 5at TempleNo. 12
  • Veterans Stadium
  • Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)
W 24–743,808
October 12at No. 2 Miami (FL)No. 9
  • Miami Orange Bowl
  • Miami, FL
ABCL 20–2675,723
October 19RutgersdaggerNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 37–1795,729
October 26West VirginiaNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPNW 51–696,445
November 9at MarylandNo. 9
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Baltimore, MD (rivalry)
W 47–757,416
November 16No. 12 Notre DameNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ABCW 35–1396,672
November 28at PittsburghNo. 6
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 32–2052,219
January 1, 1992vs. No. 10 TennesseeNo. 6NBCW 42–1771,133
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

1991 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 20 Richie Anderson Jr
T 67 Todd Burger Jr
RB 21 Gary Collins Sr
QB 12 Kerry Collins Fr
TE 18 Troy Drayton Jr
RB 11 Sam Gash Sr
G 57 John Gerak Jr
C 66 Greg Huntington Jr
WR 24 O. J. McDuffie Jr
T 71 Todd Rucci Jr
QB 17 John Sacca Fr
QB 19 Tony Sacca Sr
T 76 Paul Siever Sr
WR 30 Dan Skrip Sr
WR 8 Terry Smith Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
S 13 Matt Baggett Sr
DT 55 Lou Benfatti So
CB 3 Jeff Davis Fr
LB 38 Mark D'Onofrio Sr
LB 42 Keith Goganious Sr
LB 58 Reggie Givens Jr
CB 6 Leonard Humphries Sr
DT 97 Tyoka Jackson So
LB 99 Rich McKenzie Jr
S 9 Darren Perry Sr
DT 94 Eric Ravotti Jr
CB 15 Frank Yeboah-Kodie So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 4 Doug Helkowski Sr
Head coach
  • Joe Paterno
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP 7 5 5 12 10 т 12 9 10 8 8 9 8 7 6 6 3 
Coaches 8 5 5 14 12 12 9 15 11 10 10 9 7 6 5 3

Season summary[]

vs. Georgia Tech[]


at USC[]


BYU[]


  • Gerry Collins 27 Rush, 99 Yds
  • Penn State's defense sacked Ty Detmer six times and held BYU to single digits for first time since 1986

[2]

at Miami (FL)[]

#9 Penn State at #2 Miami (FL)
1 234Total
Nittany Lions 3 377 20
Hurricanes 3 3146 26
  • Date: October 12
  • Location: Miami Orange Bowl
  • Game attendance: 75,723
  • TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, Jack Arute


  • Fans watching on television outside of Florida missed two scores when the network switched to United States Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Notre Dame[]


vs. Tennessee (Fiesta Bowl)[]

#6 Penn State vs. #10 Tennessee
1 234Total
Nittany Lions 7 01421 42
Volunteers 10 070 17
  • Date: January 1
  • Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
  • Game attendance: 71,133
  • TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Todd Christensen


NFL Draft[]

Nine Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1992 NFL Draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
2nd 6 34 Mark D'Onofrio Linebacker Green Bay Packers
2nd 18 46 Tony Sacca Quarterback Phoenix Cardinals
3rd 18 74 Paul Siever Offensive guard Washington Redskins
3rd 27 83 Keith Goganious Linebacker Buffalo Bills
8th 7 203 Darren Perry Free safety Pittsburgh Steelers
8th 9 205 Sam Gash Running back New England Patriots
8th 13 209 Andre Powell Linebacker Miami Dolphins
8th 27 223 Leonard Humphries Cornerback Buffalo Bills
11th 28 308 Terry Smith Wide receiver Washington Redskins

References[]

  1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1990-1994)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1991 Sept 22. Retrieved 2015-Dec-03.
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