1940 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1940 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–1–1
Head coach	Bob Higgins (11th season)
Captain	Leon Gajecki
Home stadium	New Beaver Field

1940 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Boston College			–					11	–	0	–	0
Duquesne			–					7	–	1	–	0
No. 14 Penn			–					6	–	1	–	1
Penn State			–					6	–	1	–	1
No. 12 Fordham			–					7	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Cornell			–					6	–	2	–	0
La Salle			–					6	–	2	–	0
Princeton			–					5	–	2	–	1
Columbia			–					5	–	2	–	2
Brown			–					6	–	3	–	1
Bucknell			–					4	–	2	–	2
Boston University			–					5	–	3	–	0
Colgate			–					5	–	3	–	0
Hofstra			–					4	–	3	–	0
Harvard			–					3	–	2	–	3
Dartmouth			–					5	–	4	–	0
Temple			–					4	–	4	–	1
Tufts			–					4	–	4	–	0
Vermont			–					4	–	4	–	0
Villanova			–					4	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	4	–	1
Syracuse			–					3	–	4	–	1
Buffalo			–					3	–	5	–	0
Carnegie Tech			–					3	–	5	–	0
Manhattan			–					3	–	6	–	0
Providence			–					3	–	6	–	0
NYU			–					2	–	7	–	0
Yale			–					1	–	7	–	0
Army			–					1	–	7	–	1
CCNY			–					1	–	5	–	1
Massachusetts State			–					1	–	8	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1940 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State College in the 1940 college football season. The team was coached by Bob Higgins.

Penn State was ranked at No. 52 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940.^[1]

The team played its home games in New Beaver Field in State College, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 5	Bucknell		New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 9–0	12,091	[2]
October 12	West Virginia		New Beaver Field State College, PA (rivalry)	W 17–13	10,574–13,000	[3]
October 19	at Lehigh		Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 34–0	3,000	[4]
October 26	at Temple		Temple Stadium Philadelphia, PA	W 18–0	25,000	[5]
November 2	South Carolina	No. 18	New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 12–0	9,346	[6]
November 9	at Syracuse	No. 16	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	T 13–13	15,000
November 16	NYU	No. 20	New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 25–0	9,449	[7]
November 23	at Pittsburgh	No. 20	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	L 7–20	30,083
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

1. Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 19, 1940). "Final 1940 Litkenhous Ratings". The Boston Globe. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "State Topples Bucknell, 9-0, In Opener". Centre Daily Times. October 7, 1940. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Penn State tabs West Virginia U. by score of 17–13". Sunday News. October 13, 1940. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Penn State Power Tops Lehigh, 34-0". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. October 20, 1940. p. S3.
5. Stan Baumgartner (October 27, 1940). "Penn State Eleven Overpowers Temple Owls in 18 to 0 Clash". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. S1 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Penn State remains in unbeaten ranks topping S. Carolina". The Baltimore Sun. November 3, 1940. Retrieved December 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Unbeaten Penn State sinks N.Y.U., 25–0". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 17, 1940. p. 43. Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.