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1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football
1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion ; Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 50–39 vs. BYU
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 15
Record	8–3–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (24th season);
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (13th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
	Seasons ← 1988 1990 →

1989 Major eastern college football independents records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 15 Penn State $	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh	4	–	1	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia	3	–	1	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse	3	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Temple	1	–	4	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Rutgers	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	2
Boston College	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1989 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Notre Dame		–		12	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Florida State		–		10	–	2	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Penn State		–		8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh		–		8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia		–		8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse		–		8	–	4	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		7	–	4	–	0
Akron		–		6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina		–		6	–	4	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		6	–	4	–	1
Louisiana Tech		–		5	–	4	–	1
Army		–		6	–	5	–	0
Louisville		–		6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina		–		5	–	5	–	1
Tulsa		–		6	–	6	–	0
Southern Miss		–		5	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		4	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers		–		2	–	7	–	2
Boston College		–		2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati		–		1	–	9	–	1
Temple		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1989 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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	1:00 p.m.	Virginia	No. 12	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 6–14	85,956	^[2]
September 16	1:00 p.m.	Temple		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 42–3	84,790
September 23	1:00 p.m.	Boston College		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 7–3	85,651
September 30	8:00 p.m.	at Texas		Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 16–12	75,232
October 7	1:00 p.m.	at Rutgers		Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 17–0	57,688
October 14	4:00 p.m.	at Syracuse	No. 23	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	ESPN	W 34–12	49,876
October 28	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Alabama	No. 14	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	CBS	L 16–17	85,975	^[3]
November 4	4:00 p.m.	No. 13 West Virginia	No. 16	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 19–9	85,911	^[4]
November 11	1:00 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)		T 13–13	61,215	^[5]
November 18	2:30 p.m.	No. 1 Notre Dame	No. 17	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	CBS	L 23–34	86,016
November 25	12:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Pittsburgh	No. 22	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	CBS	W 16–13	57,158
December 29	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 19 BYU	No. 18	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 50–39	61,113
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Virginia

Temple

Boston College

At Texas

vs Rutgers

At Syracuse

Alabama

West Virginia

At Maryland

Notre Dame

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10–0) at #17 Penn State Nittany Lions (6–2–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	7	14	7	6	34
Penn St	7	3	7	6	23

at Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania

Date: November 18, 1989
Game time: 2:30 p.m.
Game attendance: 86,025
TV: CBS
Recap/Box

Game information

First quarter

PSU – Blair Thomas 2-yard run (Ray Tarasi kick), 8:04. Penn St 7–0. Drive: 79 yards.
ND – Tony Rice 5-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 2:19. Tie 7–7. Drive: 13 plays, 65 yards.

Second quarter

PSU – Ray Tarasi 38-yard field goal, 13:46. Penn St 10–7.
ND – Ricky Watters 12-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 11:35. Notre Dame 14–10. Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards.
ND – Anthony Johnson 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 5:27. Notre Dame 21–10.

Third quarter

ND – Tony Rice 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 8:42. Notre Dame 28–10. Drive: 6 plays.
PSU – Blair Thomas 3-yard run (Ray Tarasi kick), 4:49. Notre Dame 28–17. Drive: 79 yards.

Fourth quarter

ND – Billy Hackett 22-yard field goal, 13:33. Notre Dame 31–17.
ND – Billy Hackett 19-yard field goal, 6:53. Notre Dame 34–17.
PSU – Terry Smith 5-yard pass from Tom Bill (run failed), 4:31. Notre Dame 34–23.

Top passers

ND – Tony Rice – 5/10, 47 yards, INT
PSU – Tom Bill – 6/14, 56 yards, TD

Top rushers

ND – Tony Rice – 26 rushes, 141 yards, 2 TD
PSU – Blair Thomas – 26 rushes, 133 yards, 2 TD

Top receivers

ND – Raghib Ismail – 2 receptions, 27 yards
PSU – O.J. McDuffie – 2 receptions, 37 yards

At Pittsburgh

Holiday Bowl (vs BYU)

Personnel

1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`20`	Richie Anderson	Fr
QB	`12`	Tom Bill	Jr
FB	`27`	Gary Brown	Jr
RB	`23`	Gerry Collins
WR	`26`	David Daniels	Jr
C	`78`	Roger Duffy	Sr
OL		Tim Freeman
FB	`11`	Sam Gash	So
RB	`34`	John Gerak	So
TE		Al Golden
TE		David Jakob
OL	`57`	Sean Love	Sr
OL		Matt McCartin
WR		O.J. McDuffie
OL		Ed Monaghan
QB		Matt Nardolillo
RB		Brian O'Neal
WR		Rich Rosa
QB	`19`	Tony Sacca	So
C		E. J. Sandusky	So
OT	`76`	Paul Siever	Jr
WR	`8`	Terry Smith	So
G	`79`	Dave Szott	Sr
RB	`32`	Blair Thomas	Sr
RB	`44`	Leroy Thompson	Jr
TE	`80`	Todd Young	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`13`	Matt Baggott	So
DL		Todd Burger
LB		Brian Chizmar
LB	`31`	Andre Collins	Sr
LB	`38`	Mark D'Onofrio	So
DL		Jim Deter
DT	`85`	Frank Giannetti	Jr
LB		Reggie Givens
LB	`42`	Keith Goganious	So
DB		Hernon Henderson
DB	`6`	Leonard Humphries	So
LB		Geoff Lapchen
S	`9`	Darren Perry	So
DB		Sherrod Rainge
DL	`75`	Rich Schonewolf	Sr
DB	`25`	Willie Thomas	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`4`	Doug Helkowski	Sr
K		Ray Tarasi

Head coach

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Fran Ganter (OC)
Jerry Sandusky (DC)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1990 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	2	2	Blair Thomas	Running back	New York Jets
2nd	21	46	Andre Collins	Linebacker	Washington Redskins
7th	15	180	David Szott	Offensive guard	Kansas City Chiefs
8th	3	196	Roger Duffy	Offensive guard	New York Jets

References

^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
^ "Penn State shocked in opener, 14–6". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 10, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Blocked kick shocks Lions". The Times Leader. October 29, 1989. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Lions jump on Major mistakes". The Times Leader. November 5, 1989. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Penn State views tie as a loss". The South Bend Tribune. November 12, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.