1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football
National champion (Dunkel) Eastern champion Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 26–10 vs. USC
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	10–2
Head coach	Joe Paterno (16th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dick Anderson (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (5th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium

1981 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Penn State $	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Pittsburgh	5	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 17 West Virginia	3	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Temple	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Syracuse	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Boston College	1	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Rutgers	1	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	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 as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 16th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 10–2. Penn State was invited to the Fiesta Bowl, where the Nittany Lions defeated USC. The team was selected national champion by Dunkel, an NCAA-designated major selector,^[1] while Clemson, who finished the season 12–0, was the consensus national champion.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	1:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN (tape delay)	W 52–0	84,342	[2]
September 26	2:30 p.m.	at No. 15 Nebraska	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN (tape delay)	W 30–24	76,308	[3]
October 3	1:30 p.m.	Temple	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 30–0	84,562	[4]
October 10	1:30 p.m.	Boston College	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN (tape delay)	W 38–7	84,473	[5]
October 17	1:30 p.m.	at Syracuse	No. 2	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)		W 41–16	50,037	[6]
October 24	1:30 p.m.	West Virginia	No. 1	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN (tape delay)	W 30–7	85,012	[7]
October 31	4:00 p.m.	at Miami (FL)	No. 1	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ABC	L 14–17	32,117	[8]
November 7	1:00 p.m.	at NC State	No. 6	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		W 22–15	48,800	[9]
November 14	12:20 p.m.	No. 6 Alabama	No. 5	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC regional	L 16–31	85,133	[10]
November 21	1:00 p.m.	Notre Dame	No. 13	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN (tape delay)	W 24–21	84,175	[11]
November 28	12:25 p.m.	at No. 1 Pittsburgh	No. 11	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 48–14	60,260	[12]
January 1, 1982	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 8 USC	No. 7	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	W 26–10	71,053	[13]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At Nebraska

Penn State at #15 Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total • #3 Penn State 3 14 3 10 30 #15 Nebraska 0 10 14 0 24 Date: September 26 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,308

See also: 1981 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Boston College

1 2 3 4 Total Boston College 0 0 0 7 7 • Penn St 10 14 7 7 38 Date: October 10 Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA Game attendance: 84,473

Scoring summary Q1 PSU Warner 7 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 7–0 Q1 PSU Franco 33 yard field goal PSU 10–0 Q2 PSU Meade 1 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 17–0 Q2 PSU Jackson 39 yard pass from Blackledge (Franco kick) PSU 24–0 Q3 PSU Warner 1 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 31–0 Q4 PSU Williams 36 yard run (Franco kick) PSU 38–0 Q4 BC Nizolek 23 yard pass from Flutie (Cooper kick) PSU 38–7

^[14]

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at #13 Penn St

1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 7 7 7 0 21 • Penn St 14 3 0 7 24 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania Game attendance: 84,175 Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary 1 PSU Williams 4-yard run (Franco kick) PSU 7–0 1 ND Carter 1-yard run (Oliver kick) Tied 7–7 1 PSU Blackledge 1-yard run (Franco kick) PSU 14–7 2 PSU Franco 27-yard field goal PSU 17–7 2 ND Hunter 17-yard pass from Kiel (Oliver kick) PSU 17–14 3 ND Sweeney 4-yard pass from Kiel (Oliver kick) ND 21–17 4 3:48 PSU Blackledge 1-yard run (Franco kick) PSU 24–21

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

Pittsburgh

#11 Penn St at #1 Pittsburgh

1 2 3 4 Total • Penn St 0 14 17 17 48 Pittsburgh 14 0 0 0 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.^[15]

Vs. USC (Fiesta Bowl)

#7 Penn State vs. #8 USC

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 7 Nittany Lions 7 10 9 0 26 No. 8 Trojans 7 0 3 0 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

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 OT 79 Bill Contz Jr G 62 Sean Farrell Sr WR 19 Gregg Garrity Jr OT 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 Dick Anderson John Bove Tom Bradley Booker Brooks Fran Ganter Bob Phillips John Rosenberg Jerry Sandusky Jim Williams Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

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	Linebacker	Houston Oilers
10th	12	263	Rich D'Amico	Linebacker	Los Angeles Raiders

Awards

• Joe Paterno

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award

References

1. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. p. 114. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
2. "Lions impressive in 1981 opener". The Sunday Times. September 13, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Penn State tailback runs over Nebraska". The Kansas City Star. September 27, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "State stuffs Owls in 'funny game'". The Patriot-News. October 4, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Penn St. Crushes B.C. 38–7". The Palm Beach Post. October 11, 1981. p. E6. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Penn St. wallops Syracuse 41–16". The Journal News. October 18, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Warner substitute leads Penn State past W. Va". Sunday News Journal. October 25, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Miami upsets Penn State, 17–14". Sunday News. November 1, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Lions stave off Wolfpack". The Tampa Tribune. November 8, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Penn State falls to Alabama, 31–16". Sunday News. November 15, 1981. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Notre Dame inches and 3 points shy at Penn State". The Cincinnati Enquirer. November 22, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Penn State stuns top-ranked Pitt". The Times and Democrat. November 29, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Penn State pounds USC in Fiesta Bowl". The Arizona Republic. January 2, 1982. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Eugene-Register Guard. 1981 Oct 11.
15. John Feinstein (November 29, 1981). "Penn State Stuns No. 1 Pitt. 48-14. Bryant Wins No. 315". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2017.