1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football
National champion (Dunkel)
Eastern champion
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 26–10 vs. USC
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record10–2
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDick Anderson
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 83,770)
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Penn State $ 6 – 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
Rankings from AP Poll
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
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

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 121:30 p.m.CincinnatiNo. 9
ESPN (tape delay)W 52–084,342
September 262:30 p.m.at No. 15 NebraskaNo. 3
ESPN (tape delay)W 30–2476,308
October 31:30 p.m.TempleNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 30–084,562
October 101:30 p.m.Boston CollegedaggerNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN (tape delay)W 38–784,473
October 171:30 p.m.at SyracuseNo. 2
W 41–1650,037
October 241:30 p.m.West VirginiaNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPN (tape delay)W 30–785,012[3]
October 314:00 p.m.at Miami (FL)No. 1
ABCL 14–1732,117
November 71:00 p.m.at NC StateNo. 6
W 22–1548,800[4]
November 1412:20 p.m.No. 6 AlabamaNo. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABC regionalL 16–3185,133[5]
November 211:00 p.m.Notre DameNo. 13
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPN (tape delay)W 24–2184,175
November 2812:25 p.m.at No. 1 PittsburghNo. 11
ABCW 48–1460,260
January 1, 19821:30 p.m.vs. No. 8 USCNo. 7
NBCW 26–1071,053

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
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

See also: 1981 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Boston College

1 234Total
Boston College 0 007 7
• Penn St 10 1477 38
Scoring summary
Q1PSUWarner 7 yard run (Franco kick)PSU 7–0
Q1PSUFranco 33 yard field goalPSU 10–0
Q2PSUMeade 1 yard run (Franco kick)PSU 17–0
Q2PSUJackson 39 yard pass from Blackledge (Franco kick)PSU 24–0
Q3PSUWarner 1 yard run (Franco kick)PSU 31–0
Q4PSUWilliams 36 yard run (Franco kick)PSU 38–0
Q4BCNizolek 23 yard pass from Flutie (Cooper kick)PSU 38–7

[6]

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at #13 Penn St
1 234Total
Notre Dame 7 770 21
• Penn St 14 307 24
Scoring summary
1PSUWilliams 4-yard run (Franco kick)PSU 7–0
1NDCarter 1-yard run (Oliver kick)Tied 7–7
1PSUBlackledge 1-yard run (Franco kick)PSU 14–7
2PSUFranco 27-yard field goalPSU 17–7
2NDHunter 17-yard pass from Kiel (Oliver kick)PSU 17–14
3NDSweeney 4-yard pass from Kiel (Oliver kick)ND 21–17
43:48PSUBlackledge 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 234Total
• Penn St 0 141717 48
Pittsburgh 14 000 14
  • Source:

The Nittany Lions snapped the Panthers' 17-game winning streak in convincing fashion.[7]

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

Awards

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. ^ "Warner substitute leads Penn State past W. Va". Sunday News Journal. October 25, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Lions stave off Wolfpack". The Tampa Tribune. November 8, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Penn State falls to Alabama, 31–16". Sunday News. November 15, 1981. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Eugene-Register Guard. 1981 Oct 11.
  7. ^ 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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