1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 42–30 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 5
Record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (12th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	John Dunn Steve Geise Ron Hostetler Randy Sidler
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons← 1976 1978 →

1977 NCAA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
North Texas State *		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 San Diego State		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	1	–	1
No. 14 Florida State		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh		–		–		9	–	2	–	1
East Carolina		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–		7	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	4	–	2
Georgia Tech		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Hawaii		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Miami (FL)		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Tulane		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–		2	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		2	–	9	–	0

North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	at Rutgers	No. 13	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 45–7	64,790
September 17	No. 9 Houston	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 31–14	62,554
September 24	Maryland	No. 5	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–9	62,079
October 1	Kentucky	No. 4	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 20–24	62,196
October 8	Utah State	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 16–7	62,015
October 15	at Syracuse	No. 10	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)		W 31–24	27,029
October 22	West Virginia	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 49–28	62,108
October 29	Miami (FL)	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 49–7	61,853
November 5	at NC State	No. 9	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		W 21–17	44,800
November 12	Temple	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 44–7	61,327
November 26	at No. 10 Pittsburgh	No. 9	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 15–13	56,500
December 25	vs. No. 15 Arizona State	No. 8	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	CBS	W 42–30	57,766
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	0	0	0	7	7
• Penn St	7	28	14	0	49

Date: October 29
Location: Beaver Stadium • University Park, Pennsylvania
Game attendance: 61,853

Scoring summary

1	PSU	Guthrie 56-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 7-0

2	PSU	Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 14-0

2	PSU	Torrey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 21-0

2	PSU	Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 28-0

2	PSU	Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 35-0

3	PSU	Fitzkee 72-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 42-0

3	PSU	LaPointe 17-yard pass from Capozzolli (Bahr kick)	Penn St 49-0

4	MIA	Hobbs 3-yard pass from McMillian (Dennis kick)	Penn St 49-7

Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl
#15 Arizona State vs. #8 Penn State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Arizona St	0	14	0	16	30
• Penn St	14	3	7	18	42

Date: December 25
Location: Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ
Game attendance: 57,727
Television network: CBS

Scoring summary

1	PSU	Lally 21-yard blocked punt return (Bahr kick)	Penn St 7-0

1	PSU	Torrey 3-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 14-0

2	ASU	Lane 11-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 14-7

2	PSU	Bahr 23-yard field goal	Penn St 17-7

2	ASU	Washington 13-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 17-14

3	PSU	Geise 18-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 24-14

4	PSU	Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 31-14

4	ASU	Washington 30-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 31-21

4	PSU	Bahr 32-yard field goal	Penn St 34-21

4	ASU	Perry 1-yard run (Hicks kick)	Penn St 34-28

4	PSU	Suhey 2-yard run (Geise run)	Penn St 42-28

4	ASU	Safety, Fitzkee runs out of end zone	Penn St 42-30

Roster

1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`81`	Bob Bassett	Jr
WR	`44`	Jimmy Cefalo	Sr
WR	`19`	Tom Donovan	So
OT	`68`	Eric Cummingham	Jr
OT	`71`	Keith Dorney	Jr
WR	`46`	Scott Fitzkee	Jr
QB	`14`	Chuck Fusina	Jr
RB	`24`	Mike Guman	So
TE	`82`	Mickey Shuler	Sr
RB	`32`	Matt Suhey	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`25`	Tom Bradley	Jr
DE	`54`	Bruce Clark	So
LB	`95`	Tom DePaso	Sr
S	`27`	Pete Harris	So
DE	`74`	Larry Kubin	Fr
DT	`57`	Pete Kugler	Fr
LB	`56`	Lance Mehl	So
LB	`60`	Matt Millen	So
DE	`28`	Rich Milot	Jr
DT	`78`	Randy Sidler	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`10`	Matt Bahr	Jr

Head coach

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Dick Anderson
Booker Brooks
Gregg Ducatte
Fran Ganter
Bob Phillips
John Rosenberg
Jerry Sandusky
J. T. White

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

NFL draft

Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1978 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
3rd	5	61	Mickey Shuler	Tight end	New York Jets
3rd	25	81	Jimmy Cefalo	Wide receiver	Miami Dolphins
5th	4	113	Randy Sidler	Defensive tackle	New York Jets
6th	17	155	Steve Geise	Running back	Cincinnati Bengals
9th	5	227	Neil Hutton	Running back/Defensive back	New York Jets
10th	17	267	Tom DePaso	Linebacker	Cincinnati Bengals
11th	25	303	Ron Hostetler	Linebacker/Defensive back	Los Angeles Rams

References

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1977-standings.html
"State passes Maryland for easy 27–9 victory". Sunday Call-Chronicle. September 25, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Kentucky shocks Penn State". The Tennessean. October 2, 1977. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Lions crush Mountaineers". The Times Recorder. October 23, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State improvises, beats Pack". The Roanoke Times. November 6, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Lions outpoint Arizona State, 42–30, in Fiesta". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 26, 1977. Retrieved October 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Oct 29.
"Penn State runs mark to 11-1." Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Dec 26.

v t e Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota: Governor's Victory Bell Ohio State Old Ironsides Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game Child sex abuse scandal 2016 Ohio State game Paterno White Out 2021 Illinois game
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1881 1882–1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

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