1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1

1982 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Pittsburgh		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Florida State		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 19 West Virginia		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Boston College		–		–		8	–	3	–	1
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
East Carolina		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Navy		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Louisville		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University during the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season.^[1] Penn State defeated the Georgia Bulldogs, 27–23, in the Sugar Bowl to win Paterno's first consensus national championship.

Schedule

September 4TempleNo. 8

ESPN (tape delay)W 31–14 80,000 September 11MarylandNo. 7

Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA (Rivalry)

W 39–31 84,597 September 18RutgersNo. 8

Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA

W 49–14 83,268 September 25No. 2 NebraskaNo. 8

Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA

CBSW 27–24 85,304 October 9at No. 4 AlabamaNo. 3

CBSL 21–42 76,821 October 16SyracuseNo. 8

Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA (Rivalry)

W 28–7 84,762 October 23at No. 13 West VirginiaNo. 9

W 24–0 60,958 October 30at Boston CollegeNo. 8

TCSW 52–17 33,205 November 6North Carolina StateNo. 7

Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA

W 54–0 84,837 November 13at No. 13 Notre DameNo. 5

ABCW 24–14 59,075 November 26No. 5 PittsburghNo. 2

Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA (Rivalry)

ABCW 19–10 85,522 January 1, 1983vs. No. 1 GeorgiaNo. 2

ABCW 27–23 78,124

Template:CFB Schedule End

Roster

1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`14`	Todd Blackledge	Sr
TE	`80`	Kirk Bowman	Jr
OT	`79`	Bill Contz	Sr
OT	`72`	Pat Daily	Jr
WR	`19`	Gregg Garrity	Sr
G	`78`	Ron Heller	Jr
WR	`82`	Kenny Jackson	Jr
TE	`81`	Mike McCloskey	Sr
FB	`43`	Don Schumucker	So
RB	`25`	Curt Warner	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`31`	Shane Conlan	Fr
CB	`23`	Alan Cummingham	So
S	`17`	Harry Hamilton	Jr
LB	`98`	Ken Kelley	Sr
LB	`37`	Walker Lee Ashley	Sr
DT	`96`	Mike Leskowsky	So
DE	`94`	Ray Leskowsky	So
LB	`55`	Rodger Puz	Sr
LB	`97`	Scott Radecic	Jr
S	`32`	Mark Robinson	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
PK	`13`	Nick Gancitano	So
P	`21`	Ralph Giacomarro	Sr

Head coach

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2015-12-20

Game summaries

Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Penn St	0	13	0	11	24
Notre Dame	7	7	0	0	14

Date: November 13
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana
Game attendance: 59,075

^[2]

Awards

Todd Blackledge

Davey O'Brien Award

Joe Paterno

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

Pete Speros

Nittany Lion of the Year

NFL Draft

Nine Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1983 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	3	3	Curt Warner	Running back	Seattle Seahawks
1st	7	7	Todd Blackledge	Quarterback	Kansas City Chiefs
3rd	17	73	Walker Lee Ashley	Linebacker	Minnesota Vikings
4th	4	88	Mike McCloskey	Tight end	Houston Oilers
5th	10	122	Bill Contz	Offensive tackle	Cleveland Browns
5th	28	140	Gregg Garrity	Wide receiver	Pittsburgh Steelers
10th	8	261	Dave Laube	–	Detroit Lions
10th	10	263	Pete Speros	–	Seattle Seahawks
10th	15	268	Ralph Giacomarro	Punter	Atlanta Falcons

References

^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. November 14, 1982. Retrieved December 15, 2014.

[1] "Penn State Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.

[2] Eugene Register-Guard. November 14, 1982. Retrieved December 15, 2014.

[1]

[2]

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 Statistical leaders NFL draftees
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
National championship seasons in bold

v t e College football national champions (poll era)
1936–1949	1936: Minnesota (AP) 1937: Pittsburgh 1938: TCU 1939: Texas A&M 1940: Minnesota 1941: Minnesota 1942: Ohio State 1943: Notre Dame 1944: Army 1945: Army (AP) / Oklahoma A&M (AFCA) 1946: Notre Dame 1947: Notre Dame 1948: Michigan 1949: Notre Dame
1950s	1950: Oklahoma (AP, Coaches) 1951: Tennessee 1952: Michigan State 1953: Maryland 1954: Ohio State (AP) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches) 1955: Oklahoma 1956: Oklahoma 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, FWAA) 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches) / Iowa (FWAA) 1959: Syracuse (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1960s	1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962: USC 1963: Texas 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967: USC 1968: Ohio State 1969: Texas
1970s	1970: Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF) 1971: Nebraska 1972: USC 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches) 1974: Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches) 1975: Oklahoma 1976: Pittsburgh 1977: Notre Dame 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches) 1979: Alabama
1980–1991	1980: Georgia 1981: Clemson 1982: Penn State 1983: Miami (FL) 1984: BYU 1985: Oklahoma 1986: Penn State 1987: Miami (FL) 1988: Notre Dame 1989: Miami (FL) 1990: Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches) 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI/NFF)