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1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Orange Bowl, L 10–25 vs. Oklahoma
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record11–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter (2nd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (9th season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
← 1984
1986 →
1985 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Penn State $ 6 0 0 11 1 0
West Virginia 4 1 1 7 3 1
Syracuse 4 2 0 7 5 0
Boston College 3 3 0 4 8 0
Pittsburgh 2 3 1 5 5 1
Temple 1 5 0 4 7 0
Rutgers 0 6 0 2 8 1
Rankings from AP Poll
1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Penn State       11 1 0
No. 9 Miami (FL)       10 2 0
Army       9 3 0
No. 15 Florida State       9 3 0
West Virginia       7 3 1
Southern Miss       7 4 0
Syracuse       7 5 0
Virginia Tech       6 5 0
Pittsburgh       5 5 1
Cincinnati       5 6 0
Notre Dame       5 6 0
South Carolina       5 6 0
Southwestern Louisiana       4 7 0
Navy       4 7 0
Temple       4 7 0
Boston College       4 8 0
Memphis State       2 7 2
Rutgers       2 8 1
East Carolina       2 9 0
Louisville       2 9 0
Tulane       1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1985 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

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 712:20 p.m.at No. 7 MarylandNo. 19USAW 20–1850,750[2]
September 1412:20 p.m.TempleNo. 11TCSW 27–2584,651
September 211:30 p.m.East CarolinaNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 17–1084,266[3]
September 281:00 p.m.at RutgersNo. 9W 17–1054,560
October 123:30 p.m.No. 10 AlabamaNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 19–1785,444[4]
October 191:30 p.m.at SyracuseNo. 6W 24–2050,021
October 263:30 p.m.West VirginiadaggerNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 27–085,534[5]
November 212:30 p.m.Boston CollegeNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 16–1282,000
November 92:00 p.m.at CincinnatiNo. 2W 31–1033,528
November 163:30 p.m.Notre DameNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 36–684,000
November 237:45 p.m.at PittsburghNo. 1ESPNW 31–060,134
January 1, 19868:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 OklahomaNo. 1NBCL 10–2574,148

Rankings

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP181911109986332 (15)1 (44)1 (46)1 (49)1 (47)1 (47)3
Coaches1717986764221 (34)1 (34)1 (41)1 (39)1 (37)1 (36)3

Game summaries

[edit]

At Maryland

[edit]
Penn State at Maryland
1 234Total
No. 19 Nittany Lions 10 730 20
No. 7 Terrapins 0 1080 18

[6]

At Pittsburgh

[edit]

Vs. Oklahoma (Orange Bowl)

[edit]
Penn State vs. Oklahoma
1 234Total
No. 1 Nittany Lions 7 300 10
No. 3 Sooners 0 1636 25

[7]

Roster

[edit]
1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 9 Mike Alexander Jr
OT 74 Stan Clayton So
G 57 Chris Conlin Jr
RB 42 D.J. Dozier So
G 54 Mitch Frerotte Jr
FB 27 John Hornyak Jr
FB 44 Tim Manoa Jr
G 59 Dan Morgan Jr
C 56 Keith Radecic Jr
WR 6 Ray Roundtree So
QB 14 John Shaffer Jr
RB 35 Steve Smith Jr
RB 32 Blair Thomas Fr
WR 5 Michael Timpson Fr
G 66 Steve Wisniewski Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 95 Rogers Alexander Sr
LB 31 Shane Conlan Jr
LB 53 Don Graham Jr
S 22 Ray Isom Jr
LB 55 Tim Johnson Jr
DB 43 Mike Zordich Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
PK 10 Massimo Manca Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

NFL Draft

[edit]

Three Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1986 NFL draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
4th 23 105 Rogers Alexander Linebacker New York Jets
7th 2 168 Bob Williams Tight end Buffalo Bills
9th 14 235 Mike Zordich Defensive back San Diego Chargers

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Nittany Lions maintain mastery". The Courier-Journal. September 8, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "PSU foils Carolina upset bid, 17–10". The Pittsburgh Press. September 22, 1985. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Penn State rolls, 19–17, over Bama". The Pittsburgh Press. October 13, 1985. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Penn State blanks West Virginia". The Tyler Courier-Times. October 27, 1985. Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1985 September 8.
  7. ^ "Orange Bowl; Oklahoma Upends Penn State, Stakes Claim to No. 1". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2020.