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1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
American college football season
American college football season
Field
Value
year
1978
team
Penn State Nittany Lions
sport
football
conference
Independent
CoachRank
4
APRank
4
record
11–1
head_coach
Joe Paterno
hc_year
13th
off_scheme
I formation
def_coach
Jerry Sandusky
dc_year
2nd
def_scheme
[4–3](4-3-defense)
captain
Chuck Fusina
captain2
Matt Suhey
stadium
Beaver Stadium
champion
Eastern champion
bowl
[Sugar Bowl](1979-sugar-bowl)
bowl_result
L 7–14 vs. [Alabama](1978-alabama-crimson-tide-football-team)
The 1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 13th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 11–1 with a loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Penn State played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Schedule
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Game summaries
Temple
Ohio State
Maryland
Syracuse
Chuck Fusina threw four touchdown passes, including two to Scott Fitzkee as second-ranked Penn State extended its win streak to 15 games. Fusina finished 15 of 27 for 293 yards.
Roster
Dick Anderson
Booker Brooks
Kit Cartwright
Fran Ganter
Bob Phillips
John Rosenberg
Jerry Sandusky
J. T. White
Jim Williams
Awards
Bruce Clark
- **Chuck Fusina**
::Maxwell Award
- **Joe Paterno**
::Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
## NFL draft
Nine Nittany Lions were selected in the [1979 NFL draft](1979-nfl-draft).
::data[format=table]
| Round | Pick | Overall | Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10 | 10 | Keith Dorney | Offensive tackle | Detroit Lions |
| 4th | 14 | 96 | Eric Cunningham | Offensive guard | New York Jets |
| 5th | 16 | 126 | Scott Fitzkee | Wide receiver | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 5th | 23 | 133 | Chuck Fusina | Quarterback | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 6th | 8 | 145 | Bob Torrey | Running back | New York Giants |
| 6th | 28 | 165 | Matt Bahr | Placekicker | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 7th | 17 | 182 | Rich Milot | Linebacker | Washington Redskins |
| 8th | 4 | 196 | Chuck Correal | Center | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 10th | 6 | 265 | Tony Petruccio | Defensive linemen | San Diego Chargers |
::
## References
## References
1. (September 2, 1978). ["With seconds left Penn State wins"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-times-with-seconds-left-penn-s/157640765/). *The Daily Times*.
2. (September 10, 1978). ["Nittany Lions crush outmanned Rutgers"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-nittany-lions-crush-out/157642465/). *The Hartford Courant*.
3. (September 17, 1978). ["Penn State silences Ohio State's offense"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/herald-and-review-penn-state-silences-oh/157581108/). *Herald and Review*.
4. (September 24, 1978). ["Lions regroup to nip SMU, 26–21"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-lions-regroup-to-ni/157510027/). *The Pittsburgh Press*.
5. (October 1, 1978). ["Penn State trounces TCU by 58–0 as Fusina and Moore lead charge"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-penn-state-tro/157512078/). *The Philadelphia Inquirer*.
6. John A. McGill. (October 8, 1978). ["Lions Maul Sluggish Wildcats 30-0"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86545605/lions-maul-sluggish-wildcats-30-0/). *Sunday Herald-Leader*.
7. (October 22, 1978). ["Fusina fires 4 TD passes in Penn State victory"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-news-fusina-fires-4-td-passe/157634657/). *Sunday News Journal*.
8. (October 29, 1978). ["Penn State rallies for 49–21 win"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-penn-state-rallies-for/139665792/). *The Tampa Tribune*.
9. (November 5, 1978). ["Penn State destroys Maryland 27–3"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-news-penn-state-destroys-maryland/139702344/). *Sunday News*.
10. (November 12, 1978). ["Bahr sparks Penn State"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-star-bahr-sparks-penn-st/139703484/). *The Kansas City Star*.
11. (November 26, 1978). ["Paterno takes gamble, keeps Penn St. No. 1"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-paterno-takes-gamble-k/157640536/). *The Miami Herald*.
12. (January 2, 1979). ["Hard-hitting defense keys Bama victory"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-hard-hitting-defe/134308123/). *Birmingham Post-Herald*.
13. ["1978 Penn State Nittany Lions Schedule and Results"](https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/penn-state/1978-schedule.html). *Sports Reference LLC*.
14. "Field goal gives Penn State win." Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Sept 2. Retrieved 2014-Jan-05.
15. "'Ready' Penn State Stuns No. 6 Bucks." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Sept 17.
16. "Penn State's Defense Smothers Terps." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 5.
17. Underwood, John. (November 13, 1978). ["A Lionized Defense"](https://vault.si.com/vault/1978/11/13/a-lionized-defense-penn-state-stopped-maryland-27-3-in-the-showdown-of-unbeatens-as-the-nittany-lions-held-the-terps-to-minus-32-yards-on-the-ground-and-stole-five-passes).
18. Ocala Star-Banner. 1978 Oct 22.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"]
This article was imported from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Penn_State_Nittany_Lions_football_team) and is available under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the [article history page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Penn_State_Nittany_Lions_football_team?action=history).
::
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