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1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1981
team	Penn State Nittany Lions
sport	football
conference	Independent
CoachRank	3
APRank	3
record	10–2
head_coach	Joe Paterno
hc_year	16th
off_coach	Dick Anderson
oc_year	1st
off_scheme	Pro-style
def_coach	Jerry Sandusky
dc_year	5th
def_scheme	[4–3](4-3-defense)
captain	Sean Farrell
captain2	Chet Parlavecchio
captain3	Leo Wisniewski
stadium	Beaver Stadium
champion	National champion (Dunkel)
Eastern champion
Fiesta Bowl champion
bowl	[Fiesta Bowl](1982-fiesta-bowl)
bowl_result	W 26–10 vs. [USC](1981-usc-trojans-football-team)

Eastern champion Fiesta Bowl champion The 1981 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 16th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 10–2. Penn State was invited to the Fiesta Bowl, where the Nittany Lions defeated USC. The team was selected national champion by Dunkel, an NCAA-designated major selector, while Clemson, who finished the season 12–0, was the consensus national champion.

Schedule

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Game summaries

At Nebraska

Boston College

Notre Dame

Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Following the game, Penn State accepted an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl.

Pittsburgh

Source:

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

Vs. USC (Fiesta Bowl)

Source:

Main article: 1982 Fiesta Bowl

Roster

Dick Anderson
John Bove
Tom Bradley
Booker Brooks
Fran Ganter
Bob Phillips
John Rosenberg
Jerry Sandusky
Jim Williams

Awards

Joe Paterno: Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award

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

References

(August 2018). "2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records". National Collegiate Athletic Association.
(September 13, 1981). "Lions impressive in 1981 opener". The Sunday Times.
(September 27, 1981). "Penn State tailback runs over Nebraska". The Kansas City Star.
(October 4, 1981). "State stuffs Owls in 'funny game'". The Patriot-News.
(October 11, 1981). "Penn St. Crushes B.C. 38–7". The Palm Beach Post.
(October 18, 1981). "Penn St. wallops Syracuse 41–16". The Journal News.
(October 25, 1981). "Warner substitute leads Penn State past W. Va.". Sunday News Journal.
(November 1, 1981). "Miami upsets Penn State, 17–14". Sunday News.
(November 8, 1981). "Lions stave off Wolfpack". The Tampa Tribune.
(November 15, 1981). "Penn State falls to Alabama, 31–16". Sunday News.
(November 22, 1981). "Notre Dame inches and 3 points shy at Penn State". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
(November 29, 1981). "Penn State stuns top-ranked Pitt". The Times and Democrat.
(January 2, 1982). "Penn State pounds USC in Fiesta Bowl". The Arizona Republic.
Eugene-Register Guard. 1981 Oct 11.
John Feinstein. (November 29, 1981). "Penn State Stuns No. 1 Pitt. 48-14. Bryant Wins No. 315". [[The Washington Post]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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