1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season.[1] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Sugar Bowl, L 6–13 vs. Alabama
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 10
APNo. 10
Record9–3
Head coach
Offensive schemeI formation
Defensive coordinatorJim O'Hora (10th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
← 1974
1976 →
1975 NCAA Division I independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Rutgers     9 2 0
No. 10 Penn State     9 3 0
No. 20 West Virginia     9 3 0
Notre Dame     8 3 0
Virginia Tech     8 3 0
No. 15 Pittsburgh     8 4 0
Boston College     7 4 0
Georgia Tech     7 4 0
Memphis State     7 4 0
Navy     7 4 0
North Texas State     7 4 0
Southern Miss     7 4 0
South Carolina     7 5 0
Colgate     6 4 0
Cincinnati     6 5 0
Hawaii     6 5 0
Syracuse     6 5 0
Temple     6 5 0
Utah State     6 5 0
Indiana State     5 5 0
Dayton     5 6 0
Northeast Louisiana     4 6 1
Tulane     4 7 0
Villanova     4 7 0
Florida State     3 8 0
Air Force     2 8 1
Houston     2 8 0
Miami (FL)     2 8 0
Army     2 9 0
Marshall     2 9 0
Southern Illinois     1 9 1
Holy Cross     1 10 0
Louisville     1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule edit

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 6at TempleNo. 6W 26–2557,112
September 13StanfordNo. 10W 34–1461,325
September 20at No. 3 Ohio StateNo. 7L 9–1788,093
September 27at IowaNo. 12W 30–1052,780
October 4Kentucky No. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 10–360,225[2]
October 11No. 10 West VirginiaNo. 9
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 39–059,658[3]
October 18at SyracuseNo. 9W 19–728,153
October 25ArmyNo. 9
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 31–059,381
November 1at No. 14 MarylandNo. 9W 15–1359,973[4]
November 8NC StateNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
L 14–1559,536[5]
November 22at No. 17 PittsburghNo. 10ABCW 7–646,846
December 31vs. No. 4 AlabamaNo. 8ABCL 6–1375,212[6][7]
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster edit

1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 18 John Andress Jr
WR 16 Dick Barvinchak Sr
OT 71 Brad Benson Jr
WR 44 Jimmy Cefalo So
OT 71 Keith Dorney Fr
WR 46 Scott Fitzkee Fr
QB 14 Chuck Fusina Fr
G 72 Tom Rafferty Sr
OT 68 George Reihner Jr
TE 82 Mickey Shuler So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 53 Kurt Allerman Jr
DE 51 Dave Brockway Jr
DB 25 Tom Bradley Fr
LB 67 Greg Buttle Sr
DT 65 Ron Coder Sr
DE 64 Ron Crosby Jr
DT 93 Eric Cummingham So
LB 95 Tom DePaso So
LB 38 Ron Hostetler So
LB 33 Jim Rosecrans Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 99 Chris Bahr Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Post season edit

NFL Draft edit

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1976 NFL Draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
2nd 23 51 Chris Bahr Kicker Cincinnati Bengals
3rd 7 67 Greg Buttle Linebacker New York Jets
3rd 10 70 Ron Coder Defensive tackle Pittsburgh Steelers
4th 27 119 Tom Rafferty Center Dallas Cowboys

References edit

  1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Defense carries Penn State". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 5, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Penn State destroys error-prone Mountaineers". Beckley Post-Herald & Register. October 12, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Penn State victory string over Maryland still intact". The News and Observer. November 2, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Lions upset, 15–14, as Bahr misfires". The Pittsburgh Press. November 9, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Tide breaks the drought on 13–6 win over Lions". The Ledger. Associated Press. January 1, 1976. p. 2B. Retrieved August 25, 2014 – via Google News Archives.
  7. ^ "Bear finds winning secret". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. January 1, 1976. p. 16. Retrieved August 25, 2014 – via Google News Archives.