1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. Led by 12th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 11–1 with a win over Arizona State in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 42–30 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 5
Record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (12th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	John Dunn Steve Geise Ron Hostetler Randy Sidler
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 NCAA Division I independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
North Texas State *		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 San Diego State		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	1	–	1
No. 14 Florida State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
East Carolina		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	4	–	2
Georgia Tech		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Hawaii		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Miami (FL)		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Tulane		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–				2	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	at Rutgers	No. 13	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 45–7	64,790	[2]
September 17	No. 9 Houston	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 31–14	61,704–62,554	[3]
September 24	Maryland	No. 5	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–9	62,079	[4]
October 1	Kentucky	No. 4	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 20–24	62,196	[5]
October 8	Utah State	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 16–7	62,015	[6]
October 15	at Syracuse	No. 10	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)		W 31–24	27,029	[7]
October 22	West Virginia	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 49–28	62,108	[8]
October 29	Miami (FL)	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 49–7	61,853	[9]
November 5	at NC State	No. 9	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		W 21–17	44,800	[10]
November 12	Temple	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 44–7	61,327	[11]
November 26	at No. 10 Pittsburgh	No. 9	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 15–13	56,500	[12]
December 25	vs. No. 15 Arizona State	No. 8	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	CBS	W 42–30	57,766	[13]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	0	0	0	7	7
• Penn St	7	28	14	0	49

• Date: October 29
• Location: Beaver Stadium • University Park, Pennsylvania
• Game attendance: 61,853

Scoring summary

1		PSU	Guthrie 56-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 7-0
2		PSU	Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 14-0
2		PSU	Torrey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 21-0
2		PSU	Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 28-0
2		PSU	Suhey 1-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 35-0
3		PSU	Fitzkee 72-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 42-0
3		PSU	LaPointe 17-yard pass from Capozzolli (Bahr kick)	Penn St 49-0
4		MIA	Hobbs 3-yard pass from McMillian (Dennis kick)	Penn St 49-7

^[14]

Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl
#15 Arizona State vs. #8 Penn State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Arizona St	0	14	0	16	30
• Penn St	14	3	7	18	42

• Date: December 25
• Location: Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ
• Game attendance: 57,727
• Television network: CBS

Scoring summary

1		PSU	Lally 21-yard blocked punt return (Bahr kick)	Penn St 7-0
1		PSU	Torrey 3-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	Penn St 14-0
2		ASU	Lane 11-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 14-7
2		PSU	Bahr 23-yard field goal	Penn St 17-7
2		ASU	Washington 13-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 17-14
3		PSU	Geise 18-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 24-14
4		PSU	Suhey 3-yard run (Bahr kick)	Penn St 31-14
4		ASU	Washington 30-yard pass from Sproul (Hicks kick)	Penn St 31-21
4		PSU	Bahr 32-yard field goal	Penn St 34-21
4		ASU	Perry 1-yard run (Hicks kick)	Penn St 34-28
4		PSU	Suhey 2-yard run (Geise run)	Penn St 42-28
4		ASU	Safety, Fitzkee runs out of end zone	Penn St 42-30

^[15]

Roster

1977 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 81 Bob Bassett Jr WR 44 Jimmy Cefalo Sr WR 19 Tom Donovan So C 55 Chuck Correal Jr OT 68 Eric Cummingham Jr OT 71 Keith Dorney Jr WR 46 Scott Fitzkee Jr QB 14 Chuck Fusina Jr RB 24 Mike Guman So TE 90 Ron LaPointe So RB 48 Booker Moore Fr TE 82 Mickey Shuler Sr RB 32 Matt Suhey So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 25 Tom Bradley Jr DE 54 Bruce Clark So LB 95 Tom DePaso Sr S 27 Pete Harris So DE 74 Larry Kubin Fr DT 57 Pete Kugler Fr LB 56 Lance Mehl So DT 60 Matt Millen So DE 28 Rich Milot Jr DT 78 Randy Sidler Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Matt Bahr Jr	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Dick Anderson Booker Brooks Gregg Ducatte Fran Ganter Bob Phillips John Rosenberg Jerry Sandusky J. T. White Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

NFL draft

Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1978 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
3rd	5	61	Mickey Shuler	Tight end	New York Jets
3rd	25	81	Jimmy Cefalo	Wide receiver	Miami Dolphins
5th	4	113	Randy Sidler	Defensive tackle	New York Jets
6th	17	155	Steve Geise	Running back	Cincinnati Bengals
9th	5	227	Neil Hutton	Running back/Defensive back	New York Jets
10th	17	267	Tom DePaso	Linebacker	Cincinnati Bengals
11th	25	303	Ron Hostetler	Linebacker/Defensive back	Los Angeles Rams