1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 15th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 10–2 with a win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 31–19 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
Record	10–2
Head coach	Joe Paterno (15th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (4th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Bob Jagers Greg Jones
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				9	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Florida State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Penn State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Notre Dame		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 18 Miami (FL)		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Boston College		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Tulane		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		–				5	–	4	–	1
North Texas State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Villanova		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Louisville		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Richmond		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Army		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–				1	–	9	–	1
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	1:30 p.m.	Colgate	No. 18	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 54–10	78,926	[1]
September 20	8:30 p.m.	at Texas A&M	No. 12	Kyle Field College Station, TX	ESPN (tape delay)	W 25–9	66,234	[2]
September 27	1:50 p.m.	No. 3 Nebraska	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	L 7–21	84,585	[3]
October 4	2:30 p.m.	at No. 9 Missouri	No. 17	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	ESPN (tape delay)	W 29–21	75,298	[4]
October 11	1:30 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 14	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)		W 24–10	48,123	[5]
October 18	1:30 p.m.	Syracuse	No. 12	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 24–7	84,790	[6]
October 25	1:30 p.m.	at West Virginia	No. 13	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)		W 20–15	49,194	[7]
November 1	1:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 13	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	TCS	W 27–12	83,661	[8]
November 8	1:30 p.m.	NC State	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 21–13	83,847	[9]
November 15	1:30 p.m.	at Temple	No. 9	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 50–7	49,313	[10]
November 28	1:10 p.m.	No. 4 Pittsburgh	No. 5	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 9–14	82,459	[11]
December 26	3:00 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Ohio State	No. 10	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl, rivalry)	NBC	W 31–19	66,738	[12]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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Game summaries

Nebraska

#3 Nebraska at #11 Penn State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 3 Cornhuskers	7	7	7	0	21
No. 11 Nittany Lions	0	7	0	0	7

• Date: September 27
• Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
• Game attendance: 84,585

See also: 1980 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Syracuse

Syracuse at #12 Penn State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Orangemen	0	0	7	0	7
• No.12 Nittany Lions	3	7	0	14	24

• Date: October 18
• Location: Beaver Stadium
• Game attendance: 84,790

Scoring summary

Q1		PSU	Franco 26 yard field goal	PSU 3–0
Q2		PSU	Warner 3 yard run (Franco kick)	PSU 10–0
Q3		SYR	Zunic 11 yard interception return (Anderson kick)	PSU 10–7
Q4		PSU	Warner 6 yard run (Franco kick)	PSU 17–7
Q4		PSU	Jackson 13 yard pass from Blackledge (Franco kick)	PSU 24–7

See also: 1980 Syracuse Orangemen football team

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Vs. Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl)

1980 Fiesta Bowl

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Buckeyes	6	13	0	0	19
• No. 10 Nittany Lions	7	3	7	14	31

• Date: December 26
• Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ
• Game attendance: 66,738
• Television network: NBC

Scoring summary

1		PSU	Curt Warner 64-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick)	PSU 7-0
1		OSU	Doug Donley 23-yard pass from Art Schlichter (kick failed)	PSU 7-6
2		OSU	Gary Williams 13-yard pass from Art Schlichter (kick failed)	OSU 7-12
2		OSU	Doug Donley 19-yard pass from Art Schlichter (Bob Atha kick)	OSU 7-19
2		PSU	Herb Menhardt 38-field goal	OSU 10-19
3		PSU	Todd Blackledge 3-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick)	OSU 17-19
4		PSU	Jonathan Williams 4-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick)	PSU 24-19
4		PSU	Booker Moore 37-yard run (Herb Menhardt kick)	PSU 31-19

Main article: 1980 Fiesta Bowl

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Roster

1980 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 22 Tom Baar So QB 14 Todd Blackledge So C 59 Mark Battaglia So WR 29 Mark Cherewka Sr OT 79 Bill Contz So OT 77 Bill Dugan Sr G 62 Sean Farrell Jr WR 19 Gregg Garrity So TE 85 Vyto Kab Jr TE 81 Mike McCloskey So RB 38 Mike Meade Jr RB 48 Booker Moore Sr G 78 Mike Munchak Jr C 53 Jim Romano Jr TE 80 Brad Scovill Sr RB 25 Curt Warner So FB 44 Jon Williams Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 73 Jeff Bergstrom Jr DB 30 Matt Bradley Jr DT 94 Frank Case Sr Hero 17 Harry Hamilton Fr LB 98 Ken Kelley So DE 74 Larry Kubin  Sr DT 57 Pete Kugler Sr DE 37 Walker Lee Ashley So CB 12 Paul Lankford Jr LB 65 Dave Opfar Jr LB 94 Chet Parlavecchio Jr LB 97 Scott Radecic Fr S 23 John Walsh Sr DT 61 Leo Wisniewski Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Brian Franco Jr P 21 Ralph Giacomarro So	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Dick Anderson John Bove Tom Bradley Booker Brooks Fran Ganter Bob Phillips John Rosenberg Jerry Sandusky Jim Williams Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

NFL draft

Seven Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1981 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	28	28	Booker Moore	Running back	Buffalo Bills
3rd	2	58	Bill Dugan	Offensive guard	Seattle Seahawks
6th	9	147	Pete Kugler	Nose tackle	San Francisco 49ers
6th	10	148	Larry Kubin	Linebacker	Washington Redskins
7th	20	186	Brad Scovill	Tight end	Seattle Seahawks
8th	21	214	Gene Gladys	Defensive back/Defensive line	New Orleans Saints
11th	13	289	Frank Case	Defensive end	Kansas City Chiefs