1992 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1992 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 27th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 7–5. Penn State was invited to the Blockbuster Bowl, where the Nittany Lions lost to Stanford. The team played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1992 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Blockbuster Bowl, L 3–24 vs. Stanford
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
Record	7–5
Head coach	Joe Paterno (27th season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (9th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (16th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	John Gerak Reggie Givens O. J. McDuffie Brett Wright
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ← 1991 1993 →

1992 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Notre Dame			–					10	–	1	–	1
Southern Miss			–					7	–	4	–	0
Penn State			–					7	–	5	–	0
Memphis State			–					6	–	5	–	0
Army			–					5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina			–					5	–	6	–	0
Louisiana Tech			–					5	–	6	–	0
Louisville			–					5	–	6	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					5	–	6	–	0
Tulsa			–					4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati			–					3	–	8	–	0
Arkansas State			–					2	–	9	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana			–					2	–	9	–	0
Tulane			–					2	–	9	–	0
Navy			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

This was Penn State's final season as an independent as the Nittany Lions began play in the Big Ten Conference in 1993.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	7:00 p.m.	at Cincinnati	No. 8	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH		W 24–20	29,099
September 12	1:00 p.m.	Temple	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 49–8	94,892
September 19	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Michigan	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 52–7	94,578
September 26	1:00 p.m.	Maryland	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 49–13	95,891	[1]
October 3	6:00 p.m.	at Rutgers	No. 8	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 38–24	72,203
October 10	12:00 p.m.	No. 2 Miami (FL)	No. 7	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	L 14–17	96,704
October 17	12:00 p.m.	No. 20 Boston College	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	L 32–35	96,130
October 24	3:30 p.m.	at West Virginia	No. 14	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	ABC	W 40–26	66,663	[2]
October 31	2:00 p.m.	at BYU	No. 14	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		L 17–30	66,016
November 14	1:30 p.m.	at No. 8 Notre Dame	No. 22	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 16–17	59,075
November 21	4:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 23	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 57–13	91,000
January 1, 1993	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 13 Stanford	No. 21	Joe Robbie Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Blockbuster Bowl)	CBS	L 3–24	45,554
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1992 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 20 Richie Anderson Sr RB 2 Mike Archie Fr TE 81 Kyle Brady So OT 67 Todd Burger Sr RB 32 Ki-Jana Carter Fr QB 12 Kerry Collins So TE 18 Troy Drayton Sr G 57 John Gerak Sr C 66 Greg Huntington Sr WR 24 O. J. McDuffie Sr C 60 Bucky Greeley So G 50 Jeff Hartings Fr RB 29 Brian O'Neal Jr OT 71 Todd Rucci Sr QB 9 John Sacca Fr C E. J. Sandusky Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 46 Marlon Forbes So LB 16 Brian Gelzheiser So LB 58 Reggie Givens Sr DT 97 Tyoka Jackson Jr LB 99 Rich McKenzie Sr LB 15 Frank Yeboah-Kodie Jr LB 43 Phil Yeboah-Kodie So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

NFL draft

Eight Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1993 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	25	25	O.J. McDuffie	Wide receiver	Miami Dolphins
2nd	10	39	Troy Drayton	Tight end	Los Angeles Rams
2nd	22	51	Todd Rucci	Offensive tackle	New England Patriots
3rd	1	57	John Gerak	Offensive guard	Minnesota Vikings
5th	16	128	Greg Huntington	Center	Washington Redskins
6th	4	144	Richie Anderson	Running back	New York Jets
6th	13	153	Rich McKenzie	Linebacker	Cleveland Browns
8th	17	213	Reggie Givens	Linebacker	Dallas Cowboys