1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Orange Bowl, L 10-25 vs. Oklahoma
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	#3
AP	#3
1985 record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (20th year)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 83,370)

1985 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
#9 Miami (FL)		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
#15 Florida State		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				7	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Navy		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Boston College		–		–				4	–	8	–	0
Memphis		–		–				2	–	7	–	2
Rutgers		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
East Carolina		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Louisville		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Tulane		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1985 college football season.^[1] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	at #7 Maryland	#19	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD (Rivalry)		W 20–18	50,750
September 14	Temple	#11	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 27–25	84,651
September 21	East Carolina	#10	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 17–10	84,266
September 28	at Rutgers	#9	Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, NJ		W 17–10	54,560
October 12	#10 Alabama	#8	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 19–17	85,444
October 19	at Syracuse	#6	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY (Rivalry)		W 24–20	50,021
October 26	West Virginia	#3	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 27–0	85,534
November 2	Boston College	#3	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 16–12	82,000
November 9	at Cincinnati	#2	Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, OH		W 31–10	33,528
November 16	Notre Dame	#1	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ABC	W 36–6	84,000
November 23	at Pittsburgh	#1	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)	ESPN	W 31–0	60,134
January 1, 1986	vs. #3 Oklahoma	#1	Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 10–25	74,148
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total • Penn St 10 7 3 0 20 Maryland 0 10 8 0 18 Date: September 7 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game attendance: 50,750 TV announcers (TCS): George Paterno and Stan Savran

Scoring summary Q1 PSU Zordich 32 yard interception return (Manca kick) PSU 7–0 Q1 PSU Manca 28 yard field goal PSU 10–0 Q2 PSU Williams 2 yard pass from Shaffer (Manca kick) PSU 17–0 Q2 MD Paredes 22 yard field goal PSU 17–3 Q2 MD Badanjek 8 yard run (Paredes kick) PSU 17–10 Q3 MD Badanjek 5 yard run (Knight pass from Henning) MD 18–17 Q3 9:46 PSU Manca 46 yard field goal PSU 20–18

^[2]

NFL Draft

Three Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1986 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
4th	23	105	Rogers Alexander	Linebacker	New York Jets
7th	2	168	Bob Williams	–	Buffalo Bills
9th	14	235	Mike Zordich	Defensive back	San Diego Chargers

References

1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. Gainesville Sun. 1985 Sept 8.