1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Sugar Bowl, L 7–14 vs. Alabama
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
1978 record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (13th year)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Captain	Chuck Fusina
Captain	Paul Suhey
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 76,639)

1978 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#4 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
North Texas State		–		–		9	–	2	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
#7 Notre Dame		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Florida State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Temple		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Georgia Tech		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Miami		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
William & Mary		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Memphis State		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Air Force		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Colgate		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Boston College		–		–		0	–	11	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1978 college football season. 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 1	at Temple	No. 3	Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, PA		W 10–7	53,103
September 9	Rutgers	No. 3	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 26–10	77,154
September 16	at No. 6 Ohio State	No. 5	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (Rivalry)	ABC	W 19–0	88,202
September 23	SMU	No. 3	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 26–21	77,704
September 30	TCU	No. 5	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 58–0	76,832
October 7	at Kentucky	No. 5	Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY		W 30–0	58,068
October 21	Syracuse	No. 2	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 45–15	77,827
October 28, 1978	at West Virginia	No. 2	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Rivalry)		W 49–21	34,010
November 4	No. 5 Maryland	No. 2	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 27–3	78,019
November 11	North Carolina State	No. 2	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 19–10	77,043
November 24	No. 15 Pittsburgh	No. 1	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 17–10	77,465
January 1, 1979	vs. No. 2 Alabama	No. 1	Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 7–14	76,824
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game notes

Temple

#3 Penn State at Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Penn St	0	0	7	3	10
Temple	0	0	0	7	7

Date: September 1
Location: Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
Game attendance: 53,103

Scoring summary

Q3	:56	PSU	Booker Moore 26 yard run (Matt Bahr kick)	PSU 7–0

Q4	10:49	TEM	Zachary Dixon 21 yard pass from Brian Broomell (Firovanti kick)	Tie 7–7

Q4	:10	PSU	Matt Bahr 23 yard field goal	PSU 10–7

^[1]

Ohio State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Penn St	3	0	7	9	19
Ohio St	0	0	0	0	0

Date: September 18
Location: Ohio Stadium
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Elapsed time: 2:48
Game attendance: 88,202
Game weather: Cloudy; 80°F; wind 10 SW
Television network: ABC

Scoring summary

Q1	9:52	PSU	Bahr 30 yard field goal	PSU 3–0

Q3	4:52	PSU	Suhey 3 yard run (Bahr kick)	PSU 10–0

Q4	13:12	PSU	Bahr 41 yard field goal	PSU 13–0

Q4	6:45	PSU	Bahr 25 yard field goal	PSU 16–0

Q4	2:53	PSU	Bahr 30 yard field goal	PSU 19–0

^[2]

Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	0	3	0	0	3
• Penn State	3	10	7	7	27

Date: November 4
Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
Game attendance: 78,019

Scoring summary

1	PSU	Bahr 33-yard field goal	PSU 3-0

2	PSU	Fusina 1-yard run (Bahr kick)	PSU 10-0

2	MD	Loncar 39-yard field goal	PSU 10-3

2	PSU	Bahr 44-yard field goal	PSU 13-3

3	PSU	Donovan 63-yard pass from Fusina (Bahr kick)	PSU 20-3

4	PSU	Moore 4-yard run (Bahr kick)	PSU 27-3

^[3]

Syracuse

Chuck Fusina threw four touchdown passes, including two to Scott Fitzkee as second-ranked Penn State extended its win streak to 15 games. Fusina finished 15 of 27 for 293 yards.^[4]

Post season

NFL Draft

Nine Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1979 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	10	10	Keith Dorney	Offensive tackle	Detroit Lions
4th	14	96	Eric Cunningham	Offensive guard	New York Jets
5th	16	126	Scott Fitzkee	Wide receiver	Philadelphia Eagles
5th	23	133	Chuck Fusina	Quarterback	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
6th	8	145	Bob Torrey	Runningback	New York Giants
6th	28	165	Matt Bahr	Kicker	Pittsburgh Steelers
7th	17	182	Rich Milot	Linebacker	Washington Redskins
8th	4	196	Chuck Correal	Center	Philadelphia Eagles
10th	6	265	Tony Petruccio	–	San Diego Chargers

Awards

A football signed by the 1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, including Chuck Fusina, Matt Millen, and head coach Joe Paterno.

Bruce Clark

Lombardi Award

Chuck Fusina

Maxwell Award

Joe Paterno

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

References

↑ "Field goal gives Penn State win." Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Sept 2. Retrieved 2014-Jan-05.
↑ "'Ready' Penn State Stuns No. 6 Bucks." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Sept 17.
↑ "Penn State's Defense Smothers Terps." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 5.
↑ Ocala Star-Banner. 1978 Oct 22.

Penn State Nittany Lions football

Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia

Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game child sex abuse scandal

People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees

Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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