1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 20th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 11–1. Penn State was invited to the Orange Bowl, where the Nittany Lions lost to Oklahoma. The team played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

ConferenceIndependent
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record11–1
Quick facts Penn State Nittany Lions football, Eastern champion ...
1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Orange Bowl, L 10–25 vs. Oklahoma
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record11–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter (2nd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (9th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
← 1984
1986 →
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More information Conf., Overall ...
1985 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 3 Penn State $6–0–011–1–0
West Virginia4–1–17–3–1
Syracuse4–2–07–5–0
Boston College3–3–04–8–0
Pittsburgh2–3–15–5–1
Temple1–5–04–7–0
Rutgers0–6–02–8–1
Rankings from AP Poll
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More information Conf., Overall ...
1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 3 Penn State – – 11–1–0
No. 9 Miami (FL) – – 10–2–0
Army – – 9–3–0
No. 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 State – – 2–7–2
Rutgers – – 2–8–1
East Carolina – – 2–9–0
Louisville – – 2–9–0
Tulane – – 1–10–0
Rankings from AP Poll
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Schedule

More information Date, Time ...
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 712:20 p.m.at No. 7 MarylandNo. 19
USAW 20–1850,750[1]
September 1412:20 p.m.TempleNo. 11
TCSW 27–2584,651[2]
September 211:30 p.m.East CarolinaNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 17–1084,266[3]
September 281:00 p.m.at RutgersNo. 9
W 17–1054,560[4]
October 123:30 p.m.No. 10 AlabamaNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 19–1785,444[5]
October 191:30 p.m.at SyracuseNo. 6
W 24–2050,021[6]
October 263:30 p.m.West VirginiadaggerNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 27–085,534[7]
November 212:30 p.m.Boston CollegeNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 16–1282,000[8]
November 92:00 p.m.at CincinnatiNo. 2
W 31–1033,528[9]
November 163:30 p.m.Notre DameNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 36–684,000[10]
November 237:45 p.m.at PittsburghNo. 1
ESPNW 31–060,134[11]
January 1, 19868:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 OklahomaNo. 1
NBCL 10–2574,148[12]
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Rankings

Further information: 1985 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
More information Week, Poll ...
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP181911109986332 (15)1 (44)1 (46)1 (49)1 (47)1 (47)3
Coaches1717986764221 (34)1 (34)1 (41)1 (39)1 (37)1 (36)3
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Game summaries

At Maryland

Penn State at Maryland
More information Team, Total ...
Team 1 234Total
• No. 19 Nittany Lions 10 730 20
No. 7 Terrapins 0 1080 18
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Scoring summary
Q1PSUZordich 32 yard interception return (Manca kick)PSU 7–0
Q1PSUManca 28 yard field goalPSU 10–0
Q2PSUWilliams 2 yard pass from Shaffer (Manca kick)PSU 17–0
Q2MDParedes 22 yard field goalPSU 17–3
Q2MDBadanjek 8 yard run (Paredes kick)PSU 17–10
Q3MDBadanjek 5 yard run (Knight pass from Henning)MD 18–17
Q39:46PSUManca 46 yard field goalPSU 20–18
See also: 1985 Maryland Terrapins football team

[13]

At Pittsburgh

See also: 1985 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Vs. Oklahoma (Orange Bowl)

Penn State vs. Oklahoma
More information Team, Total ...
Team 1 234Total
No. 1 Nittany Lions 7 300 10
• No. 3 Sooners 0 1636 25
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Scoring summary
18:17PSUTim Manoa 1-yard run (Massimo Manca kick)PSU 7-0
214:35OUTim Lashar 26-yard field goalPSU 7-3
212:26OUKeith Jackson 71-yard pass from Jamelle Holieway (Tim Lashar kick)OU 10-7
25:20OUTim Lashar 31-yard field goalOU 13-7
21:49OUTim Lashar 21-yard field goalOU 16-7
20:01PSUMassimo Manca 27-yard field goalOU 16-10
33:09OUTim Lashar 22-yard field goalOU 19-10
41:42OULydell Carr 61-yard run (Lashar kick failed)OU 25-10
Main article: 1986 Orange Bowl
See also: 1985 Oklahoma Sooners football team

[14]

Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...
1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 9 Mike Alexander Jr
OT 74 Stan Clayton So
G 57 Chris Conlin Jr
RB 42 D.J. Dozier So
G 54 Mitch Frerotte Jr
FB 27 John Hornyak Jr
FB 44 Tim Manoa Jr
G 59 Dan Morgan Jr
C 56 Keith Radecic Jr
WR 6 Ray Roundtree So
QB 14 John Shaffer Jr
RB 35 Steve Smith Jr
RB 32 Blair Thomas Fr
WR 5 Michael Timpson Fr
G 66 Steve Wisniewski Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 95 Rogers Alexander Sr
LB 31 Shane Conlan Jr
LB 53 Don Graham Jr
S 22 Ray Isom Jr
LB 55 Tim Johnson Jr
DB 43 Mike Zordich Sr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
PK 10 Massimo Manca Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt
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NFL draft

Three Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1986 NFL draft.

More information Round, Pick ...
RoundPickOverallNamePositionTeam
4th23105Rogers AlexanderLinebackerNew York Jets
7th2168Bob WilliamsTight endBuffalo Bills
9th14235Mike ZordichDefensive backSan Diego Chargers
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References

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