1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

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 season)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Captains	Chuck Fusina Paul Suhey
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 76,639)

1978 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
North Texas State		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 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 (FL)		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
William & Mary		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				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

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	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 / rivalry)	ABC	L 7–14	76,824
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1978 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class T 68 Eric Cummingham Sr WR 19 Tom Donovan Jr T 71 Keith Dorney Sr WR 46 Scott Fitzkee Sr QB 14 Chuck Fusina Sr RB 24 Mike Guman Jr TE 85 Vyto Kab Fr RB 38 Mike Meade Fr T 70 Irv Pankey Jr RB 32 Matt Suhey Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 30 Matt Bradley Fr DB 25 Tom Bradley Sr DE 54 Bruce Clark Jr DE 74 Larry Kubin So DT 57 Pete Kugler So LB 56 Lance Mehl Jr LB 60 Matt Millen Jr LB 94 Chet Parlavecchio Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Matt Bahr Sr	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

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][4]

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.[5]

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

1. "Field goal gives Penn State win." Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Sept 2. Retrieved 2014-Jan-05.
2. "'Ready' Penn State Stuns No. 6 Bucks." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Sept 17.
3. "Penn State's Defense Smothers Terps." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 5.
4. Underwood, John (November 13, 1978). "A Lionized Defense". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
5. Ocala Star-Banner. 1978 Oct 22.