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1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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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
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 83,370)
Seasons
← 1984
1986 →
1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   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

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

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 7at No. 7 MarylandNo. 19W 20–1850,750
September 14TempleNo. 11W 27–2584,651
September 21East CarolinaNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 17–1084,266
September 28at RutgersNo. 9W 17–1054,560
October 12No. 10 AlabamaNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 19–1785,444
October 19at SyracuseNo. 6W 24–2050,021
October 26West VirginiadaggerNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 27–085,534
November 2Boston CollegeNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 16–1282,000
November 9at CincinnatiNo. 2W 31–1033,528
November 16Notre DameNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ABCW 36–684,000
November 23at PittsburghNo. 1ESPNW 31–060,134
January 1, 1986vs. No. 3 OklahomaNo. 1NBCL 10–2574,148
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
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
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
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. # Name Class
PK 10 Massimo Manca Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP181911109986332 (15)1 ()1 (46)1 (49)1 (47)1 (47)3
Coaches1717986764221 (34)1 (34)1 (41)1 (39)1 (37)1 (36)3

Game summaries

at Maryland

Penn State at Maryland
1 234Total
No. 19 Nittany Lions 10 730 20
No. 7 Terrapins 0 1080 18
Overall record Last meeting Result
27–1 1984 W 25–24

[2]

at Pittsburgh

vs. Oklahoma (Orange Bowl)

Penn State vs. Oklahoma
1 234Total
No. 1 Nittany Lions 7 300 10
No. 3 Sooners 0 1636 25
Overall record Last meeting Result
0–1 1972 L 0–14

[3]

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 September 8.
  3. ^ "ORANGE BOWL; OKLAHOMA UPENDS PENN STATE, STAKES CLAIM TO NO. 1". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2020.