1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football
1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion
Sugar Bowl, L 6–13 vs. Alabama
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	9–3
Head coach	Joe Paterno (10th season);
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Jim O'Hora (10th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Greg Buttle; John Quinn; Tom Rafferty;
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
	Seasons ← 1974 1976 →

1975 NCAA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
Rutgers		–		9	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Penn State		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 West Virginia		–		9	–	3	–	0
Notre Dame		–		8	–	3	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		8	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Pittsburgh		–		8	–	4	–	0
Boston College		–		7	–	4	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		7	–	4	–	0
Memphis State		–		7	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		7	–	4	–	0
North Texas State		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		7	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		6	–	4	–	0
Cincinnati		–		6	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		6	–	5	–	0
Utah State		–		6	–	5	–	0
Indiana State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Dayton		–		5	–	6	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		4	–	6	–	1
Tulane		–		4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		4	–	7	–	0
Florida State		–		3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		2	–	8	–	1
Houston		–		2	–	8	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		2	–	8	–	0
Army		–		2	–	9	–	0
Marshall		–		2	–	9	–	0
Southern Illinois		–		1	–	9	–	1
Holy Cross		–		1	–	10	–	0
Louisville		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1975 NCAA Division I 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	Source
September 6	at Temple	No. 6	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)		W 26–25	57,112
September 13	Stanford	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 34–14	61,325
September 20	at No. 3 Ohio State	No. 7	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)		L 9–17	88,093
September 27	at Iowa	No. 12	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 30–10	52,780
October 4	Kentucky	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 10–3	60,225	^[2]
October 11	No. 10 West Virginia	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 39–0	59,658	^[3]
October 18	at Syracuse	No. 9	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)		W 19–7	28,153
October 25	Army	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 31–0	59,381
November 1	at No. 14 Maryland	No. 9	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)		W 15–13	59,973	^[4]
November 8	NC State	No. 8	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 14–15	59,536	^[5]
November 22	at No. 17 Pittsburgh	No. 10	Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 7–6	46,846
December 31	vs. No. 4 Alabama	No. 8	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl, rivalry)	ABC	L 6–13	75,212	^[6]^[7]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1975 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`18`	John Andress	Jr
WR	`16`	Dick Barvinchak	Sr
OT	`71`	Brad Benson	Jr
WR	`44`	Jimmy Cefalo	So
OT	`71`	Keith Dorney	Fr
WR	`46`	Scott Fitzkee	Fr
QB	`14`	Chuck Fusina	Fr
G	`72`	Tom Rafferty	Sr
OT	`68`	George Reihner	Jr
TE	`82`	Mickey Shuler	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`53`	Kurt Allerman	Jr
DE	`51`	Dave Brockway	Jr
DB	`25`	Tom Bradley	Fr
LB	`67`	Greg Buttle	Sr
DT	`65`	Ron Coder	Sr
DE	`64`	Ron Crosby	Jr
DT	`93`	Eric Cummingham	So
LB	`95`	Tom DePaso	So
LB	`38`	Ron Hostetler	So
LB	`33`	Jim Rosecrans	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`99`	Chris Bahr	Sr

Head coach

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Post season

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1976 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
2nd	23	51	Chris Bahr	Kicker	Cincinnati Bengals
3rd	7	67	Greg Buttle	Linebacker	New York Jets
3rd	10	70	Ron Coder	Defensive tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers
4th	27	119	Tom Rafferty	Center	Dallas Cowboys

References

^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
^ "Defense carries Penn State". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 5, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Penn State destroys error-prone Mountaineers". Beckley Post-Herald & Register. October 12, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Penn State victory string over Maryland still intact". The News and Observer. November 2, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Lions upset, 15–14, as Bahr misfires". The Pittsburgh Press. November 9, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tide breaks the drought on 13–6 win over Lions". The Ledger. Associated Press. January 1, 1976. p. 2B. Retrieved August 25, 2014 – via Google News Archives.
^ "Bear finds winning secret". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. January 1, 1976. p. 16. Retrieved August 25, 2014 – via Google News Archives.

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[1] "Penn State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.

[2] "Defense carries Penn State". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 5, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "Penn State destroys error-prone Mountaineers". Beckley Post-Herald & Register. October 12, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Penn State victory string over Maryland still intact". The News and Observer. November 2, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Lions upset, 15–14, as Bahr misfires". The Pittsburgh Press. November 9, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Tide breaks the drought on 13–6 win over Lions". The Ledger. Associated Press. January 1, 1976. p. 2B. Retrieved August 25, 2014 – via Google News Archives.

[7] "Bear finds winning secret". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. January 1, 1976. p. 16. Retrieved August 25, 2014 – via Google News Archives.

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v t e 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 Michigan State Minnesota: Governor's Victory Bell Ohio State Old Ironsides 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 2016 Ohio State game Paterno White Out 2021 Illinois game
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882–1886 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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold