1972 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1972 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Sugar Bowl, L 0–14 vs. Oklahoma
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8
APNo. 10
Record10–2
Head coach
Offensive schemeI formation
Defensive coordinatorJim O'Hora (7th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
1972 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10   –   10 – 2 – 0
No. 14 Notre Dame   –   8 – 3 – 0
Utah State   –   8 – 3 – 0
West Virginia   –   8 – 4 – 0
Florida State   –   7 – 4 – 0
Northern Illinois   –   7 – 4 – 0
Rutgers   –   7 – 4 – 0
No. 20 Georgia Tech   –   7 – 4 – 1
Air Force   –   6 – 4 – 0
Army   –   6 – 4 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   6 – 4 – 1
Houston   –   6 – 4 – 1
Tulane   –   6 – 5 – 0
Temple   –   5 – 4 – 0
Colgate   –   5 – 4 – 1
Holy Cross   –   5 – 4 – 1
Syracuse   –   5 – 6 – 0
Miami (FL)   –   5 – 6 – 0
Dayton   –   4 – 6 – 1
Boston College   –   4 – 7 – 0
Navy   –   4 – 7 – 0
South Carolina   –   4 – 7 – 0
Southern Miss   –   3 – 7 – 1
Xavier   –   3 – 8 – 0
Marshall   –   2 – 8 – 0
Cincinnati   –   2 – 9 – 0
Villanova   –   2 – 9 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   1 – 10 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 10–2 and lost to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. Penn State was the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as the best college football team in the Eastern United States. The team played home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

As a result of using ineligible players, the Oklahoma Sooners were ordered to forfeit seven wins from their 1972 season, including their win over the Nittany Lions in the Sugar Bowl. However, Paterno and Penn State refused to accept the forfeit, and the bowl game is officially recorded as a loss.[1]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 16at No. 7 TennesseeNo. 6
L 21–2871,647
September 231:30 p.m.NavyNo. 11
W 21–1050,547
September 30IowaNo. 13
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 14–1058,065
October 7at IllinoisNo. 16
W 35–1760,349
October 141:59 p.m.at ArmyNo. 15
W 45–042,352
October 21SyracuseNo. 12
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 17–060,465
October 28at No. T–18 West VirginiaNo. 11
ABCW 28–1937,000[2]
November 4MarylandNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 46–1658,171[3]
November 11NC StateNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 37–2254,274[4][5]
November 18at Boston CollegeNo. 6
W 45–2623,119
November 25PittsburghNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 49–2738,600
December 31vs. No. 2 OklahomaNo. 5
ABCL 0–1480,123

Rankings

Main article: 1972 NCAA University Division football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213Final
AP56 (1)1113161512111010665510
Coaches6714 т161917131011118778Not released

Roster

1972 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
OT 74 Jeff Bleamer So
C 50 Rick Brown Sr
RB 22 John Cappelletti Jr
OT 77 Charlie Getty Jr
WR 28 Gary Hayman Jr
QB 16 John Hufnagel Sr
C 51 Bill Johnson So
OT 65 Phil LaPorta Jr
C 54 Mark Markovich Jr
G 69 Carl Schaukowitch Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 68 Doug Allen Jr
DE 83 Bruce Bannon Sr
DT 53 Randy Crowder Jr
LB 66 Chris Devlin So
DE 85 Dave Graf So
DT 79 Mike Hartenstine So
LB 41 Tom Hull Jr
LB 47 Jim Laslavic Sr
LB 89 Ed O'Neil Jr
LB 81 John Skorupan Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

Awards

Walter Camp Coach of the Year

NFL draft

Five Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1973 NFL draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
3rd 19 71 Jim Laslavic Linebacker Detroit Lions
5th 12 116 Bruce Bannon Linebacker New York Jets
6th 6 136 John Skorupan Linebacker Buffalo Bills
14th 10 348 John Hufnagel Quarterback Denver Broncos
15th 17 381 Carl Schaukowitch Offensive guard New York Giants

References

  1. ^ Brant, Tim (January 11, 2008). "After Further Review... The NCAA Weighs-In". ABC 7 News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  2. ^ "Penn St. rallies to nip WVa". The Sacramento Bee. October 29, 1972. Retrieved January 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Penn St. rips Terps, 46–16". The News and Observer. November 5, 1972. Retrieved January 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Penn State mauls N.C. State". The Pittsburgh Press. November 12, 1972. Retrieved January 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Penn State Halts Wolfpack". Asheville Citizen-Times. Asheville, North Carolina. Associated Press. November 12, 1972. p. 2B. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.