1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 50–39 vs. BYU
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 14
APNo. 15
Record8–3–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter (6th season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (13th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
1989 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 15 $ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 1
No. 17 Pittsburgh 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 3 – 1
No. 21 West Virginia 3 – 1 – 1 8 – 3 – 1
Syracuse 3 – 3 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Temple 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
Rutgers 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 2
Boston College 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1989 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Miami (FL)   –   11 – 1 – 0
No. 2 Notre Dame   –   12 – 1 – 0
No. 3 Florida State   –   10 – 2 – 0
Northern Illinois   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 15   –   8 – 3 – 1
No. 17 Pittsburgh   –   8 – 3 – 1
No. 21 West Virginia   –   8 – 3 – 1
Syracuse   –   8 – 4 – 0
Southwestern Louisiana   –   7 – 4 – 0
Akron   –   6 – 4 – 1
South Carolina   –   6 – 4 – 1
Virginia Tech   –   6 – 4 – 1
Louisiana Tech   –   5 – 4 – 1
Army   –   6 – 5 – 0
Louisville   –   6 – 5 – 0
East Carolina   –   5 – 5 – 1
Tulsa   –   6 – 6 – 0
Southern Miss   –   5 – 6 – 0
Tulane   –   4 – 8 – 0
Navy   –   3 – 8 – 0
Rutgers   –   2 – 7 – 2
Boston College   –   2 – 9 – 0
Memphis State   –   2 – 9 – 0
Cincinnati   –   1 – 9 – 1
Temple   –   1 – 10 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 24th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 8–3–1. Penn State was invited to the Holiday Bowl, where the Nittany Lions defeated BYU. The team played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 91:00 p.m.VirginiaNo. 12
L 6–1485,956[1]
September 161:00 p.m.Temple
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 42–378,000[2]
September 231:00 p.m.Boston College
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 7–385,651[3]
September 308:00 p.m.at Texas
W 16–1275,232[4]
October 71:00 p.m.at Rutgers
W 17–052,688[5]
October 144:00 p.m.at SyracuseNo. 23
ESPNW 34–1249,876[6]
October 282:30 p.m.No. 6 AlabamaNo. 14
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
CBSL 16–1785,975[7]
November 44:00 p.m.No. 13 West VirginiaNo. 16
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPNW 19–985,911[8]
November 111:00 p.m.at MarylandNo. 13
T 13–1361,215[9]
November 182:30 p.m.No. 1 Notre DameNo. 17
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
CBSL 23–3486,025[10]
November 2512:00 p.m.at No. 19 PittsburghNo. 22
CBSW 16–1357,158[11]
December 298:00 p.m.vs. No. 19 BYUNo. 18
ESPNW 50–3961,113[12]

Game summaries

Virginia

Temple

Boston College

At Texas

vs Rutgers

At Syracuse

Alabama

West Virginia

At Maryland

Notre Dame

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10–0) at #17 Penn State Nittany Lions (6–2–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 7 14 7634
Penn St 7 3 7623

at Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania

  • Date: November 18, 1989
  • Game time: 2:30 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 86,025
  • TV: CBS
  • Recap/Box
Game information
External videos
Full game (part 1)
Full game (part 2)
Full game (part 3)
Game highlights

At Pittsburgh

Holiday Bowl (vs BYU)

Personnel

1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 20 Richie Anderson Fr
QB 12 Tom Bill Jr
FB 27 Gary Brown Jr
RB 23 Gerry Collins
WR 26 David Daniels Jr
C 78 Roger Duffy Sr
OL 71 Tim Freeman Sr
FB 11 Sam Gash So
RB 34 John Gerak So
TE 89 Al Golden So
TE 86 David Jakob Sr
OL 57 Sean Love Sr
OL Matt McCartin
WR O.J. McDuffie
OL Ed Monaghan
QB Matt Nardolillo
RB Brian O'Neal
WR Rich Rosa
QB 19 Tony Sacca So
C E. J. Sandusky So
OT 76 Paul Siever Jr
WR 8 Terry Smith So
G 79 Dave Szott Sr
RB 32 Blair Thomas Sr
RB 44 Leroy Thompson Jr
TE 80 Todd Young Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 13 Matt Baggott So
DL 67 Todd Burger Fr
LB 48 Brian Chizmar So
LB 31 Andre Collins Sr
LB 38 Mark D'Onofrio So
DL 72 Jim Deter So
DT 85 Frank Giannetti Jr
LB Reggie Givens
LB 42 Keith Goganious So
DB Hernon Henderson
DB 6 Leonard Humphries So
LB Geoff Lapchen
S 9 Darren Perry So
DB Sherrod Rainge
DL 75 Rich Schonewolf Sr
DB 25 Willie Thomas Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 4 Doug Helkowski Sr
K Ray Tarasi
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

NFL draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1990 NFL draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
1st 2 2 Blair Thomas Running back New York Jets
2nd 21 46 Andre Collins Linebacker Washington Redskins
7th 15 180 David Szott Offensive guard Kansas City Chiefs
8th 3 196 Roger Duffy Offensive guard New York Jets

References

  1. ^ "Penn State shocked in opener, 14–6". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 10, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Lions' rout lifts gloom from Happy Valley". Centre Daily Times. September 17, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Penn State defeats B.C. on late score". York Sunday News. September 24, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Penn State downs Texas on late blocked punt". The Abilene Reporter-News. October 1, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Penn St. blanks Rutgers". The Courier-News. October 8, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Penn State's vindication". The Record. October 15, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Blocked kick shocks Lions". The Times Leader. October 29, 1989. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Lions jump on Major mistakes". The Times Leader. November 5, 1989. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Penn State views tie as a loss". The South Bend Tribune. November 12, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Notre Dame grinds down Penn State". The Kalamazoo Gazette. November 19, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Penn State's 16–13 win over Pitt gives the boot to team's critics". The Baltimore Sun. November 26, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Lions enjoy Holiday". Centre Daily Times. December 30, 1989. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
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