1987 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1987 Penn State Nittany Lions football
1988 Florida Citrus Bowl, L 10-35 vs. Clemson
Conference	Independent
1987 record	8–4
Head coach	Joe Paterno
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 83,370)

The 1987 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Penn State University during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5, 1987	Bowling Green	#11	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 45–19	84,574
September 12, 1987	#19 Alabama	#11	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	CBS	L 13–24	85,619
September 19, 1987	Cincinnati	#20	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 41–0	82,000
September 26, 1987	at Boston College	#15	Sullivan Stadium • Foxborough, MA	ESPN	W 27–17	50,267
October 3, 1987	Temple	#14	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 27–13	84,000
October 10, 1987	Rutgers	#14	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 35–21	85,376
October 17, 1987	at #13 Syracuse	#10	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	CBS	L 21–48	50,011
October 31, 1987	West Virginia	#18	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 25–21	85,108
November 7, 1987	at Maryland	#16	Memorial Stadium • Baltimore, MD		W 21–16	62,500
November 14, 1987	at Pittsburgh	#15	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN	L 0–10	56,500
November 21, 1987	#7 Notre Dame		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	CBS	W 21–20	84,000
January 1, 1988	vs. #14 Clemson	#20	Citrus Bowl • Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC National	L 10–35	53,152
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	7	0	7	6	20
• Penn St	7	7	0	7	21

Date: November 21
Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA
Game attendance: 84,000

Scoring summary

Q1		PSU	Greene 10 yard run (Taurasi kick)	PSU 7–0

Q1		ND	Rice 32 yard run (Gradel kick)	Tie 7–7

Q2		PSU	Thomas 1 yard run (Etze kick)	PSU 14–7

Q3		ND	Rice 11 yard run (Gradel kick)	Tie 14–14

Q4		PSU	Greene 3 yard run (Taurasi kick)	PSU 21–14

Q4		ND	Johnson 1 yard run (run failed)	PSU 21–20

Blair Thomas 35 Rush, 214 Yds

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1988 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
3rd	3	58	Ray Roundtree	Wide receiver	Detroit Lions
8th	6	199	Mike Alexander	Wide receiver	Los Angeles Raiders
10th	1	250	Stan Clayton	Offensive tackle	Atlanta Falcons
11th	11	289	Pete Curkendall	–	Buffalo Bills

References

↑ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Nov 22.

Penn State Nittany Lions football

Venues	Old Main Beaver Field New Beaver Field Beaver Stadium (1960–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia

Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Angleball Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Nebraska–Penn State, 1982

People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders

Seasons	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

National championship seasons in bold