1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Cotton Bowl champion
Conference Independent
Ranking
Coaches No. 11
AP No. 5
1971 record 11–1
Head coach Joe Paterno (6th season)
Captain Dave Joyner
Captain Charlie Zapiec
Home stadium Beaver Stadium
(Capacity: 48,284)
1971 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
No. 5 Penn State   –       11 – 1 – 0
Boston College   –       9 – 2 – 0
No. 17 Houston   –       9 – 3 – 0
No. 13 Notre Dame   –       8 – 2 – 0
Utah State   –       8 – 3 – 0
Florida State   –       8 – 4 – 0
Cincinnati   –       7 – 4 – 0
West Virginia   –       7 – 4 – 0
Temple   –       6 – 2 – 1
Air Force   –       6 – 4 – 0
Army   –       6 – 4 – 0
Colgate   –       6 – 4 – 0
Villanova   –       6 – 4 – 1
South Carolina   –       6 – 5 – 0
Southern Miss   –       6 – 5 – 0
Georgia Tech   –       6 – 6 – 0
New Mexico State   –       5 – 5 – 1
Northern Illinois   –       5 – 5 – 1
Syracuse   –       5 – 5 – 1
Dayton   –       5 – 6 – 0
Miami (FL)   –       4 – 7 – 0
Rutgers   –       4 – 7 – 0
Virginia Tech   –       4 – 7 – 0
Navy   –       3 – 8 – 0
Pittsburgh   –       3 – 8 – 0
Tulane   –       3 – 8 – 0
Xavier   –       1 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1971 college 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
September 18 at Navy No. 14 Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD W 56–3   26,855
September 25 at Iowa No. 12 Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA ABC W 44–14   44,303
October 2 Air Force No. 9 Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA W 16–14   50,459
October 9 Army No. 9 Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA W 42–0   49,887
October 16 at Syracuse No. 9 Archbold Stadium • Syracuse, NY (Rivalry) W 31–0   41,382
October 23 TCUdagger No. 7 Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA W 66–14   51,896
October 30 at West Virginia No. 6 Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Rivalry) W 35–7   37,000
November 6 Maryland No. 6 Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry) W 63–27   50,144
November 13 North Carolina State No. 5 Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA W 35–3   50,477
November 20 at Pittsburgh No. 6 Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry) W 55–18   39,539
December 4 at No. 12 Tennessee No. 5 Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN [2] ABC L 11–31   59,542
January 1, 1972 vs. No. 12 Texas No. 10 Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX [3][4] (Cotton Bowl) CBS W 30–6   72,000
daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Roster

1971 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 22 Cappelletti, JohnJohn Cappelletti So
RB 34 Harris, FrancoFranco Harris Sr
QB 14 Hufnagel, JohnJohn Hufnagel Jr
RB 23 Mitchell, LydellLydell Mitchell Sr
 Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DE 83 Bannon, BruceBruce Bannon Jr
LB 47 Laslavic, JimJim Laslavic Jr
LB 89 O'Neil, EdEd O'Neil So
DE 81 Skorupan, JohnJohn Skorupan Jr
LB 60 Zapiec, CharlieCharlie Zapiec Sr
 Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
TE/P 86 Parsons, BobBob Parsons Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Game summaries

Air Force

Alberto Vitiello, a 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) junior college transfer, kicked a 22-yard field goal with four minutes to help Penn State escape with a 16–14 victory over Air Force.

[5]

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1972 NFL Draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
1st 13 13 Franco Harris Running back Pittsburgh Steelers
2nd 22 48 Lydell Mitchell Running back Baltimore Colts
4th 15 93 Charles Zapiec – Dallas Cowboys
5th 13 117 Bob Parsons Punter Chicago Bears

References

  1. ↑ "Penn State Yearly Results (1970-1974)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Vols flatten Lions". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 5, 1971. p. 1, sports.
  3. ↑ "Texas Wishbone catches in throat". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1972. p. 61.
  4. ↑ "Penn State scuttles Texas for 30-6 Cotton Bowl win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1972. p. 1, sports.
  5. ↑ "Penn State Edges Air Force on Field Goal." Palm Beach Post. 1971 Oct 3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.