1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season.^[2] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Gator Bowl, L 9–20 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Independent
Record	7–5
Head coach	Joe Paterno (11th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Jim O'Hora (11th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

1976 NCAA Division I independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Pittsburgh			–					12	–	0	–	0
No. 17 Rutgers			–					11	–	0	–	0
San Diego State			–					10	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Notre Dame			–					9	–	3	–	0
Colgate			–					8	–	2	–	0
Boston College			–					8	–	3	–	0
Cincinnati			–					8	–	3	–	0
Memphis State			–					7	–	4	–	0
North Texas State *			–					7	–	4	–	0
Southern Illinois			–					7	–	4	–	0
Penn State			–					7	–	5	–	0
Villanova			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	5	–	0
Army			–					5	–	6	–	0
Florida State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Illinois State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Richmond			–					5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia			–					5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					4	–	6	–	1
Temple			–					4	–	6	–	0
Air Force			–					4	–	7	–	0
Dayton			–					4	–	7	–	0
Louisville			–					4	–	7	–	0
Marshall			–					4	–	7	–	0
Navy			–					4	–	7	–	0
Indiana State			–					3	–	7	–	0
Hawaii			–					3	–	8	–	0
Holy Cross			–					3	–	8	–	0
Miami (FL)			–					3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse			–					3	–	8	–	0
Utah State			–					3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana			–					2	–	9	–	0
Southern Miss			–					2	–	9	–	0
Tulane			–					2	–	9	–	0
North Texas State (originally 6–5) was awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	Stanford	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 15–12	61,645
September 18	No. 2 Ohio State	No. 7	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–12	62,503
September 25	Iowa	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 6–7	61,268
October 2	at Kentucky	No. 20	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY		L 6–22	57,723	[3]
October 9	Army		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 38–16	60,436
October 16	Syracuse		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 27–3	61,474
October 23	at West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)		W 33–0	37,762	[4]
October 30	at Temple		Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 31–30	42,005
November 6	NC State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 41–20	60,426	[5]
November 13	at Miami (FL)		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 21–7	19,627
November 26	at No. 1 Pittsburgh	No. 16	Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–24	50,360
December 27	vs. No. 15 Notre Dame	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl) (rivalry)	ABC	L 9–20	67,827
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 71 Brad Benson Sr WR 44 Jimmy Cefalo Jr OT 68 Eric Cummingham So OT 71 Keith Dorney So WR 46 Scott Fitzkee So QB 14 Chuck Fusina So OT 68 George Reihner Sr TE 82 Mickey Shuler Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 53 Kurt Allerman Sr DB 25 Tom Bradley So DE 64 Ron Crosby Sr LB 95 Tom DePaso Jr DE 28 Rich Milot So DT 78 Randy Sidler Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Dick Anderson Booker Brooks John Chuckran Gregg Ducatte Fran Ganter Jim O'Hora Bob Phillips John Rosenberg Jerry Sandusky J. T. White Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1977 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
2nd	10	38	George Reihner	Offensive guard	Houston Oilers
3rd	22	78	Kurt Allerman	Linebacker	St. Louis Cardinals
5th	2	114	Ron Crosby	Linebacker	Detroit Lions
8th	24	219	Brad Benson	Offensive tackle	New England Patriots