1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University during the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season.^[1] Penn State defeated the Georgia Bulldogs, 27–23, in the Sugar Bowl to win Joe Paterno's first consensus national championship. The team was selected national champion by AP, Billingsley, DeVold, Dunkel, FACT, FB News, Football Research, FW, Litkenhous, Matthews, NCF, NFF, The New York Times, Poling, Sagarin, Sagarin (ELO-Chess), Sporting News, UPI/coaches, and USA/CNN, while named co-champion by Helms.^[2]

1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Consensus national champion Sugar Bowl champion Eastern champion
Sugar Bowl, W 27–23 vs. Georgia
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (17th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dick Anderson (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (6th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ← 1981 1983 →

1982 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Penn State $	6	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Pittsburgh	4	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 19 West Virginia	4	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Boston College	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Rutgers	1	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Temple	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Syracuse	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1982 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Pittsburgh		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Florida State		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 19 West Virginia		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Boston College		–		–				8	–	3	–	1
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				7	–	3	–	1
East Carolina		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Navy		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Louisville		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 4	1:30 p.m.	Temple	No. 8	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN (tape delay)	W 31–14	80,000
September 11	1:30 p.m.	Maryland	No. 7	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	TCS	W 39–31	84,597	[3]
September 18	1:30 p.m.	Rutgers	No. 8	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	TCS	W 49–14	83,268
September 25	3:50 p.m.	No. 2 Nebraska	No. 8	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	CBS	W 27–24	85,304
October 9	1:30 p.m.	at No. 4 Alabama	No. 3	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	CBS	L 21–42	76,821	[4]
October 16	1:30 p.m.	Syracuse	No. 8	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	TCS	W 28–7	84,762
October 23	1:30 p.m.	at No. 13 West Virginia	No. 9	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	USA	W 24–0	60,958	[5]
October 30	1:30 p.m.	at Boston College	No. 8	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	TCS	W 52–17	33,205
November 6	1:30 p.m.	NC State	No. 7	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	TCS	W 54–0	84,837	[6]
November 13	3:50 p.m.	at No. 13 Notre Dame	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 24–14	59,075
November 26	12:30 p.m.	No. 5 Pittsburgh	No. 2	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 19–10	85,522
January 1, 1983	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Georgia	No. 2	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	W 27–23	78,124
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 14 Todd Blackledge Sr TE 80 Kirk Bowman Jr OT 79 Bill Contz Sr OT 72 Ron Heller Jr WR 19 Gregg Garrity Sr C 58 Nick Haden So WR 82 Kenny Jackson Jr G 60 Dave Laube Sr TE 81 Mike McCloskey Sr RB 29 Tony Mumford So G 56 Pete Speros Jr FB 43 Jon Williams So RB 25 Curt Warner Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 39 Dan Biondi Sr CB 23 Alvin Cunningham So DT 70 Greg Gattuso Jr Hero 17 Harry Hamilton Jr CB 49 Roger Jackson Sr LB 98 Ken Kelley Sr LB 37 Walker Lee Ashley Sr DT 65 Dave Opfar Sr LB 33 Dave Paffenroth Sr CB 92 Mark Fruehan Sr LB 55 Rodger Puz Sr LB 97 Scott Radecic Jr S 32 Mark Robinson Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 13 Nick Gancitano So P 21 Ralph Giacomarro Sr PK 10 Massimo Manca Fr	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Dick Anderson John Bove Tom Bradley Booker Brooks Fran Ganter Bob Phillips John Rosenberg Jerry Sandusky Jim Williams Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Rankings

See also: 1982 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	8	7	8	8	3 (7)	3 (9)	8	9	8	7	5 (1)	3 (2)	2 (2)	2 (2)	2	1 (44)
UPI	5	5*	8	5	3 (3)	3 (6)	10	8 (1)	7	6	4 (1)	3 (3)	2 (2)	2 (2)	2 (3)	1 (33)

* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

Game summaries

Temple

See also: 1982 Temple Owls football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Temple	0	7	0	7	14
#8 Penn State	21	3	0	7	31

Game information

First Quarter PSU – Warner, 40-yard TD pass from Blackledge, Manca kick good, (PSU 7–0) PSU – Baugh, 31-yard TD pass from Blackledge, Manca kick good, (PSU 14–0) PSU – Williams, 16-yard TD pass from Blackledge, Manca kick good, (PSU 21–0) Second Quarter TU – Slade, 1-yard TD pass from Riordan, Clauser kick good, (PSU 21–7) PSU – Manca, 37-yard field goal, (PSU 24–7) Third Quarter No scoring Fourth Quarter PSU – Williams, 4-yard TD pass from Blackledge, Manca kick good, (PSU 31–7) TU – Brown, 14-yard TD pass from Riordan, Clauser kick good, (PSU 31–14) Top passers TU – PSU – Top rushers TU – PSU – Top receivers TU – PSU – Top defenders TU – PSU –

Temple vs. Penn State – Game summary

at Beaver Stadium

• Date: September 4
• Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 80,000
• Referee: William Parkinson
• TV announcers (ESPN): Jim Simpson, Bud Wilkinson

Maryland

See also: 1982 Maryland Terrapins football team and Maryland–Penn State football rivalry

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	3	7	14	7	31
#7 Penn State	3	17	9	10	39

Game information
First Quarter PSU – MD – Second Quarter PSU – PSU – MD – PSU – Third Quarter MD – PSU – MD – PSU – Fourth Quarter PSU – MD – PSU – Top passers MD – PSU – Top rushers MD – PSU – Top receivers MD – PSU – Top defenders MD – PSU –

Maryland vs. Penn State – Game summary

at Beaver Stadium

• Date: September 11
• Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 84,597
• Referee: J. Vincent Price
• TV announcers (TCS): Stan Savran, George Paterno

Rutgers

See also: 1982 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rutgers	7	7	0	0	14
#5 Penn State	7	14	14	14	49

Game information
First Quarter PSU – RUT – Second Quarter PSU – PSU – RUT – Third Quarter PSU – PSU – Fourth Quarter PSU – PSU – Top passers RUT – PSU – Top rushers RUT – PSU – Top receivers RUT – PSU – Top defenders RUT – PSU –

Rutgers vs. Penn State – Game summary

at Beaver Stadium

• Date: September 18
• Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 83,268
• Referee: Thomas Thamert
• TV announcers (TCS): Stan Savran, George Paterno

#2 Nebraska

See also: 1982 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Nebraska	0	7	7	10	24
#8 Penn State	7	7	7	6	27

Game information
First Quarter PSU – Second Quarter PSU – NEB – Third Quarter PSU – NEB – Fourth Quarter NEB – NEB – PSU – Top passers NEB – PSU – Top rushers NEB – PSU – Top receivers NEB – PSU – Top defenders NEB – PSU –

Nebraska vs. Penn State – Game summary

at Beaver Stadium

• Date: September 25
• Game time: 3:50 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 85,304
• Referee: William Parkinson
• TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender, Pat Haden

#4 Alabama

See also: 1982 Alabama Crimson Tide football team and Alabama–Penn State football rivalry

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#3 Penn State	7	0	7	7	21
#4 Alabama	7	14	3	18	42

Game information
First Quarter ALA – PSU – Second Quarter ALA – ALA – Third Quarter PSU – ALA – Fourth Quarter PSU – ALA – ALA – ALA – Top passers PSU – ALA – Top rushers PSU – ALA – Top receivers PSU – ALA – Top defenders PSU – ALA –

Penn State vs. Alabama – Game summary

at Legion Field

• Date: October 9
• Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 76,821
• TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender, Pat Haden

Syracuse

See also: 1982 Syracuse Orangemen football team and Penn State–Syracuse football rivalry

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Syracuse	0	7	0	0	7
#8 Penn State	7	14	0	7	28

Game information
First Quarter PSU – Second Quarter PSU – SU – PSU – Third Quarter No scoring Fourth Quarter PSU – Top passers SU – PSU – Top rushers SU – PSU – Top receivers SU – PSU – Top defenders SU – PSU –

Syracuse vs. Penn State – Game summary

at Beaver Stadium

• Date: October 16
• Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 84,762
• TV announcers (TCS): Stan Savran, George Paterno

#13 West Virginia

See also: 1982 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Penn State	3	7	0	14	24
#13 West Virginia	0	0	0	0	0

Game information

First Quarter PSU – Gancitano, 31-yard field goal, 6:14 (PSU 3–0) Second Quarter PSU – Williams, 4-yard TD run, Gancitano kick good, 1:57 (PSU 10–0) Third Quarter No scoring Fourth Quarter PSU – Radecic 85-yard interception return for TD, Gancitano kick good, 11:29 (PSU 17–0) PSU – Jackson, 9-yard TD run, Gancitano kick good, 2:42 (PSU 24–0) Top passers PSU – WVU – Top rushers PSU – WVU – Top receivers PSU – WVU – Top defenders PSU – WVU –

Penn State vs. West Virginia – Game summary

at Mountaineer Field

• Date: October 23
• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 60,958
• TV: USA

Boston College

See also: 1982 Boston College Eagles football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Penn State	14	17	7	14	52
Boston College	7	3	0	7	17

Game information
First Quarter BC – PSU – PSU – Second Quarter PSU – PSU – BC – PSU – Third Quarter PSU – Fourth Quarter BC – PSU – PSU – Top passers PSU – BC – Top rushers PSU – BC – Top receivers PSU – BC – Top defenders PSU – BC –

Penn State vs. Boston College – Game summary

at Alumni Stadium

• Date: October 30
• Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
• Game attendance: 33,205
• TV announcers (TCS): Stan Savran, George Paterno

North Carolina State

See also: 1982 North Carolina State Wolfpack football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
North Carolina State	0	0	0	0	0
#7 Penn State	17	9	21	7	54

Game information
First Quarter PSU – PSU – PSU – Second Quarter PSU – PSU – Third Quarter PSU – PSU – PSU – Fourth Quarter PSU – Top passers NCST – PSU – Top rushers NCST – PSU – Top receivers NCST – PSU – Top defenders NCST – PSU –

North Carolina State vs. Penn State – Game summary

at Beaver Stadium

• Date: November 6
• Game time: 1:30 PM EST
• Game attendance: 84,762
• Referee: Thomas Thamert
• TV announcers (TCS): Stan Savran, George Paterno

#13 Notre Dame

See also: 1982 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Penn State	0	13	0	11	24
#13 Notre Dame	7	7	0	0	14

Game information

First Quarter ND – C. Smith, 8-yard TD pass from Karcher, Johnston kick good (ND 7–0) Second Quarter PSU – Blackledge, 1-yard TD run, Gancitano kick good (TIE 7–7) PSU – Gancitano 41-yard field goal (PSU 10–7) PSU – Gancitano 29-yard field goal (PSU 13–7) ND – Pinkett, 93-yard TD kickoff return, Johnston kick good (ND 14–13) Third Quarter No scoring Fourth Quarter PSU – Warner, 48-yard TD pass from Blackledge, pass failed (PSU 19–14) PSU – Safety, Pinkett tackled by Ashley in end zone (PSU 21–14) PSU – Gancitano 27-yard field goal (PSU 24–14) Top passing PSU – ND – Top rushers PSU – ND – Top receivers PSU – ND – Top defenders PSU – ND –

Penn State vs. Notre Dame – Game summary

at Notre Dame Stadium

• Date: November 13
• Game time: 3:50 PM EST
• Game attendance: 59,075
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles, Tim Brant
• ^[7]

#5 Pittsburgh

See also: 1982 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Pittsburgh	0	7	0	3	10
#2 Penn State	3	0	10	6	19

Game information
First Quarter PSU – Second Quarter PITT – Third Quarter PSU – PSU – Fourth Quarter PSU – PITT – PSU – Top passers PITT – PSU – Top rushers PITT – PSU – Top receivers PITT – PSU – Top defenders PITT – PSU –

Pittsburgh vs. Penn State – Game summary

at Beaver Stadium

• Date: November 26
• Game time: 12:30 PM EST
• Game attendance: 85,722
• Referee: Raymond Bower
• TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Lee Grosscup, Tim Brant

#1 Georgia (Sugar Bowl)

See also: 1982 Georgia Bulldogs football team and 1983 Sugar Bowl

Overall record	Previous meeting	Previous winner
First meeting

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Penn State	7	13	0	7	27
#1 Georgia	3	7	7	6	23

Game information
First Quarter PSU – UGA – Second Quarter PSU – PSU – PSU – UGA – Third Quarter UGA – Fourth Quarter PSU – UGA – Top passers PSU – UGA – Top rushers PSU – UGA – Top receivers PSU – UGA – Top defenders PSU – UGA –

Penn State vs. Georgia – Game summary

at Louisiana Superdome

• Date: January 1, 1983
• Game time: 8:00 PM EST
• Game attendance: 78,127
• Referee: Vance Carlson
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles, Jim Lampley

Awards

• Todd Blackledge

Davey O'Brien Award

• Joe Paterno

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

• Pete Speros

Nittany Lion of the Year

NFL Draft

Nine Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1983 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	3	3	Curt Warner	Running back	Seattle Seahawks
1st	7	7	Todd Blackledge	Quarterback	Kansas City Chiefs
3rd	17	73	Walker Lee Ashley	Linebacker	Minnesota Vikings
4th	4	88	Mike McCloskey	Tight end	Houston Oilers
5th	10	122	Bill Contz	Offensive tackle	Cleveland Browns
5th	28	140	Gregg Garrity	Wide receiver	Pittsburgh Steelers
10th	8	261	Dave Laube	Offensive guard	Detroit Lions
10th	10	263	Pete Speros	Offensive guard	Seattle Seahawks
10th	15	268	Ralph Giacomarro	Punter	Atlanta Falcons

Media

Radio

Flagship station	Play-by-play	Color commentator	Sideline reporter	Studio host
WMAJ AM 1450	Fran Fisher	John Grant

References

1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. p. 114. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
3. "Penn State rallies to edge Maryland". The Sunday News. September 12, 1982. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "'Bama brings Penn State back to earth". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 10, 1982. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Penn State's defense devastates W. Virginia". Democrat and Chronicle. October 24, 1982. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Nittany Lions follow new script". The Sunday Times. November 7, 1982. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Eugene Register-Guard. November 14, 1982. Retrieved December 15, 2014.