1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season.^[1] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy Outback Bowl champion
Outback Bowl, W 26–14 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 17
Record	9–3 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Joe Paterno (33rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (15th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (22nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ← 1997 1999 →

1998 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Ohio State %+		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 6 Wisconsin $+		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 12 Michigan +		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 24 Purdue		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 17 Penn State		5	–	3					9	–	3
Michigan State		4	–	4					6	–	6
Minnesota		2	–	6					5	–	6
Indiana		2	–	6					4	–	7
Illinois		2	–	6					3	–	8
Iowa		2	–	6					3	–	8
Northwestern		0	–	8					3	–	9
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	3:30 p.m.	No. 21 Southern Miss*	No. 13	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	W 34–6	96,617
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Bowling Green*	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN Plus	W 48–3	96,291
September 19	3:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*	No. 8	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	CBS	W 20–13	56,743
October 3	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Ohio State	No. 7	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry, College GameDay)	ABC	L 9–28	93,479
October 10	3:30 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 13	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (Governor's Victory Bell)	ABC	W 27–17	40,546
October 17	3:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 12	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	W 31–13	97,034
October 31	12:00 p.m.	Illinois	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN Plus	W 27–0	96,508
November 7	12:00 p.m.	at No. 22 Michigan	No. 9	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 0–27	111,019
November 14	12:00 p.m.	Northwestern	No. 19	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN2	W 41–10	96,382
November 21	3:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Wisconsin	No. 16	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	L 3–24	78,964
November 28	1:00 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 23	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 51–28	96,358
January 1, 1999	11:00 a.m.	vs. Kentucky*	No. 22	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)	ESPN	W 26–14	66,005	[2]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	13	9	8	7	7	13	12	10	10	9	19	16	23	22	22	17
Coaches Poll	13	9	8	7	7	13	11	9	10	9	17	14	21	20	20	15
BCS	Not released								10	9	18	17	—	—	—	Not released

Roster

1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 36 Mike Cerimele So WR 13 Sam Crenshaw So WR 20 Eddie Drummond Fr WR 2 Chafie Fields Jr WR 21 Joe Nastasi Sr QB 16 Kevin Thompson Jr G 69 Floyd Wedderburn Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 11 LaVar Arrington So CB Bruce Branch Fr DE 86 Courtney Brown Jr CB 19 Anthony King Jr CB 27 David Macklin Jr SS 4 Derek Fox Jr DE 5 Brad Scioli Sr LB 43 Brandon Short Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 41 Pat Pidgeon Jr	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

NFL draft

Two Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1999 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
5th	5	138	Brad Scioli	Defensive end	Indianapolis Colts
5th	7	140	Floyd Wedderburn	Offensive guard	Seattle Seahawks