1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Orange Bowl, L 10–25 vs. Oklahoma
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record11–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter (2nd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (9th season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
← 1984
1986 →
1985 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Penn State $ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
West Virginia 4 – 1 – 1 7 – 3 – 1
Syracuse 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Boston College 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 8 – 0
Pittsburgh 2 – 3 – 1 5 – 5 – 1
Temple 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Rutgers 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 1
Rankings from AP Poll
1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Penn State   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
No. 9 Miami (FL)   –   –   10 – 2 – 0
Army   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 15 Florida State   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
West Virginia   –   –   7 – 3 – 1
Southern Miss   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Syracuse   –   –   7 – 5 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   –   5 – 5 – 1
Cincinnati   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Notre Dame   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
South Carolina   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Southwestern Louisiana   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Navy   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Temple   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Boston College   –   –   4 – 8 – 0
Memphis State   –   –   2 – 7 – 2
Rutgers   –   –   2 – 8 – 1
East Carolina   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Louisville   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Tulane   –   –   1 – 10 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1985 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.

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 712:20 p.m.at No. 7 MarylandNo. 19
USAW 20–1850,750[2]
September 1412:20 p.m.TempleNo. 11
TCSW 27–2584,651
September 211:30 p.m.East CarolinaNo. 10
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 17–1084,266[3]
September 281:00 p.m.at RutgersNo. 9
W 17–1054,560
October 123:30 p.m.No. 10 AlabamaNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 19–1785,444[4]
October 191:30 p.m.at SyracuseNo. 6
W 24–2050,021
October 263:30 p.m.West VirginiadaggerNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 27–085,534[5]
November 212:30 p.m.Boston CollegeNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 16–1282,000
November 92:00 p.m.at CincinnatiNo. 2
W 31–1033,528
November 163:30 p.m.Notre DameNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 36–684,000
November 237:45 p.m.at PittsburghNo. 1
ESPNW 31–060,134
January 1, 19868:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 OklahomaNo. 1
NBCL 10–2574,148

Rankings[edit]

Further information: 1985 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP181911109986332 (15)1 (44)1 (46)1 (49)1 (47)1 (47)3
Coaches1717986764221 (34)1 (34)1 (41)1 (39)1 (37)1 (36)3

Game summaries[edit]

At Maryland[edit]

Penn State at Maryland
1 234Total
• No. 19 Nittany Lions 10 730 20
No. 7 Terrapins 0 1080 18
Scoring summary
Q1PSUZordich 32 yard interception return (Manca kick)PSU 7–0
Q1PSUManca 28 yard field goalPSU 10–0
Q2PSUWilliams 2 yard pass from Shaffer (Manca kick)PSU 17–0
Q2MDParedes 22 yard field goalPSU 17–3
Q2MDBadanjek 8 yard run (Paredes kick)PSU 17–10
Q3MDBadanjek 5 yard run (Knight pass from Henning)MD 18–17
Q39:46PSUManca 46 yard field goalPSU 20–18
See also: 1985 Maryland Terrapins football team

[6]

At Pittsburgh[edit]

See also: 1985 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Vs. Oklahoma (Orange Bowl)[edit]

Penn State vs. Oklahoma
1 234Total
No. 1 Nittany Lions 7 300 10
• No. 3 Sooners 0 1636 25
Scoring summary
18:17PSUTim Manoa 1-yard run (Massimo Manca kick)PSU 7-0
214:35OUTim Lashar 26-yard field goalPSU 7-3
212:26OUKeith Jackson 71-yard pass from Jamelle Holieway (Tim Lashar kick)OU 10-7
25:20OUTim Lashar 31-yard field goalOU 13-7
21:49OUTim Lashar 21-yard field goalOU 16-7
20:01PSUMassimo Manca 27-yard field goalOU 16-10
33:09OUTim Lashar 22-yard field goalOU 19-10
41:42OULydell Carr 61-yard run (Lashar kick failed)OU 25-10
Main article: 1986 Orange Bowl
See also: 1985 Oklahoma Sooners football team

[7]

Roster[edit]

1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 9 Mike Alexander Jr
OT 74 Stan Clayton So
G 57 Chris Conlin Jr
RB 42 D.J. Dozier So
G 54 Mitch Frerotte Jr
FB 27 John Hornyak Jr
FB 44 Tim Manoa Jr
G 59 Dan Morgan Jr
C 56 Keith Radecic Jr
WR 6 Ray Roundtree So
QB 14 John Shaffer Jr
RB 35 Steve Smith Jr
RB 32 Blair Thomas Fr
WR 5 Michael Timpson Fr
G 66 Steve Wisniewski Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 95 Rogers Alexander Sr
LB 31 Shane Conlan Jr
LB 53 Don Graham Jr
S 22 Ray Isom Jr
LB 55 Tim Johnson Jr
DB 43 Mike Zordich Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
PK 10 Massimo Manca Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

NFL Draft[edit]

Three Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1986 NFL Draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
4th 23 105 Rogers Alexander Linebacker New York Jets
7th 2 168 Bob Williams Tight end Buffalo Bills
9th 14 235 Mike Zordich Defensive back San Diego Chargers

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Nittany Lions maintain mastery". The Courier-Journal. September 8, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "PSU foils Carolina upset bid, 17–10". The Pittsburgh Press. September 22, 1985. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Penn State rolls, 19–17, over Bama". The Pittsburgh Press. October 13, 1985. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Penn State blanks West Virginia". The Tyler Courier-Times. October 27, 1985. Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1985 September 8.
  7. ^ "Orange Bowl; Oklahoma Upends Penn State, Stakes Claim to No. 1". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
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