1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Orange Bowl, L 10-25 vs. Oklahoma
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	#3
AP	#3
1985 record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (20th year)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 83,370)

1985 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
#9 Miami (FL)		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
#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		–		–				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 college football season. 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 7	at #7 Maryland	#19	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD (Rivalry)		W 20–18	50,750
September 14	Temple	#11	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 27–25	84,651
September 21	East Carolina	#10	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 17–10	84,266
September 28	at Rutgers	#9	Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, NJ		W 17–10	54,560
October 12	#10 Alabama	#8	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 19–17	85,444
October 19	at Syracuse	#6	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY (Rivalry)		W 24–20	50,021
October 26	West Virginia	#3	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	W 27–0	85,534
November 2	Boston College	#3	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 16–12	82,000
November 9	at Cincinnati	#2	Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, OH		W 31–10	33,528
November 16	Notre Dame	#1	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ABC	W 36–6	84,000
November 23	at Pittsburgh	#1	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)	ESPN	W 31–0	60,134
January 1, 1986	vs. #3 Oklahoma	#1	Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 10–25	74,148
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total • Penn St 10 7 3 0 20 Maryland 0 10 8 0 18 Date: September 7 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game attendance: 50,750 TV announcers (TCS): George Paterno and Stan Savran

Scoring summary Q1 PSU Zordich 32 yard interception return (Manca kick) PSU 7–0 Q1 PSU Manca 28 yard field goal PSU 10–0 Q2 PSU Williams 2 yard pass from Shaffer (Manca kick) PSU 17–0 Q2 MD Paredes 22 yard field goal PSU 17–3 Q2 MD Badanjek 8 yard run (Paredes kick) PSU 17–10 Q3 MD Badanjek 5 yard run (Knight pass from Henning) MD 18–17 Q3 9:46 PSU Manca 46 yard field goal PSU 20–18

NFL Draft

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	–	Buffalo Bills
9th	14	235	Mike Zordich	Defensive back	San Diego Chargers