1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

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

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.

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
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

References

^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1976-standings.html
^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
^ "Penn State loses 3rd straight, 22–6". The Pittsburgh Press. October 3, 1976. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Fusina riddles West Virginia". Asbury Park Press. October 24, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Penn State tames Wolfpack, 41–20". The Pittsburgh Press. November 7, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan Michigan State Ohio State Old Ironsides Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game Child sex abuse scandal 2016 Ohio State game Paterno White Out 2021 Illinois game
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882–1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold