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1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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 as an independent during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 20th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 11–1. Penn State was invited to the Orange Bowl, where the Nittany Lions lost to Oklahoma. The team played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 712:20 p.m.at No. 7 MarylandNo. 19
USAW 20–1850,750[1]
September 1412:20 p.m.TempleNo. 11
TCSW 27–2584,651[2]
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[4]
October 123:30 p.m.No. 10 AlabamaNo. 8
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 19–1785,444[5]
October 191:30 p.m.at SyracuseNo. 6
W 24–2050,021[6]
October 263:30 p.m.West VirginiadaggerNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 27–085,534[7]
November 212:30 p.m.Boston CollegeNo. 3
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 16–1282,000[8]
November 92:00 p.m.at CincinnatiNo. 2
W 31–1033,528[9]
November 163:30 p.m.Notre DameNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 36–684,000[10]
November 237:45 p.m.at PittsburghNo. 1
ESPNW 31–060,134[11]
January 1, 19868:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 OklahomaNo. 1
NBCL 10–2574,148[12]

Rankings

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

At Maryland

Penn State at Maryland
1 234Total
• No. 19 Nittany Lions 10 730 20
No. 7 Terrapins 0 1080 18
See also: 1985 Maryland Terrapins football team

[13]

At Pittsburgh

See also: 1985 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Vs. Oklahoma (Orange Bowl)

Penn State vs. Oklahoma
1 234Total
No. 1 Nittany Lions 7 300 10
• No. 3 Sooners 0 1636 25
Main article: 1986 Orange Bowl
See also: 1985 Oklahoma Sooners football team

[14]

Roster

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

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

  1. ^ "Nittany Lions maintain mastery". The Courier-Journal. September 8, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Lions post another 2-point win". The Daily News. September 15, 1985. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – 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's big plays kill Rutgers". The Herald-News. September 29, 1985. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Penn State rolls, 19–17, over Bama". The Pittsburgh Press. October 13, 1985. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Penn State hurdles Syracuse". Asbury Park Press. October 20, 1985. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Penn State blanks West Virginia". The Tyler Courier-Times. October 27, 1985. Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Tackle's touchdown propels Penn State to 16–12 victory". The State. November 3, 1985. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "No. 2 Penn State sinks Cincinnati". Sunday Press. November 10, 1985. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "No. 1 Oenn St. blasts Notre Dame, 36–6". Democrat and Chronicle. November 17, 1985. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Perfect Penn State plunders Pittsburgh, 31–0". The Hartford Courant. November 24, 1985. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Oklahoma takes care of business". The Shreveport Journal. January 2, 1986. Retrieved April 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1985 September 8.
  14. ^ "Orange Bowl; Oklahoma Upends Penn State, Stakes Claim to No. 1". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2020.