1947 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1947 Penn State Nittany Lions football

Eastern champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, T 13–13 vs. SMU
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 4
Record	9–0–1
Head coach	Bob Higgins (18th season)
Captain	John Nolan, John Potsklan
Home stadium	New Beaver Field
Seasons← 1946 1948 →

1947 Eastern college football independents records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 4 Penn State		–		9	–	0	–	1
Muhlenberg		–		9	–	1	–	0
Buffalo		–		8	–	1	–	0
No. 11 Army		–		5	–	2	–	2
Villanova		–		6	–	3	–	1
Boston University		–		5	–	3	–	0
Hofstra		–		5	–	3	–	0
Tufts		–		5	–	3	–	0
Franklin & Marshall		–		4	–	3	–	1
Boston College		–		5	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross		–		4	–	4	–	2
Springfield		–		4	–	4	–	0
Syracuse		–		3	–	6	–	0
CCNY		–		2	–	5	–	1
NYU		–		2	–	5	–	1
Colgate		–		1	–	5	–	2
Temple		–		2	–	6	–	0
Bucknell		–		2	–	7	–	0
Duquesne		–		2	–	8	–	0
Fordham		–		1	–	6	–	1
Merchant Marine		–		2	–	9	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		1	–	8	–	0
Carnegie Tech		–		0	–	6	–	0
Drexel		–		0	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1947 Penn State Nittany Lions football team was an American football team that represented Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) as an independent during the 1947 college football season. In its 18th season under head coach Bob Higgins, the team compiled an undefeated 9–0–1 record, shut out six opponents, outscored opponents by a total of 332 to 40, and was ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll. The team was 9–0 during the regular season and played No. 3 SMU to a tie in the 1948 Cotton Bowl Classic. The team played its home games in New Beaver Field in State College, Pennsylvania.

On defense, the team gave up an average of 4.0 points per game, the lowest total among all major college teams during the 1947 season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 20	vs. Washington State		Hersheypark Stadium Hershey, PA	W 27–6	15,000–16,000
October 4	Bucknell		New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 54–0	12,294
October 11	at Fordham	No. 12	Polo Grounds New York, NY	W 75–0	12,000
October 18	Syracuse	No. 9	New Beaver Field State College, PA (rivalry)	W 40–0	16,632–20,000
October 25	West Virginia	No. 9	New Beaver Field State College, PA (rivalry)	W 21–14	20,313–22,000
November 1	Colgate	No. 7	New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 46–0	14,014
November 8	at Temple	No. 7	Temple Stadium Philadelphia, PA	W 7–0	20,000
November 15	vs. Navy	No. 8	Municipal Stadium Baltimore, MD	W 20–7	25,000
November 22	at Pittsburgh	No. 5	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	W 29–0	47,822–53,000
January 1, 1948	vs. No. 3 SMU	No. 4	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl)	T 13–13	43,000–47,000
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Final
AP	12 (1)	9	9 (1)	7 (2)	7 (2)	8 (3)	5 (6)	5 (1)	5	4 (1)

References

^ "1947 Penn State Nittany Lions Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
Chester L. Smith (September 21, 1947). "Lions Easily Defeat Washington State, 27 to 6". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 40 – via Newspapers.com.
"Nittany Blanks Bucknell, 54-0: Higgins' Reserves Have Field Day". The Pittsburgh Press. October 5, 1947. p. 29 – via Newspapers.com.
Hy Turkin (October 12, 1947). "Penn St., 75-0; Worst Ram Loss". The Daily News (New York City). p. 102 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State Routs Syracuse In Last Three Quarters". The Pittsburgh Press. October 19, 1947. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
Chester L. Smith (October 26, 1947). "Penn State Scores 21-14 Victory Over Mountaineers". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State Whips Colgate, 46-0, and Stays Unbeaten". The Pittsburgh Press. November 2, 1947. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
Stan Baumgartner (November 9, 1947). "Temple Loses to State, 7-0". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. S1, S5 – via Newspapers.com.
Stuart B. McIver (November 16, 1947). "Penn State Victor Over Navy, 20-7". The Baltimore Sun. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
Chester L. Smith (November 23, 1947). "Penn State Finishes Unbeaten With 29-0 Win: Lions Overwhelm Pitt For First Perfect Season Since 1912". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
Tex Maule (January 2, 1948). "SMU, Penn State Deadlock, 13 to 13 in Cotton Bowl". The Austin American. p. 14 – 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 Minnesota: Governor's Victory Bell 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 NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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

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