1964 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1964 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
Record	6–4
Head coach	Rip Engle (15th season)
Captain	Bill Bowes
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons← 1963 1965 →

1964 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 3 Notre Dame		–		9	–	1	–	0
Florida State		–		9	–	1	–	1
Colgate		–		7	–	2	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		7	–	3	–	0
Syracuse		–		7	–	4	–	0
Villanova		–		6	–	2	–	0
Boston College		–		6	–	3	–	0
Southern Miss		–		6	–	3	–	0
New Mexico State		–		6	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		6	–	4	–	0
Memphis State		–		5	–	4	–	0
Utah State		–		5	–	4	–	1
Holy Cross		–		5	–	5	–	0
Buffalo		–		4	–	4	–	1
Colorado State		–		5	–	6	–	0
Air Force		–		4	–	5	–	1
Miami (FL)		–		4	–	5	–	1
Xavier		–		4	–	5	–	1
Army		–		4	–	6	–	0
Idaho		–		4	–	6	–	0
West Texas State		–		4	–	6	–	0
San Jose State		–		4	–	6	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		3	–	5	–	2
Navy		–		3	–	6	–	1
Dayton		–		3	–	7	–	0
Detroit		–		3	–	7	–	0
Boston University		–		2	–	7	–	0
Houston		–		2	–	6	–	1
Texas Western		–		0	–	8	–	2

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1964 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1964 NCAA University Division football season. The team was coached by Rip Engle and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

The team started the season poorly, giving up more than 20 points in each of four losses in their first five games before coming together defensively in the second half of the season. A total of just 24 points were given up in the final five games, helping the Nittany Lions to win out and finish the year with a winning record.

Particularly notable for the Nittany Lions in 1964 would be a 27–0 upset shutout of #2 ranked Ohio State at Columbus.

Penn State lineman Glenn Ressler, a particularly stout defender who would go on to have a 10-year career in the National Football League, would receive the Maxwell Award as college football's best all-around player of 1964.

Penn State's strong play down the stretch against top-level competition was sufficient to secure for it the 1964 Lambert Trophy, awarded annually to the top collegiate football team in the East despite the school's 6–4 season record.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 19		No. 10 Navy	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 8–21	44,800
September 26		at UCLA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 14–21	34,636
October 3		Oregon	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 14–22	44,803
October 10		at Army	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	W 6–2	32,268
October 17		No. 7 Syracuse	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	L 14–21	47,998
October 24		at West Virginia	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	W 37–8	26,000
October 31		Maryland	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	W 17–9	33,500
November 7		at No. 2 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)	W 27–0	84,279
November 14	9:00 p.m.	at Houston	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 24–7	25,000
November 21		Pittsburgh	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	W 28–0	50,144
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

References

"Penn State Yearly Results (1960-1964)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
"Ressler Gains Maxwell Honors," Sunbury Daily Item, Nov. 17, 1964, p. 18.
"Penn State Wins Lambert Trophy as Football Titleholder of East," Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, Nov. 24, 1964, p. 26.
Uhrhammer, Jerry (October 4, 1964). "Berry passes Oregon by Penn State, 22-14". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
"Penn State romps over WVA, 37–8". The Danville Register. October 25, 1964. Retrieved January 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State downs Terps, 17–9". Daily Press. November 1, 1964. Retrieved January 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State Dumps OSU From Unbeaten Ranks, 27-0". The Sunday Times Recorder. November 8, 1964. p. 1D – via Newspapers.com.
"Lions Seek 4 Straight At Houston". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. November 14, 1964. p. 12. Retrieved June 3, 2021 – 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

This college football 1960s season article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

This article about a sports team in Pennsylvania is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: