1970 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1970 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 18
Record	7–3
Head coach	Joe Paterno (5th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Jim O'Hora (5th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Jack Ham Warren Koegel
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons← 1969 1971 →

1970 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 2 Notre Dame		–		10	–	1	–	0
Villanova		–		9	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Air Force		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Georgia Tech		–		9	–	3	–	0
Boston College		–		8	–	2	–	0
No. 19 Houston		–		8	–	3	–	0
West Virginia		–		8	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Tulane		–		8	–	4	–	0
No. 18 Penn State		–		7	–	3	–	0
West Texas State		–		7	–	3	–	0
Cincinnati		–		7	–	4	–	0
Florida State		–		7	–	4	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		6	–	4	–	0
Dayton		–		5	–	4	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		5	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		5	–	5	–	0
Utah State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		5	–	6	–	0
Southern Miss		–		5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico State		–		4	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		3	–	8	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		3	–	7	–	0
Marshall		–		3	–	6	–	0
Buffalo		–		2	–	9	–	0
Navy		–		2	–	9	–	0
Army		–		1	–	9	–	1
Xavier		–		1	–	9	–	0
Holy Cross		–		0	–	10	–	1

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

The Nittany Lions entered the season with a 22-game winning streak, unbeaten (29–0–1) in their last thirty games. By mid-season, they had dropped three (including one at home), then won the last five to finish at 7–3 and climbed to No. 18 in the final AP poll.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 19	Navy	No. 7	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 55–7	48,566
September 26	at No. 18 Colorado	No. 4	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ABC	L 13–41	42,850
October 3	at Wisconsin	No. 16	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		L 16–29	55,204
October 10	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 28–3	25,252
October 17	Syracuse		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		L 7–24	50,540
October 24	at Army		Michie Stadium West Point, NY	ABC	W 38–14	41,062
October 31	West Virginia		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 42–8	49,932
November 7	at Maryland		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)		W 34–0	23,400
November 14	Ohio		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 32–22	43,000
November 21	Pittsburgh	No. 20	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 35–15	50,017
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

Notable players included senior linebacker Jack Ham and junior running backs Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris.

1970 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`25`	Mike Cooper	Sr
WR	`88`	Greg Edmonds	Sr
RB		Fran Ganter	Sr
RB	`34`	Franco Harris	Jr
QB	`16`	John Hufnagel	So
TE	`89`	John Hull	Jr
C	`56`	Warren Koegel (C)	Sr
RB	`23`	Lydell Mitchell	Jr
OT	`78`	Vic Surma	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`83`	Bruce Bannon	So
DT	`37`	Rick Brown	So
LB	`33`	Jack Ham (C)	Sr
LB	`80`	Gary Hull	Sr
LB	`15`	Mark Koiwai	Sr
LB	`47`	Jim Laslavic	So
DE	`81`	John Skorupan	So
LB	`60`	Charlie Zapiec	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P/QB	`13`	Bob Parsons	Jr
LB/PK/P	`80`	Gary Hull	Sr

Head coach

Joe Paterno (5th year)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Post season

After three consecutive bowl appearances, Penn State stayed home this year, but went to a bowl in each of the next thirteen seasons.

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were selected in the 1971 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
2nd	8	34	Jack Ham	Linebacker	Pittsburgh Steelers
3rd	21	73	Warren Koegel	Center	Oakland Raiders
11th	22	282	Vic Surma	Wide receiver	Miami Dolphins
16th	24	414	Greg Edmonds	Wide receiver/Tight end	Minnesota Vikings

References

"Colorado ends Penn State victory string, 41-13". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press.
Harral, Paul K. (September 27, 1970). "23-game Penn State string halted by Colorado, 41-13". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). UPI. p. D1.
Franke, Russ (November 22, 1970). "Lions thunder past Pitt, 35-15". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, section 4.
"West Virginia routed by Penn State, 42–8". The Greenville News. November 1, 1970. Retrieved January 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Inartistic quarterback leads Penn St. to 34–0 victory". Beckley Post-Herald & The Raleigh Register. November 8, 1970. Retrieved January 22, 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 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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