1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football

Eastern champion
Orange Bowl, L 10–25 vs. Oklahoma
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	11–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (20th season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (9th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons← 1984 1986 →

1985 Major eastern college football independents records
v t e	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

$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	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 in the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	12:20 p.m.	at No. 7 Maryland	No. 19	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	USA	W 20–18	50,750
September 14	12:20 p.m.	Temple	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	TCS	W 27–25	84,651
September 21	1:30 p.m.	East Carolina	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 17–10	84,266
September 28	1:00 p.m.	at Rutgers	No. 9	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 17–10	54,560
October 12	3:30 p.m.	No. 10 Alabama	No. 8	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 19–17	85,444
October 19	1:30 p.m.	at Syracuse	No. 6	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)		W 24–20	50,021
October 26	3:30 p.m.	West Virginia	No. 3	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–0	85,534
November 2	12:30 p.m.	Boston College	No. 3	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 16–12	82,000
November 9	2:00 p.m.	at Cincinnati	No. 2	Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati, OH		W 31–10	33,528
November 16	3:30 p.m.	Notre Dame	No. 1	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 36–6	84,000
November 23	7:45 p.m.	at Pittsburgh	No. 1	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 31–0	60,134
January 1, 1986	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Oklahoma	No. 1	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 10–25	74,148
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Further information: 1985 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	18	19	11	10	9	9	8	6	3	3	2 (15)	1 (44)	1 (46)	1 (49)	1 (47)	1 (47)	3
Coaches	17	17	9	8	6	7	6	4	2	2	1 (34)	1 (34)	1 (41)	1 (39)	1 (37)	1 (36)	3

Game summaries

At Maryland

Penn State at Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 19 Nittany Lions	10	7	3	0	20
No. 7 Terrapins	0	10	8	0	18

Date: September 7
Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD
Game attendance: 50,750
TV announcers (TCS): George Paterno and Stan Savran

Scoring summary

Q1		PSU	Zordich 32 yard interception return (Manca kick)	PSU 7–0

Q1		PSU	Manca 28 yard field goal	PSU 10–0

Q2		PSU	Williams 2 yard pass from Shaffer (Manca kick)	PSU 17–0

Q2		MD	Paredes 22 yard field goal	PSU 17–3

Q2		MD	Badanjek 8 yard run (Paredes kick)	PSU 17–10

Q3		MD	Badanjek 5 yard run (Knight pass from Henning)	MD 18–17

Q3	9:46	PSU	Manca 46 yard field goal	PSU 20–18

At Pittsburgh

Vs. Oklahoma (Orange Bowl)

Penn State vs. Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Nittany Lions	7	3	0	0	10
• No. 3 Sooners	0	16	3	6	25

Date: January 1, 1986
Location: Orange Bowl
Game attendance: 74,178
TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui (play-by-play), Bob Trumpy (analyst), Bob Griese (sideline), and Jimmy Cefalo (sideline)

Scoring summary

1	8:17	PSU	Tim Manoa 1-yard run (Massimo Manca kick)	PSU 7-0

2	14:35	OU	Tim Lashar 26-yard field goal	PSU 7-3

2	12:26	OU	Keith Jackson 71-yard pass from Jamelle Holieway (Tim Lashar kick)	OU 10-7

2	5:20	OU	Tim Lashar 31-yard field goal	OU 13-7

2	1:49	OU	Tim Lashar 21-yard field goal	OU 16-7

2	0:01	PSU	Massimo Manca 27-yard field goal	OU 16-10

3	3:09	OU	Tim Lashar 22-yard field goal	OU 19-10

4	1:42	OU	Lydell Carr 61-yard run (Lashar kick failed)	OU 25-10

Main article: 1986 Orange Bowl See also: 1985 Oklahoma Sooners football team

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

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Tom Bradley
Ron Dickerson
Fran Ganter
Nick Gasparato
Bob Phillips
Frank Rocco
Joe Sarra
Jerry Sandusky
Jim Williams

Legend

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

Injured
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

"Penn State Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
"Nittany Lions maintain mastery". The Courier-Journal. September 8, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"PSU foils Carolina upset bid, 17–10". The Pittsburgh Press. September 22, 1985. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State rolls, 19–17, over Bama". The Pittsburgh Press. October 13, 1985. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State blanks West Virginia". The Tyler Courier-Times. October 27, 1985. Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Gainesville Sun. 1985 September 8.
"Orange Bowl; Oklahoma Upends Penn State, Stakes Claim to No. 1". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2020.

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
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National championship seasons in bold

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