1988 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1988 Penn State Nittany Lions football

Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	Joe Paterno (23rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (12th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons← 1987 1989 →

1988 Major eastern college football independents records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 West Virginia $	5	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 13 Syracuse	5	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Pittsburgh	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Temple	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Rutgers	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Penn State	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Boston College	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1988 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–		12	–	0	–	0
No. 2 Miami (FL)		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 West Virginia		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 13 Syracuse		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Louisville		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Akron		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Penn State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulsa		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Boston College		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		3	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1988 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 10	7:00 p.m.	at Virginia	No. 18	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA		W 42–14	45,000
September 17	1:00 p.m.	Boston College	No. 16	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 23–20	84,000
September 24	1:00 p.m.	Rutgers	No. 15	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 16–21	85,531
October 1	7:00 p.m.	at Temple		Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 45–9	66,592
October 8	12:10 p.m.	Cincinnati		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 35–9	85,693
October 15	7:20 p.m.	Syracuse		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 10–24	85,916
October 22	2:30 p.m.	at Alabama		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	CBS	L 3–8	75,808
October 29	2:40 p.m.	at No. 7 West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	CBS	L 30–51	66,811
November 5	1:00 p.m.	Maryland		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 17–10	78,000
November 12	3:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–14	85,701
November 19	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Notre Dame		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	CBS	L 3–21	59,075
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1988 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`12`	Tom Bill	So
FB	`27`	Gary Brown	So
WR	`26`	David Daniels	So
C	`78`	Roger Duffy	Jr
FB	`11`	Sam Gash	So
TE	`89`	Bob Mrosko	Sr
C		E. J. Sandusky	Fr
WR	`79`	Dave Szott	Jr
RB	`32`	Blair Thomas	Jr
WR	`5`	Michael Timpson	Sr
G	`66`	Steve Wisniewski	Sr
TE	`80`	Todd Young	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
NT	`70`	Darryl Bullock	Sr
LB	`31`	Andre Collins	Jr
LB	`38`	Mark D'Onofrio	Fr
DT	`85`	Frank Giannetti	So
LB	`42`	Keith Goganious	Fr
LB	`84`	Keith Karpinski	Sr
LB	`92`	Quintus McDonald	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
SN	`68`	Greg Truitt	Sr

Head coach

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Tom Bradley
Jim Caldwell
Craig Cirbus
Ron Dickerson
Fran Ganter
Nick Gasparato
Joe Sarra
Jerry Sandusky
Jim Williams

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

NFL Draft

Six Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1989 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
2nd	1	29	Steve Wisniewski	Offensive guard	Dallas Cowboys
4th	16	100	Michael Timpson	Wide receiver	New England Patriots
6th	16	155	Quintus McDonald	Linebacker	Indianapolis Colts
6th	21	160	Gary Wilkerson	Defensive back	Cleveland Browns
9th	21	244	Bob Mrosko	Tight end	Houston Oilers
11th	3	282	Keith Karpinski	Linebacker	Detroit Lions

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.
"Brown leads PSU to rout of Virginia". The Times Leader. September 11, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Drenched in red, Penn State leaves Alabama". The Morning Call. October 23, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"Mountaineers bury Nittany Lions". The Orlando Sentinel. October 30, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Penn State overcomes Maryland". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 6, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 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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