1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football

Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy Outback Bowl champion
Outback Bowl, W 26–14 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 17
Record	9–3 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Joe Paterno (33rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (15th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (22nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons← 1997 1999 →

1998 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Ohio State %+	7	–	1	11	–	1
No. 6 Wisconsin $+	7	–	1	11	–	1
No. 12 Michigan +	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 24 Purdue	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 17 Penn State	5	–	3	9	–	3
Michigan State	4	–	4	6	–	6
Minnesota	2	–	6	5	–	6
Indiana	2	–	6	4	–	7
Illinois	2	–	6	3	–	8
Iowa	2	–	6	3	–	8
Northwestern	0	–	8	3	–	9

$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1998 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 5	3:30 p.m.	No. 21 Southern Miss*	No. 13	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	W 34–6	96,617
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Bowling Green*	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN Plus	W 48–3	96,291
September 19	3:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*	No. 8	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	CBS	W 20–13	56,743
October 3	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Ohio State	No. 7	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry, College GameDay)	ABC	L 9–28	93,479
October 10	3:30 p.m.	at Minnesota	No. 13	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (Governor's Victory Bell)	ABC	W 27–17	40,546
October 17	3:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 12	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	W 31–13	97,034
October 31	12:00 p.m.	Illinois	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN Plus	W 27–0	96,508
November 7	12:00 p.m.	at No. 22 Michigan	No. 9	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 0–27	111,019
November 14	12:00 p.m.	Northwestern	No. 19	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN2	W 41–10	96,382
November 21	3:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Wisconsin	No. 16	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	L 3–24	78,964
November 28	1:00 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 23	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 51–28	96,358
January 1, 1999	11:00 a.m.	vs. Kentucky*	No. 22	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)	ESPN	W 26–14	66,005
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	13	9	8	7	7	13	12	10	10	9	19	16	23	22	22	17
Coaches Poll	13	9	8	7	7	13	11	9	10	9	17	14	21	20	20	15
BCS	Not released								10	9	18	17	—	—	—	Not released

Roster

1998 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
FB	`36`	Mike Cerimele	So
WR	`13`	Sam Crenshaw	So
WR	`20`	Eddie Drummond	Fr
WR	`2`	Chafie Fields	Jr
WR	`21`	Joe Nastasi	Sr
QB	`16`	Kevin Thompson	Jr
G	`69`	Floyd Wedderburn	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`11`	LaVar Arrington	So
CB		Bruce Branch	Fr
DE	`86`	Courtney Brown	Jr
CB	`19`	Anthony King	Jr
CB	`27`	David Macklin	Jr
SS	`4`	Derek Fox	Jr
DE	`5`	Brad Scioli	Sr
LB	`43`	Brandon Short	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`41`	Pat Pidgeon	Jr

Head coach

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

NFL draft

Two Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1999 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
5th	5	138	Brad Scioli	Defensive end	Indianapolis Colts
5th	7	140	Floyd Wedderburn	Offensive guard	Seattle Seahawks

References

"Penn State Yearly Results (1995-1999)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
"Paterno has plenty of time, but Couch doesn't". The Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1999. Retrieved October 16, 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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