1970 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1970 Penn State Nittany Lions football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
APNo. 18
Record7–3
Head coach
Offensive schemeI formation
Defensive coordinatorJim O'Hora (5th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 NCAA University Division independents football records
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

University Park, Pennsylvania
.

The Nittany Lions entered the season with a 22-game winning streak, unbeaten (29–0–1) in their last thirty games.[1][2] 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.[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 19
University Park, PA
W 55–748,566
September 26at No. 18 ColoradoNo. 4ABCL 13–4142,850
October 3at WisconsinNo. 16L 16–2955,204
October 10at Boston CollegeW 28–325,252
October 17Syracusedagger
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
L 7–2450,540
October 24at ArmyABCW 38–1441,062
October 31West Virginia
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 42–849,932[4]
November 7at MarylandW 34–023,400[5]
November 14Ohio
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 32–2243,000
November 21PittsburghNo. 20
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 35–1550,017
  • daggerHomecoming
  • 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
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
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt 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

  1. ^ "Colorado ends Penn State victory string, 41-13". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press.
  2. ^ Harral, Paul K. (September 27, 1970). "23-game Penn State string halted by Colorado, 41-13". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). UPI. p. D1.
  3. ^ Franke, Russ (November 22, 1970). "Lions thunder past Pitt, 35-15". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, section 4.
  4. Newspapers.com
    .
  5. Newspapers.com
    .