1973 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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1973 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 16–9 vs. LSU
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 5
Record12–0
Head coach
Offensive schemeI formation
Defensive coordinatorJim O'Hora (8th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
← 1972
1974 →
1973 NCAA Division I independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Notre Dame     11 0 0
No. 5 Penn State     12 0 0
No. 9 Houston     11 1 0
Temple     9 1 0
No. 20 Tulane     9 3 0
Memphis State     8 3 0
Tampa     8 3 0
Boston College     7 4 0
South Carolina     7 4 0
Utah State     7 4 0
Air Force     6 4 0
Southern Miss     6 4 1
Northern Illinois     6 5 0
Rutgers     6 5 0
West Virginia     6 5 0
Pittsburgh     6 5 1
Colgate     5 5 0
Dayton     5 5 1
Xavier     5 5 1
Georgia Tech     5 6 0
Holy Cross     5 6 0
Miami (FL)     5 6 0
Cincinnati     4 7 0
Marshall     4 7 0
Navy     4 7 0
Southern Illinois     3 7 1
Villanova     3 8 0
Syracuse     2 9 0
Virginia Tech     2 9 0
Army     0 10 0
Florida State     0 11 0
Rankings from
AP Poll

The 1973 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. Penn State's third undefeated season under Joe Paterno was led by John Cappelletti who would become the first Penn State player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 15at StanfordNo. 7ABCW 20–657,000
September 22at NavyNo. 7W 39–028,383
September 29
University Park, PA
W 27–859,980
October 6at Air ForceNo. 7ABCW 19–937,077
October 13ArmyNo. 7
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 54–358,194
October 20at SyracuseNo. 5W 49–627,595
October 27West VirginiaNo. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 62–1459,138[1]
November 3at MarylandNo. 6W 42–2244,135[2]
November 10NC StateNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 35–2959,184–59,424[3]
November 17OhioNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 49–1051,804
November 24No. 20 PittsburghNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 35–1356,600
January 1, 1974vs. No. 13 LSUNo. 6NBCW 16–960,477[4]
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1973 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 16 Dick Barvinchak So
OT 74 Jeff Bleamer Jr
RB 22 John Cappelletti Sr
TE 81 Ron Coder So
RB 32 Tom Donchez Jr
OT 77 Charlie Getty Sr
WR 28 Gary Hayman Sr
OT 65 Phil LaPorta Sr
C 54 Mark Markovich Sr
G 61 John Nessel Jr
G 72 Tom Rafferty So
WR 19 Jimmy Scott Sr
QB 12 Tom Shuman Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB Kurt Allerman Fr
LB 68 Doug Allen Sr
LB 67 Greg Buttle So
DT 53 Randy Crowder Sr
LB 66 Chris Devlin Jr
DE 85 Dave Graf Jr
DE 79 Mike Hartenstine Jr
LB 41 Tom Hull Sr
S 11 Jack Koniszewski Sr
S 14 Scott Mitchell Sr
LB 87
Ed O'Neil
Sr
LB 33 James Rosecrans So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 99 Chris Bahr So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Game summaries

Navy

Period 1 2 34Total
#7 Penn State 7 20 10239
Navy 0 0 000

at

Annapolis, MD

  • Date: Saturday, September 22
  • Game attendance: 28,383
  • Recap
Game information
First Quarter
  • PSU - Heyman 17-yard pass from Shuman (Bahr kick)
Second Quarter
  • PSU - Cappelletti 10-yard run (Bahr kick)
  • PSU - Herd 23-yard pass from Shuman (kick failed)
  • PSU - Shuman 1-yard run (Bahr kick)
Third Quarter
  • PSU - Bahr 22-yard field goal
  • PSU - Clark 1-yard run (Bahr kick)
Fourth Quarter
  • PSU - Safety, Navy center snapped ball out of end zone

Penn State capitalized on a fumble and two short punts to score three second-quarter touchdowns and break the game wide open against Navy. The Nittany Lions opened scoring with just one second left in the first as QB Tom Shuman hit SE Gary Heyman for a touchdown to cap an 88-yard drive. On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, E Greg Murphy recovered a fumble by RB Bob Jackson at the Navy 41, and the Lions took two-and-a-half minutes and five plays to score again. Penn State scored on two more quick drives of 60 and 51 yards following short punts into a stiff wind by John Stufflebeem. The Lions added a field goal by Chris Bahr midway through the third and backup QB John Clark capped a 56-yard drive with a keeper to put Penn State ahead 37-0. The final points of the contest came when a snap from Navy's center sailed over Stufflebeem's head and out of the end zone for a safety.[5]

Syracuse

1 234Total
• Penn St 3 19216 49
Syracuse 0 060 6

[6]

Statistics

Passing

Player Comp Att Yards TD INT
Shuman 83 161 1,375 13 5
Barvinchak 8 15 163 1 2
Cappelletti 1 2 17 0 0
Clark 1 4 −3 0 0
Petchel 0 1 0 0 0

[7]

Post season

NFL Draft

Ten Nittany Lions were drafted in the

1974 NFL Draft
.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
1st 8 8 Ed O'Neil Linebacker Detroit Lions
1st 11 11 John Cappelletti Running back Los Angeles Rams
2nd 1 27 Doug Allen Linebacker Buffalo Bills
2nd 15 41 Charlie Getty
Offensive tackle
Kansas City Chiefs
2nd 17 43 Mark Markovich
Center
San Diego Chargers
5th 2 106 Gary Hayman Running back Buffalo Bills
6th 6 136 Randy Crowder Defensive tackle Miami Dolphins
9th 9 217 Phil LaPorta
Offensive tackle
New Orleans Saints
10th 22 256 Chuck Herd Wide receiver Cincinnati Bengals
12th 8 294 Tom Hull Linebacker San Francisco 49ers

Awards

Heisman Trophy
Maxwell Award
Walter Camp Award

References

  1. Newspapers.com
    .
  2. Newspapers.com
    .
  3. Newspapers.com
    .
  4. Newspapers.com
    .
  5. ^ "Nittany Lions Roar Past Outclassed Midshipmen." Palm Beach Post. p. 84. 1973 Sep 23.
  6. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1973 Oct 21.
  7. ^ Nittany Anthology