1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Eastern champion Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 50–39 vs. BYU
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 15
Record	8–3–1
Head coach	Joe Paterno (24th season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (13th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ←  1988 1990  →

1989 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 15 Penn State $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia	3	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Temple	1	–	4	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Rutgers	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	2
Boston College	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1989 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)			–					11	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Notre Dame			–					12	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Florida State			–					10	–	2	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Penn State			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia			–					8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse			–					8	–	4	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana			–					7	–	4	–	0
Akron			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	4	–	1
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	4	–	1
Louisiana Tech			–					5	–	4	–	1
Army			–					6	–	5	–	0
Louisville			–					6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina			–					5	–	5	–	1
Tulsa			–					6	–	6	–	0
Southern Miss			–					5	–	6	–	0
Tulane			–					4	–	8	–	0
Navy			–					3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers			–					2	–	7	–	2
Boston College			–					2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State			–					2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati			–					1	–	9	–	1
Temple			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. ^[1] 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	Source
September 9	1:00 p.m.	Virginia	No. 12	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 6–14	85,956	[2]
September 16	1:00 p.m.	Temple		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 42–3	84,790
September 23	1:00 p.m.	Boston College		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 7–3	85,651
September 30	8:00 p.m.	at Texas		Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 16–12	75,232
October 7	1:00 p.m.	at Rutgers		Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 17–0	57,688
October 14	4:00 p.m.	at Syracuse	No. 23	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	ESPN	W 34–12	49,876
October 28	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Alabama	No. 14	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	CBS	L 16–17	85,975	[3]
November 4	4:00 p.m.	No. 13 West Virginia	No. 16	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 19–9	85,911	[4]
November 11	1:00 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)		T 13–13	61,215	[5]
November 18	2:30 p.m.	No. 1 Notre Dame	No. 17	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	CBS	L 23–34	86,016
November 25	12:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Pittsburgh	No. 22	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	CBS	W 16–13	57,158
December 29	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 19 BYU	No. 18	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 50–39	61,113
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Notre Dame

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10–0) at #17 Penn State Nittany Lions (6–2–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	7	14	7	6	34
Penn St	7	3	7	6	23

at Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania

• Date: November 18, 1989
• Game time: 2:30 p.m.
• Game attendance: 86,025
• TV: CBS
• Recap/Box

Game information

First quarter PSU – Blair Thomas 2-yard run (Ray Tarasi kick), 8:04. Penn St 7–0. Drive: 79 yards. ND – Tony Rice 5-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 2:19. Tie 7–7. Drive: 13 plays, 65 yards. Second quarter PSU – Ray Tarasi 38-yard field goal, 13:46. Penn St 10–7. ND – Ricky Watters 12-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 11:35. Notre Dame 14–10. Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards. ND – Anthony Johnson 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 5:27. Notre Dame 21–10. Third quarter ND – Tony Rice 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 8:42. Notre Dame 28–10. Drive: 6 plays. PSU – Blair Thomas 3-yard run (Ray Tarasi kick), 4:49. Notre Dame 28–17. Drive: 79 yards. Fourth quarter ND – Billy Hackett 22-yard field goal, 13:33. Notre Dame 31–17. ND – Billy Hackett 19-yard field goal, 6:53. Notre Dame 34–17. PSU – Terry Smith 5-yard pass from Tom Bill (run failed), 4:31. Notre Dame 34–23. Top passers ND – Tony Rice – 5/10, 47 yards, INT PSU – Tom Bill – 6/14, 56 yards, TD Top rushers ND – Tony Rice – 26 rushes, 141 yards, 2 TD PSU – Blair Thomas – 26 rushes, 133 yards, 2 TD Top receivers ND – Raghib Ismail – 2 receptions, 27 yards PSU – O.J. McDuffie – 2 receptions, 37 yards

External videos
Full game (part 1)
Full game (part 2)
Full game (part 3)
Game highlights

Personnel

1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 20 Richie Anderson Fr QB 12 Tom Bill Jr FB 27 Gary Brown Jr RB 23 Gerry Collins WR 26 David Daniels Jr C 78 Roger Duffy Sr OL Tim Freeman FB 11 Sam Gash So RB 34 John Gerak So TE Al Golden TE David Jakob OL 57 Sean Love Sr OL Matt McCartin WR O.J. McDuffie OL Ed Monaghan QB Matt Nardolillo RB Brian O'Neal WR Rich Rosa QB 19 Tony Sacca So C E. J. Sandusky So OT 76 Paul Siever Jr WR 8 Terry Smith So G 79 Dave Szott Sr RB 32 Blair Thomas Sr RB 44 Leroy Thompson Jr TE 80 Todd Young Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 13 Matt Baggott So DL Todd Burger LB Brian Chizmar LB 31 Andre Collins Sr LB 38 Mark D'Onofrio So DL Jim Deter DT 85 Frank Giannetti Jr LB Reggie Givens LB 42 Keith Goganious So DB Hernon Henderson DB 6 Leonard Humphries So LB Geoff Lapchen S 9 Darren Perry So DB Sherrod Rainge DL 75 Rich Schonewolf Sr DB 25 Willie Thomas Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 4 Doug Helkowski Sr K Ray Tarasi	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Fran Ganter (OC) Jerry Sandusky (DC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1990 NFL draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	2	2	Blair Thomas	Running back	New York Jets
2nd	21	46	Andre Collins	Linebacker	Washington Redskins
7th	15	180	David Szott	Offensive guard	Kansas City Chiefs
8th	3	196	Roger Duffy	Offensive guard	New York Jets

References

1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. "Penn State shocked in opener, 14–6". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 10, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Blocked kick shocks Lions". The Times Leader. October 29, 1989. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Lions jump on Major mistakes". The Times Leader. November 5, 1989. Retrieved February 2, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Penn State views tie as a loss". The South Bend Tribune. November 12, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2024– via Newspapers.com.