1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team


The 1982 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University during the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. Penn State defeated the Georgia Bulldogs, 27–23, in the Sugar Bowl to win Joe Paterno's first consensus national championship. The team was selected national champion by AP, Billingsley, DeVold, Dunkel, FACT, FB News, Football Research, FW, Litkenhous, Matthews, NCF, NFF, The New York Times, Poling, Sagarin, Sagarin, Sporting News, UPI/coaches, and USA/CNN, while named co-champion by Helms.

Schedule

Roster

Rankings

AP Poll

UPI Poll

Game summaries

Temple

Overall recordLast meetingResult
16–3–11981PSU, 30–0

Maryland

Overall recordLast meetingResult
25–1–51980PSU, 24–10

Rutgers

Overall recordLast meetingResult
9–11979PSU, 45–10

#2 Nebraska

Overall recordLast meetingResult
5–41981PSU, 30–24

#4 Alabama

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–31981ALA, 31–16

Syracuse

Overall recordLast meetingResult
33–21–51981PSU, 41–16

#13 West Virginia

Overall recordLast meetingResult
39–7–21981PSU, 30–7

Boston College

Overall recordLast meetingResult
9–01981PSU, 38–7

North Carolina State

Overall recordLast meetingResult
16–21981PSU, 22–15

#13 Notre Dame

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–4–11981PSU, 24–21

#5 Pittsburgh

Overall recordLast meetingResult
38–36–31981PSU, 48–14

#1 Georgia (Sugar Bowl)

Awards

Nine Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1983 NFL Draft.
RoundPickOverallNamePositionTeam
1st33Curt WarnerRunning backSeattle Seahawks
1st77Todd BlackledgeQuarterbackKansas City Chiefs
3rd1773Walker Lee AshleyLinebackerMinnesota Vikings
4th488Mike McCloskeyTight endHouston Oilers
5th10122Bill ContzOffensive tackleCleveland Browns
5th28140Gregg GarrityWide receiverPittsburgh Steelers
10th8261Dave Laube–Detroit Lions
10th10263Pete Speros–Seattle Seahawks
10th15268Ralph GiacomarroPunterAtlanta Falcons

Media

Radio