1990 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

1990 Penn State Nittany Lions football

Eastern champion
Blockbuster Bowl, L 17–24 vs. Florida State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 11
Record	9–3
Head coach	Joe Paterno (25th season)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter (7th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky (14th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium
Seasons ← 1989 1991 →

1990 Major eastern college football independents records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 11 Penn State $	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Syracuse	4	–	1	–	1	7	–	4	–	2
Temple	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
West Virginia	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Pittsburgh	2	–	3	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Boston College	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Rutgers	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1990 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 14 Louisville		–		10	–	1	–	1
No. 3 Miami (FL)		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Florida State		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Notre Dame		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 11 Penn State		–		9	–	3	–	0
Louisiana Tech		–		8	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		8	–	4	–	0
Temple		–		7	–	4	–	0
Syracuse		–		7	–	4	–	2
Army		–		6	–	5	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		6	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina		–		5	–	6	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State		–		4	–	6	–	1
Boston College		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		4	–	7	–	0
Akron		–		3	–	7	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		3	–	7	–	1
Rutgers		–		3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa		–		3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1990 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1990 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 8	12:10 p.m.	Texas	No. 21	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	Raycom	L 13–17	85,973
September 15	3:30 p.m.	at No. 6 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	L 14–19	70,594
September 22	1:00 p.m.	Rutgers		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 28–0	85,194
October 6	1:00 p.m.	Temple		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		W 48–10	85,874
October 13	2:30 p.m.	Syracuse		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	CBS	W 27–21	86,002
October 20	12:10 p.m.	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	CBS	W 40–21	32,000
October 27	5:00 p.m.	at Alabama		Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 9–0	70,123	^[2]
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at West Virginia	No. 24	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)		W 31–19	66,461	^[3]
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Maryland	No. 21	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)		W 24–10	83,000	^[4]
November 17	4:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Notre Dame	No. 18	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ESPN	W 24–21	59,075
November 24	2:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 11	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	CBS	W 22–17	85,180
December 28	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Florida State	No. 7	Joe Robbie Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Blockbuster Bowl)	Raycom	L 17–24	75,129
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penn State	0	7	0	7	14
• USC	7	6	6	0	19

Date: September 15
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Scoring summary

Q1	USC	Griffin 5 yard pass from Marinovich (Rodriguez kick)	USC 7–0

Q2	PSU	Golden 8 yard pass from Sacca (Fayak kick)	Tie 7–7

Q2	USC	Rodriguez 26 yard field goal	USC 10–7

Q2	USC	Rodriguez 46 yard field goal	USC 13–7

Q3	USC	Ervins 1 yard run (run failed)	USC 19–7

Q4	PSU	Thompson 2 yard run (Fayak kick)	USC 19–14

At West Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Penn State	7	7	7	10	31
West Virginia	3	3	6	7	19

Date: November 3
Location: Mountaineer Field
Game attendance: 66,461

Scoring summary

Q1	PSU	Perry 30 yard interception return (Fayak kick)	PSU 7–0

Q1	WVU	Johnson 20 yard field goal	PSU 7–3

Q2	PSU	T. Smith 9 yard pass from Bill (Fayak kick)	PSU 14–3

Q2	WVU	Carroll 39 yard field goal	PSU 14–6

Q3	WVU	Ford 11 yard run (run failed)	PSU 14–12

Q3	PSU	Bill 5 yard run (Fayak kick)	PSU 21–12

Q4	PSU	Collins 19 yard run (Fayak kick)	PSU 28–12

Q4	PSU	Fayak 37 yard field goal	PSU 31–12

Q4	WVU	Statten 5 yard pass from Jones (Johnson kick)	PSU 31–19

^[5]

Notre Dame

Vs. Florida State (Blockbuster Bowl)

Roster

1990 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`8`	Terry Smith	Jr
QB	`12`	Tom Bill
FB	`27`	Gary Brown	Sr
WR	`26`	David Daniels	Sr
QB	`19`	Tony Sacca	Jr
C		E. J. Sandusky	Jr
OT	`76`	Paul Siever	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`38`	Mark D'Onofrio	Jr
LB	`42`	Keith Goganious	Jr
DT	`85`	Frank Giannetti	Sr
LB	`58`	Reggie Givens	So
CB	`6`	Leonard Humphries	Jr
LB	`99`	Rich McKenzie	So
S	`9`	Darren Perry	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

NFL Draft

Six Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1991 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
3rd	19	74	David Daniels	Wide receiver	Seattle Seahawks
6th	19	158	Leroy Thompson	Running back	Pittsburgh Steelers
8th	19	214	Gary Brown	Running back	Houston Oilers
10th	13	263	Frank Giannetti	Defensive end	Indianapolis Colts
10th	14	264	Sean Love	Offensive guard	Dallas Cowboys
12th	13	319	Rob Luedeke	Center	Indianapolis Colts

References

^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1990-1994)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
^ "Alabama shut out by Penn State 9–0". Sunday News. October 28, 1990. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Bill pulls Penn State past West Virginia". The Courier-Post. November 4, 1990. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Confidence in Sacca pays for Lions, 24–10". The Pittsburgh Press. November 11, 1990. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1990 Nov 4. Retrieved 2018-Dec-15.

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 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 Statistical leaders NFL draftees
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