1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Consensus national champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 14–10 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
1986 record	12–0
Head coach	Joe Paterno (21st year)
Offensive coordinator	Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Sandusky
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 83,370)

1986 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#1 Penn State		–		–				12	–	0	–	0
#2 Miami (FL)		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
#20 Virginia Tech		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
#19 Boston College		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Tulsa		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Florida State		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Army		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Rutgers		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				3	–	6	–	2
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Wichita State		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Memphis		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Penn State defeated the Miami Hurricanes 14–10 in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl to win Joe Paterno's second consensus national championship.^[1]

Roster

1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 9 Alexander, MikeMike Alexander Sr G 57 Conlin, ChrisChris Conlin Sr RB 42 Dozier, D.J.D.J. Dozier Jr C 78 Duffy, RogerRoger Duffy Fr FB 27 Hornyak, JohnJohn Hornyak Sr FB 44 Manoa, TimTim Manoa Sr TE 89 Mrosko, BobBob Mrosko So QB 14 Shaffer, JohnJohn Shaffer Sr RB 35 Smith, SteveSteve Smith Sr WR 79 Szott, DaveDave Szott Fr RB 32 Thomas, BlairBlair Thomas So WR 5 Timpson, MichaelMichael Timpson So G 66 Wisniewski, SteveSteve Wisniewski Jr C 72 Wolf, MikeMike Wolf Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 31 Conlan, ShaneShane Conlan Sr LB 53 Graham, DonDon Graham Sr LB 35 Bauer, TreyTrey Bauer Jr LB 55 Johnson, TimTim Johnson Sr LB 52 Johns, GreggGregg Johns Jr LB 33 Sweenely, JimJim Sweenely So CB 19 Wilkerson, GaryGary Wilkerson So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 2 Tarasi, RayRay Tarasi Fr P 11 Bruno, JohnJohn Bruno Sr	Head coach Joe Paterno Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2015-12-20

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	Temple	No. 6	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 45–15	85,732
September 20	at Boston College	No. 5	Sullivan Stadium • Foxborough, MA	ESPN	W 26–14	42,329
September 27	East Carolina	No. 7	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 42–17	84,774
October 4	Rutgers	No. 5	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 31–6	84,000
October 11	Cincinnati	No. 5	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 23–17	84,812
October 18	Syracuse	No. 6	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 42–3	85,512
October 25	at No. 2 Alabama	No. 6	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (Rivalry)	ABC	W 23–3	60,210
November 1	at West Virginia	No. 2	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Rivalry)	ESPN	W 19–0	59,184
November 8	Maryland	No. 2	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 17–15	85,561
November 15	at Notre Dame	No. 3	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN	ABC	W 24–19	59,075
November 22	Pittsburgh	No. 2	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 34–14	85,722
January 2, 1987	vs. No. 1 Miami (FL)	No. 2	Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	W 14–10	73,098
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Post season

NFL Draft

Thirteen Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1987 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	8	8	Shane Conlan	Linebacker	Buffalo Bills
1st	14	14	D.J. Dozier	Running back	Minnesota Vikings
3rd	24	80	Tim Manoa	Running back	Cleveland Browns
3rd	25	81	Steve Smith	Running back	Los Angeles Raiders
4th	1	84	Don Graham	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5th	14	126	John Bruno	Punter	St. Louis Cardinals
5th	20	132	Chris Conlin	Offensive guard	Miami Dolphins
6th	1	141	Tim Johnson	Defensive end	Pittsburgh Steelers
6th	22	162	Bob White	–	San Francisco 49ers
8th	27	222	Dan Morgan	Offensive guard	Denver Broncos
9th	24	247	Bob Ontko	Linebacker	Indianapolis Colts
10th	17	268	Sid Lewis	Defensive back	New York Jets
11th	7	286	Brian Siverling	–	Detroit Lions

Awards

• Joe Paterno

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

Paul "Bear" Bryant Award

References

1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1985–1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.