1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 29th-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled an overall record of 12–0 with a mark of 8–0 in conference play, winning the Big Ten title. Penn State earned a berth in the Rose Bowl, where the Nittany Lions defeated Oregon. The team played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. The 1994 Penn State team is widely regarded as one of the greatest college football teams.

1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football
National champion (DeVold, Eck, Matthews, NYT)
Co-national champion (FACT, NCF, Sagarin)
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl champion
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Rose Bowl, W 38–20 vs. Oregon
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record12–0 (8–0 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter (11th season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (18th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
 1993
1995 
1994 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 2 Penn State $8001200
No. 14 Ohio State620940
Wisconsin521831
No. 12 Michigan530840
Illinois440750
Purdue332542
Iowa341551
Indiana350650
Northwestern350461
Minnesota170380
Michigan State0800110
  • $ Conference champion
  • † Michigan State forfeited 5 wins including 4 conference victories, over Wisconsin, Indiana, Northwestern, and Purdue.
Rankings from AP Poll

Nebraska finished the season ranked atop both major polls, and was, thus, the consensus national champion. Penn State was selected as national champion by DeVold, Eck Ratings System, Matthews Grid Ratings, and The New York Times, and named co-champion by Rothman (FACT), National Championship Foundation (NCF), and the Sagarin Ratings.[1]

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 38:00 p.m.at MinnesotaNo. 9W 56–351,134
September 103:30 p.m.No. 14 USC*No. 8ABCW 38–1496,463
September 1712:00 p.m.IowaNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN2W 61–2195,834
September 2412:00 p.m.Rutgers*No. 5
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN2W 55–2795,379
October 14:00 p.m.at Temple*No. 4W 48–2138,140
October 153:30 p.m.at No. 5 MichiganNo. 3ABCW 31–24106,382
October 293:30 p.m.No. 21 Ohio StatedaggerNo. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 63–1497,079
November 512:30 p.m.at IndianaNo. 2ESPNW 35–2947,754
November 123:30 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 2ABCW 35–3172,364
November 191:00 p.m.NorthwesternNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 45–1796,383
November 264:00 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPNW 59–3196,493
January 2, 19954:30 p.m.vs. No. 12 Oregon*No. 2ABCW 38–20102,247
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP998 (1)6 (2)5 (3)4 (3)4 (2)3 (2)1 (19)1 (19)2 (28)2 (22)2 (23)2 (22)2 (23)2 (24)2 (10 12)
Coaches9 (1)85 (2)5 (3)4 (3)4 (3)3 (5)1 (22)1 (28)1 (32)2 (20)2 (21)2 (22)2 (18)2 (18)2 (8)

Game summaries

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Minnesota

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Penn State scored the first 56 points of the 1994 Division I-A football season.

Iowa

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Iowa at Penn State
Team 1 234Total
Hawkeyes 0 7014 21
No. 6 Nittany Lions 35 10016 61

Rutgers

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Temple

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Michigan

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Penn State at Michigan
Team 1 234Total
#3 Nittany Lions 10 687 31
#5 Wolverines 0 3147 24

Ohio State

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Ohio State at Penn State
Team 1 234Total
No. 21 Buckeyes 0 068 14
No. 1 Nittany Lions 7 281414 63

Indiana

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Illinois

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Northwestern

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Michigan State

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Rose Bowl

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Penn State vs. Oregon
Team 1 234Total
No. 2 Nittany Lions 7 71410 38
No. 12 Ducks 7 076 20

[2]

Roster

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1994 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 2 Mike Archie Jr
TE 81 Kyle Brady Sr
WR 11 Chris Campbell So
RB 32 Ki-Jana Carter Jr
QB 12 Kerry Collins Sr
WR 10 Bobby Engram Jr
C 60 Bucky Greeley Sr
G 50 Jeff Hartings Jr
OT 68 Andre Johnson Jr
WR 83 Joe Jurevicius Fr
RB 22 Brian Milne Jr
G 64 Phil Ostrowski Fr
QB 14 Wally Richardson So
G 54 Marco Rivera Jr
WR 31 Freddie Scott So
FB 38 Jon Witman Jr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DE 69 Michael Plunkett Jr
CB Darron Brooks
LB 57 Matt Carroll Fr
DT 89 Eric Clair Jr
S 46 Marlon Forbes Sr
LB 16 Brian Gelzheiser Sr
LB 51 Greg Haren Jr
S 3 Kim Herring So
LB 92 Terry Killens Jr
LB 44 Jim Nelson Fr
DT 93 Brandon Noble So
DL Brad Scioli
DE 91 Chris Snyder Fr
LB Phil Yeboah-Kodie Sr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 6 Brad Aumiller Sr
K 20 Brett Conway So
P 28 Darrell Kania So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Players in the 1995 NFL draft

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References

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  1. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. p. 115. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  2. Gainesville Sunday January 3, 1995