1969 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1969 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Orange Bowl, W 10–3 vs. Missouri
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1969 record	11–0
Head coach	Joe Paterno (4th year)
Captain	Tom Jackson
Captain	Mike Reid
Captain	Steve Smear
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 48,284)

1969 NCAA University Division independents football records
	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
#2 Penn State		–		11	–	0	–	0
#17 West Virginia		–		10	–	1	–	0
#12 Houston		–		9	–	2	–	0
#5 Notre Dame		–		8	–	2	–	1
Buffalo		–		6	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		6	–	3	–	0
Villanova		–		6	–	3	–	0
Florida State		–		6	–	3	–	1
Colgate		–		5	–	3	–	1
Air Force		–		6	–	4	–	0
West Texas A&M		–		6	–	4	–	0
Boston College		–		5	–	4	–	0
New Mexico State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		5	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		5	–	5	–	0
Army		–		4	–	5	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		4	–	5	–	1
Georgia Tech		–		4	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		4	–	6	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		4	–	6	–	0
Dayton		–		3	–	7	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		3	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		3	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		3	–	7	–	0
Idaho		–		2	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		1	–	9	–	0
Xavier		–		1	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

Despite posting its second consecutive undefeated, untied season, the Nittany Lions did not have a shot at the national championship. President Richard Nixon said that he would consider the winner of the December 6 matchup between the Texas Longhorns and the Arkansas Razorbacks, then ranked at the top of the polls, and the real voters do not seem to have differed. At the time, national champions were selected before bowl games were played. Paterno, at the 1973 commencement, was quoted saying, "I'd like to know how could the president know so little about Watergate in 1973 and so much about college football in 1969?"^[1] Then Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer, got the White House's attention with Penn State's 2 season undefeated streak. A White House assistant called Paterno to invite him and the team to the White House to receive a trophy for their accomplishment. Paterno has stated many times that he responded with, "You can tell the president to take that trophy and shove it." ^[2] Penn State declined an invitation to play the Texas/Arkansas winner in the Cotton Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 20	at Navy	No. 3	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD		W 45–22	28,796
September 27	Colorado	No. 2	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 27–3	51,402
October 4	at Kansas State	No. 2	KSU Stadium • Manhattan, KS		W 17–14	37,000
October 11	No. 17 West Virginia	No. 5	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 20–0	52,713
October 18	at Syracuse	No. 5	Archbold Stadium • Syracuse, NY (Rivalry)		W 15–14	42,291
October 25	Ohio	No. 8	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 42–3	49,069
November 1	Boston College	No. 5	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	CBS	W 38–16	46,652
November 15	Maryland	No. 5	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 48–0	46,106
November 22	at Pittsburgh	No. 4	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)		W 27–7	39,517
November 29	at North Carolina State	No. 3	Carter Stadium • Raleigh, NC	ABC	W 33–8	24,150
January 1, 1970	vs. No. 6 Missouri	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 10–3	77,282
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Penn State	7	0	7	13	27
Pittsburgh	0	7	0	0	7

Date: November 22
Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA
Game attendance: 39,517

Scoring summary

1	PSU	Harris 24-yard run (Reitz kick)	PSU 7-0

2	PITT	Esposito 6-yard run (Cramer kick)	Tied 7-7

3	PSU	Pittman 4-yard run (Reitz kick)	PSU 14-7

4	PSU	Pittman 17-yard run (Reitz kick)	PSU 21-7

4	PSU	Abbey 18-yard run (kick failed)	PSU 27-7

^[3]

NC State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Penn St	3	14	6	10	33
NC State	0	0	0	8	8

Date: November 29
Location: Carter Stadium
Game attendance: 24,150

Scoring summary

Q1	PSU	Reitz 27 yard field goal	PSU 3–0

Q2	PSU	Pittman 5 yard run (Reitz kick)	PSU 10–0

Q2	PSU	Mitchell 1 yard run (Reitz kick)	PSU 17–0

Q3	PSU	Pittman 5 yard run (kick failed)	PSU 23–0

Q4	PSU	Reitz 35 yard field goal	PSU 26–0

Q4	PSU	Pittman 13 yard pass from Burkhart (Reitz kick)	PSU 33–0

Q4	NCST	Walker 71 yard interception return (Sharp pass from Bowers)	PSU 33–8

^[4]

Post season

NFL Draft

Eight Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1970 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
1st	7	7	Mike Reid	Defensive tackle	Cincinnati Bengals
3rd	6	58	Charlie Pittman	Running back	St. Louis Cardinals
3rd	20	72	Dennis Onkotz	Linebacker	New York Jets
4th	17	95	Steve Smear	–	Baltimore Colts
4th	20	98	John Ebersole	Linebacker	New York Jets
7th	23	179	Don Abbey	–	Dallas Cowboys
8th	17	199	Paul Johnson	–	Washington Redskins
12th	17	303	James Kates	–	Washington Redskins

Awards

Mike Reid

Maxwell Award

Outland Trophy

References

↑ Anderson, Shelly (November 17, 2006). "Research shows Nixon hurt '69 Lions". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19940424&id=ar0iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fLUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1354,5314383
↑ "Onkotz' Run Leads Penn State Past Pitt, 27-7." Palm Beach Post. November 23, 1969
↑ "Penn State Rumbles, 33-8." Palm Beach Post. 1969 Nov 30. Retrieved 2015-Apr-30.

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 State Minnesota Ohio State 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

People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees

Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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