1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Gator Bowl, L 9-20 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Independent
1976 record	7–5
Head coach	Joe Paterno (11th year)
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium (Capacity: 60,203)

The 1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1976 college football season. The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 11	Stanford	#10	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 15–12	61,645
September 18	#2 Ohio State	#7	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	L 7–12	62,503
September 25	Iowa	#11	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		L 6–7	61,268
October 2	at Kentucky	#20	Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY		L 6–22	57,723
October 9	Army		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 38–16	60,436
October 16	Syracuse		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)		W 27–3	61,474
October 23	at West Virginia		Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Rivalry)		W 33–0	37,762
October 30	at Temple		Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, PA		W 31–30	42,005
November 6	North Carolina State		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA		W 41–20	60,426
November 13	at Miami (FL)		Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL		W 21–7	19,627
November 26	at #1 Pittsburgh	#16	Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	L 7–24	50,360
December 27	vs. #15 Notre Dame	#20	Gator Bowl Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	L 9–20	67,827
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1977 NFL Draft.

Round	Pick	Overall	Name	Position	Team
2nd	10	38	George Reihner	Offensive guard	Houston Oilers
3rd	22	78	Kurt Allerman	Linebacker	St. Louis Cardinals
5th	2	114	Ron Crosby	Linebacker	Detroit Lions
8th	24	219	Brad Benson	Offensive tackle	New England Patriots