# 1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1989 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. 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 |
| September 9 | 1:00 p.m. | Virginia | No. 12 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | | L 6–14 | 85,956 |
| September 16 | 1:00 p.m. | Temple | | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | | W 42–3 | 84,790 |
| September 23 | 1:00 p.m. | Boston College | | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | | W 7–3 | 85,651 |
| September 30 | 8:00 p.m. | at Texas | | Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | | W 16–12 | 75,232 |
| October 7 | 1:00 p.m. | at Rutgers | | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ | | W 17–0 | 57,688 |
| October 14 | 4:00 p.m. | at Syracuse | No. 23 | Carrier DomeSyracuse, NY (rivalry) | ESPN | W 34–12 | 49,876 |
| October 28 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 6 Alabama | No. 14 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (rivalry) | CBS | L 16–17 | 85,975 |
| November 4 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 13 West Virginia | No. 16 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (rivalry) | ESPN | W 19–9 | 85,911 |
| November 11 | 1:00 p.m. | at Maryland | No. 13 | Memorial StadiumBaltimore, MD (rivalry) | | T 13–13 | 61,215 |
| November 18 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 1 Notre Dame | No. 17 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (rivalry) | CBS | L 23–34 | 86,016 |
| November 25 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 19 Pittsburgh | No. 22 | Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA (rivalry) | CBS | W 16–13 | 57,158 |
| December 29 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. No. 19 BYU | No. 18 | Jack Murphy StadiumSan Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl) | ESPN | W 50–39 | 61,113 |
| HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Notre Dame

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 7 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
| Penn St | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
at Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania
* Date: November 18, 1989
* Game time: 2:30 p.m.
* Game attendance: 86,025
* TV: CBS
* Recap/Box
Game information :
First quarter
PSU – Blair Thomas 2-yard run (Ray Tarasi kick), 8:04. Penn St 7–0. Drive: 79 yards.
ND – Tony Rice 5-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 2:19. Tie 7–7. Drive: 13 plays, 65 yards.
Second quarter
PSU – Ray Tarasi 38-yard field goal, 13:46. Penn St 10–7.
ND – Ricky Watters 12-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 11:35. Notre Dame 14–10. Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards.
ND – Anthony Johnson 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 5:27. Notre Dame 21–10.
Third quarter
ND – Tony Rice 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 8:42. Notre Dame 28–10. Drive: 6 plays.
PSU – Blair Thomas 3-yard run (Ray Tarasi kick), 4:49. Notre Dame 28–17. Drive: 79 yards.
Fourth quarter
ND – Billy Hackett 22-yard field goal, 13:33. Notre Dame 31–17.
ND – Billy Hackett 19-yard field goal, 6:53. Notre Dame 34–17.
PSU – Terry Smith 5-yard pass from Tom Bill (run failed), 4:31. Notre Dame 34–23.
Top passers
ND – Tony Rice – 5/10, 47 yards, INT
PSU – Tom Bill – 6/14, 56 yards, TD
Top rushers
ND – Tony Rice – 26 rushes, 141 yards, 2 TD
PSU – Blair Thomas – 26 rushes, 133 yards, 2 TD
Top receivers
ND – Raghib Ismail – 2 receptions, 27 yards
PSU – O.J. McDuffie – 2 receptions, 37 yards :

### Holiday Bowl (vs BYU)
## Personnel
## NFL Draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1990 NFL draft.
| Round | Pick | Overall | Name | Position | Team |
| 1st | 2 | 2 | Blair Thomas | Running back | New York Jets |
| 2nd | 21 | 46 | Andre Collins | Linebacker | Washington Redskins |
| 7th | 15 | 180 | David Szott | Offensive guard | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 8th | 3 | 196 | Roger Duffy | Offensive guard | New York Jets |