# 1991 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1991 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1991 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 |
| August 28 | 9:00 p.m. | vs. No. 8 Georgia Tech | No. 7 | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic) | Raycom | W 34–22 | 77,409 |
| September 7 | 12:10 p.m. | Cincinnati | No. 5 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | Prime | W 81–0 | 94,000 |
| September 14 | 9:00 p.m. | at USC | No. 5 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | ABC | L 10–21 | 64,758 |
| September 21 | 8:00 p.m. | BYU | No. 12 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | ABC | W 33–7 | 96,304 |
| September 28 | 1:00 p.m. | Boston College | No. 10 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | | W 28–21 | 95,927 |
| October 5 | 9:00 p.m. | at Temple | No. 12 | Veterans StadiumPhiladelphia, PA | | W 24–7 | 43,808 |
| October 12 | 12:10 p.m. | at No. 2 Miami (FL) | No. 9 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | ABC | L 20–26 | 75,723 |
| October 19 | 1:00 p.m. | Rutgers | No. 10 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | | W 37–17 | 95,729 |
| October 26 | 4:00 p.m. | West Virginia | No. 8 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (rivalry) | ESPN | W 51–6 | 96,445 |
| November 9 | 1:30 p.m. | at Maryland | No. 9 | Memorial StadiumBaltimore, MD (rivalry) | | W 47–7 | 57,416 |
| November 16 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 12 Notre Dame | No. 8 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (rivalry) | ABC | W 35–13 | 96,672 |
| November 28 | 11:15 a.m. | at Pittsburgh | No. 6 | Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA (rivalry) | ABC | W 32–20 | 52,219 |
| January 1, 1992 | 4:30 p.m. | vs. No. 10 Tennessee | No. 6 | Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl) | NBC | W 42–17 | 71,133 |
| HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 7 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 10 т | 12 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| Coaches | 8 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 |

## Game summaries
### BYU

* Gerry Collins 27 Rush, 99 Yds
* Penn State's defense sacked Ty Detmer six times and held BYU to single digits for first time since 1986

### At Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nittany Lions | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
| • Hurricanes | 3 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 26 |
* Fans watching on television outside of Florida missed two scores when the network switched to United States Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee

### Vs. Tennessee (Fiesta Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nittany Lions | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 | 42 |
| Volunteers | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

## NFL Draft

Nine Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1992 NFL draft.
| Round | Pick | Overall | Name | Position | Team |
| 2nd | 6 | 34 | Mark D'Onofrio | Linebacker | Green Bay Packers |
| 2nd | 18 | 46 | Tony Sacca | Quarterback | Phoenix Cardinals |
| 3rd | 18 | 74 | Paul Siever | Offensive guard | Washington Redskins |
| 3rd | 27 | 83 | Keith Goganious | Linebacker | Buffalo Bills |
| 8th | 7 | 203 | Darren Perry | Free safety | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 8th | 9 | 205 | Sam Gash | Running back | New England Patriots |
| 8th | 13 | 209 | Andre Powell | Linebacker | Miami Dolphins |
| 8th | 27 | 223 | Leonard Humphries | Cornerback | Buffalo Bills |
| 11th | 28 | 308 | Terry Smith | Wide receiver | Washington Redskins |