#3 Penn State Nittany Lions

The Penn State Nittany Lions were 9-2 in 1981. They emerged victorious over the USC Trojans, 26 to 10, in the Fiesta Bowl on January 1, 1982.

Scores & Schedules

See schedule

DATE		OPP	SCORE
Fri 1/1	vs	USC	W 26-10
Sat 11/28	@	PITT	W 48-14
Sat 11/21	vs	ND	W 24-21
Sat 11/14	vs	ALA	L 16-31
Sat 11/7	@	NCST	W 22-15

Team Leaders

See roster

PASS YDS

1,557

Blackledge

RUSH YDS

1,044

Warner

REC YDS

440

Jackson

Latest Penn State Nittany Lions News

Penn State radio analyst Jack Ham in stable condition after medical emergency

Nov 8, 2026

1981 Stats

See stats

	GP	PTS	YDS	PLY	AVG	RUSH YDS	RUSH ATT	RUSH AVG	PASS YDS	PASS ATT	PASS AVG
Team	11	345	4,424	779	5.7	2,699	549	4.9	1,725	230	7.5
Team Rank		9th	19th	70th	10th	20th	47th	8th	61st	88th	22nd
Opponent	11	152	3,356		4.3	1,494	472	3.2	1,862	312	6.0
Opponent Rank		29th	48th		44th	46th	46th	46th	81st	104th	49th
Net		+193	+1,068	+779	+1.4	+1,205	+77	+1.8	-137	-82	+1.5
Net Rank		11th	21st	70th	10th	24th	44th	15th	76th	109th	21st

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CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

3,169

Atkinson

2,962

Mestemaker

2,880

Jackson

Rush Yards Leaders

1,241

Riley

1,193

White

1,189

Sheppard

Rec Yards Leaders

1,209

Legree

1,200

Smith

1,027

Toney

Pass TD Leaders

29

Mestemaker

28

Mensah

27

Veltkamp

Rush TD Leaders

19

Hawkins

18

Gutierrez

18

Hellums

Rec TD Leaders

14

Legree

14

Smith

13

Toney

QB Rating Leaders

190.8

Mensah

184.5

Sayin

180.8

Jennings

Sack Leaders

14.0

Bradley

10.5

Simmons

10.5

Dean

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

45.0

44.7

43.9

43.3

41.1

40.8

Opp PPG Rankings

10.9

11.9

12.2

12.4

13.0

13.6

Total Yards Rankings

535.4

533.6

517.0

516.6

514.0

504.1

Rush Yards Rankings

332.0

324.7

298.1

270.2

265.8

263.6

Pass Yards Rankings

370.4

343.8

339.1

325.3

324.9

322.9

Sack Leaders

39.0

37.0

36.0

32.0

31.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Boise State	8	1	.889
2	Texas State	5	4	.556
3	Oregon State	5	4	.556
4	San Diego State	4	5	.444
5	Utah State	4	5	.444
6	Fresno State	5	4	.556
7	Colorado State	3	6	.333
8	Washington State	1	8	.111

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	UCLA	9	0	1.000
2	Indiana	8	1	.889
3	Oregon	6	3	.667
4	Ohio State	6	3	.667
5	Iowa	7	2	.778
6	Wisconsin	6	3	.667
7	USC	7	2	.778
8	Illinois	6	3	.667
9	Northwestern	6	3	.667
10	Minnesota	5	4	.556
11	Penn State	5	4	.556
12	Washington	5	4	.556
13	Michigan	5	4	.556
14	Nebraska	5	4	.556
15	Purdue	3	6	.333
16	Rutgers	2	7	.222
17	Maryland	3	6	.333
18	Michigan State	3	6	.333

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	8	1	.889
2	Alabama	7	2	.778
3	Kentucky	7	2	.778
4	Texas	7	2	.778
5	Tennessee	7	2	.778
6	Ole Miss	6	3	.667
7	South Carolina	6	3	.667
8	LSU	6	3	.667
9	Missouri	6	3	.667
10	Oklahoma	5	4	.556
11	Florida	5	4	.556
12	Auburn	5	4	.556
13	Mississippi State	4	5	.444
14	Texas A&M	4	5	.444
15	Arkansas	3	6	.333
16	Vanderbilt	4	5	.444

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Liberty	8	1	.889
2	Jacksonville State	7	2	.778
3	Middle Tennessee	5	4	.556
4	Delaware	4	5	.444
5	Florida International	4	5	.444
6	New Mexico State	3	6	.333
7	Western Kentucky	3	6	.333
8	Missouri State	3	6	.333
9	Kennesaw State	3	6	.333
10	Sam Houston	1	8	.111

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	Louisiana Tech	7	2	.778
2	Georgia Southern	5	4	.556
3	Louisiana	6	3	.667
4	James Madison	8	2	.800
5	South Alabama	4	5	.444
6	Appalachian State	5	4	.556
7	Arkansas State	4	5	.444
8	Coastal Carolina	3	6	.333
9	Troy	4	5	.444
10	Marshall	5	4	.556
11	Southern Miss	3	6	.333
12	Georgia State	5	4	.556
13	Louisiana-Monroe	2	7	.222
14	Old Dominion	3	7	.300

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	8	1	.889
2	Wake Forest	8	1	.889
3	Louisville	6	3	.667
4	SMU	7	2	.778
5	Duke	7	2	.778
6	Clemson	6	3	.667
7	Pittsburgh	6	3	.667
8	Virginia Tech	6	3	.667
9	North Carolina	5	4	.556
10	Florida State	4	5	.444
11	Stanford	4	5	.444
12	Virginia	4	5	.444
13	NC State	4	5	.444
14	Boston College	4	5	.444
15	California	3	6	.333
16	Syracuse	4	5	.444
17	Georgia Tech	2	7	.222

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	New Mexico	8	1	.889
2	Wyoming	6	3	.667
3	North Dakota State	7	2	.778
4	Air Force	7	2	.778
5	UNLV	5	4	.556
6	San Jose State	5	5	.500
7	Nevada	3	6	.333
8	Hawai'i	3	6	.333
9	UTEP	1	8	.111
10	Northern Illinois	0	9	.000

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	North Texas	7	2	.778
2	Memphis	7	2	.778
3	UTSA	7	2	.778
4	Army	5	4	.556
5	UAB	5	4	.556
6	Florida Atlantic	6	3	.667
7	East Carolina	5	4	.556
8	Tulsa	5	4	.556
9	South Florida	6	3	.667
10	Tulane	4	5	.444
11	Navy	3	6	.333
12	Charlotte	1	8	.111
13	Temple	2	7	.222
14	Rice	1	8	.111

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	8	1	.889
2	UConn	4	5	.444

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Ohio	7	3	.700
2	Western Michigan	7	3	.700
3	Buffalo	6	3	.667
4	Toledo	7	2	.778
5	Miami (OH)	6	4	.600
6	Eastern Michigan	4	6	.400
7	Bowling Green	3	7	.300
8	UMass	5	4	.556
9	Central Michigan	4	5	.444
10	Ball State	3	6	.333
11	Kent State	3	7	.300
12	Sacramento State	2	8	.200
13	Akron	1	9	.100

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	Utah	9	0	1.000
2	Texas Tech	8	1	.889
3	BYU	7	2	.778
4	Houston	7	2	.778
5	Arizona	7	2	.778
6	Baylor	6	3	.667
7	Oklahoma State	6	3	.667
8	Arizona State	5	4	.556
9	UCF	5	4	.556
10	West Virginia	5	4	.556
11	Iowa State	4	5	.444
12	Cincinnati	5	4	.556
13	TCU	4	5	.444
14	Colorado	3	6	.333
15	Kansas State	4	5	.444
16	Kansas	3	6	.333