The 1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

during the

1986 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Penn State winning the national championship. Coached by Joe Paterno, they defeated Miami (Fl) 14–10 in the Fiesta Bowl. This Fiesta Bowl was the first in the game's history to decide the ...

. Led by 21st-year head coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 12–0. Penn State defeated the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

, 14–10, in the

1987 Fiesta Bowl The 1987 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game that served as the final game of the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Part of the 1986–87 bowl game season, the 1987 Fiesta Bowl also served as the National Championship Game, between ...

to win Paterno's second consensus national championship. The team was named national champion by AP, Billingsley, FB News, FW,

Matthews Matthews may refer to: People * Matthews (surname) Places * Matthews Island, Antarctica * Matthews Range, Kenya * Mount Matthews, New Zealand United States * Matthews, Georgia * Matthews, Indiana * Matthews, Maryland * Matthews, Missouri * Mat ...

, NCF, NFF,

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

, and USA/CNN, while named co-champion by

FACT A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scie ...

, Sagarin (ELO-Chess).

Schedule

Rankings

AP Poll

UPI Poll

Game summaries

Temple

Boston College

East Carolina

Rutgers

Cincinnati

Syracuse

#2 Alabama

West Virginia

Maryland

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

#1 Miami (FL) (Sunkist Fiesta Bowl)

Roster

NFL Draft

Thirteen Nittany Lions were drafted in the

1987 NFL Draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

Awards

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year The Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award is given annually to a college football coach by the Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members i ...

Paul "Bear" Bryant Award The American Heart Association (AHA) Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards are an annual awards banquet that is hosted each year in January, in Houston, Texas, by the AHA.For a list of American Heart Association offices, by state, go to: There are two aw ...

Media

Radio

References

{{College Football National Champion navbox Penn State Penn State Nittany Lions football seasons College football national champions Fiesta Bowl champion seasons Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy seasons College football undefeated seasons

Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 a ...