1961 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1961 NCAA University Division independents football records
	Rankings from AP Poll

Penn State Nittany Lions football
1961 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Gator Bowl, W 30-15 vs. Georgia Tech
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	#19
AP	#17
1961 record	8–3
Head coach	Rip Engle (12th year)
Home stadium	Beaver Stadium; (Capacity: 46,284)
« 1960	1962 »

The 1961 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1961 college football season.^[1] The team was coached by Rip Engle and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result
September 23	Navy	#7	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	W 20–10
September 29	at Miami	#8	Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL	L 8–25
October 6	at Boston University		Nickerson Field • Boston, MA	W 32–0
October 14	Army		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	L 6–10
October 21	Syracuse		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA (Rivalry)	W 14–0
October 28	California		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	W 33–16
November 4	at Maryland		Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD (Rivalry)	L 17–21
November 11	at West Virginia		Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Rivalry)	W 20–6
November 18	Holy Cross		Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	W 34–14
November 25	at Pittsburgh		Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)	W 47–26
December 30	vs. Georgia Tech		Gator Bowl Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	W 30–15
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

v t e Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
National championship seasons in bold

1961 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
#15 Rutgers		–		9	–	0	–	0
#17 Arizona		–		8	–	1	–	1
Memphis State		–		8	–	2	–	0
Villanova		–		8	–	2	–	0
#17 Penn State		–		8	–	3	–	0
#14 Syracuse		–		8	–	3	–	0
Holy Cross		–		7	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		7	–	3	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		7	–	4	–	0
Army		–		6	–	4	–	0
San Jose State		–		6	–	4	–	0
Xavier		–		6	–	4	–	0
Colgate		–		5	–	4	–	0
Detroit		–		5	–	4	–	0
Pacific		–		5	–	4	–	0
Houston		–		5	–	4	–	1
Notre Dame		–		5	–	5	–	0
Oregon State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Florida State		–		4	–	5	–	1
Boston University		–		4	–	5	–	0
Boston College		–		4	–	6	–	0
Oregon		–		4	–	6	–	0
Air Force		–		3	–	7	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		3	–	7	–	0
Washington State		–		3	–	7	–	0
Idaho		–		2	–	7	–	0
Dayton		–		2	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll