1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 21st-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 12–0. Penn State defeated the Miami Hurricanes, 14–10, in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl to win Paterno's second consensus national championship. The team was named national champion by AP, Billingsley, FB News, FW, Matthews, NCF, NFF, Sporting News, UPI, and USA/CNN, while named co-champion by FACT, Sagarin (ELO-Chess).

1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Consensus national champion
Fiesta Bowl champion
Eastern champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 14–10 vs. Miami (FL)
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record12–0
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter (3rd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (10th season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
1986 Major eastern college football independents records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 1 Penn State $ 6 0 012 0 0
No. 19 Boston College 3 2 09 3 0
Syracuse 3 3 05 6 0
Temple 2 3 06 5 0
Pittsburgh 2 3 05 5 1
Rutgers 2 4 05 5 1
West Virginia 1 4 04 7 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1986 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 1 Penn State      12 0 0
No. 2 Miami (FL)      11 1 0
No. 20 Virginia Tech      9 2 1
No. 19 Boston College      9 3 0
Tulsa      7 4 0
Florida State      7 4 1
Army      6 5 0
Southwestern Louisiana      6 5 0
Southern Miss      6 5 0
Temple      6 5 0
Pittsburgh      5 5 1
Rutgers      5 5 1
Cincinnati      5 6 0
Notre Dame      5 6 0
Syracuse      5 6 0
South Carolina      3 6 2
Tulane      4 7 0
West Virginia      4 7 0
Louisville      3 8 0
Navy      3 8 0
Wichita State      3 8 0
East Carolina      2 9 0
Northern Illinois      2 9 0
Memphis State      1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll
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