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Penn State Football Team History

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA
Founded: 1855
Stadium: Beaver Stadium
Capacity: 106,537
Colors: Blue & White
Coach: Dr. Samuel B. Newton
Conference: Independent-

Select Year:

1881 <-- 1895 <- 1896 -> 1897 --> 2024

1896 Season Highlights

Dr. Samuel B. Newton enters his 1st season as Head Coach at Penn State.

1896 Season

Date	Opponent	Score
Sat., Sep. 26	vs. Gettysburg	40	0	W
Sat., Oct. 3	vs. Pittsburgh	10	4	W
Sat., Oct. 10	vs. Dickinson	8	0	W
Sat., Oct. 24	@ Princeton	0	39	L
Sat., Oct. 31	vs. Bucknell	0	10	L	@ Williamsport, PA
Sat., Nov. 14	@ Pennsylvania	0	27	L
Sat., Nov. 21	@ Carlisle	5	48	L	@ Harrisburg, PA

1896 Season Totals
Record	3-4
Points Scored	63
Scoring Average	9.0
Points Allowed	128
Defense Average	18.3
Opponents Record	3-6
Conference Record	0-0
Home Record	3-1
Away Record	0-3

1896 NCAA Final Rankings
Rank	Record	Source
was not ranked.

1896 Independent- Standings
	Season			Bowls	Conference
Team	W/L/T	PF	PA		W/L/T	PF	PA	Coach
Iowa State	8-2	303	46					Bert German
Indiana	7-2	224	74					Madison G. Gonterman
Connecticut	5-3	64	56					No Coach
Buffalo	7-0	144	12					No Coach
Virginia	7-2-2	238	86					Martin V. Bergen
California	6-2-2	150	50					Frank S. Butterworth
Louisiana State	6-0	131	4					Allen W. Jeardeau
Maryland	6-2-2	112	34					Grenville Lewis
Rutgers	6-6	74	198					John C.B. Pendleton
Cincinnati	5-2-1	96	62					William A. Reynolds
Navy	5-3	180	53					John P. Johnny Poe
Ohio State	5-5-1	122	104					Charles A. Hickey
Syracuse	5-3-2	194	78					George O. Redington
Virginia Tech	5-2-1	154	50					Art C. Jones
Boston College	4-3	50	60					Frank Carney
Miami Ohio	4-1	52	20					Ernest Merrill
Notre Dame	4-3	182	50					Frank E. Hering
Ohio	4-2-1	80	100					Frank Remsburg
Army	3-2-1	93	45					George P. Dyer
Central Michigan	3-1	62	22					Pete McCormick
Penn State	3-4	63	128					Dr. Samuel B. Newton
Pittsburgh	3-6	42	69					George W. Hoskins
Temple	3-2	50	32					Charles M. Williams
Utah	3-2	30	20					C.B. Ferris
West Virginia	3-7-2	14	101					Thomas Gawthrop Doggie Trenchard
Arkansas	2-1	16	36					John C. Futrall
Oklahoma	2-0	28	4					No Coach
Oregon	2-1	20	20					J.F. Frick
Stanford	2-1-1	30	4					Harry P. Cross
Texas A&M	2-0-1	50	4					A.M. Soule/H.W. South
Tulsa	2-1	0	6					Norman Leard
Washington	2-3	20	40					Ralph Nichols
Washington State	2-0-1	56	6					David A. Brodie
Wyoming	2-0	28	20					Justus F. Soule
Mississippi	1-2	24	22					J.W. Hollister
Nevada	1-2	30	110					Frank L. Taylor
North Carolina State	1-0	6	0					Perrin Busbee
Oregon State	1-2	26	14					Tommy Cade
South Carolina	1-3	20	30					W.H. Dixie Whaley
Texas Christian	1-1-1	8	28					No Coach
Akron	0-1	0	32					Harry Wilson
Arizona State	0-1	20	38					Frederick M. Irish
Kansas State	0-1-1	6	20					Ira Pratt
Massachusetts	0-4	12	39					No Coach
New Mexico State	0-2	0	16					No Coach
San Jose State	0-0-1	6	6
Southern California	0-3	0	74					No Coach
Utah State	0-1	0	6					Professor Mayo

1896 All American Awards
Player	Position	Class	Ht.	Wt.	Award	Team	Source
Coming Someday

1896 All Independent Conference Players
Player	Position	Class	Ht.	Wt.	Team	Source
Coming Someday

Some records may be incomplete.

Great Moments in College Football History

The first college football National Champion was Princeton. They received the honor in 1869 and only played two games.