A daily series featuring each Penn State football season from 1947-2019:
Year: 1962
Coach: Rip Engle
Final record: 9-2
Final ranking: AP No. 9, UPI No. 9
Regular-season wins: Navy, Air Force, Rice, Syracuse, California, Maryland, West Virginia, Holy Cross, Pitt
Regular-season losses: Army
Bowl game: Lost to Florida, 17-7, in the Gator Bowl
Team stat leaders: Roger Kochman rushed for 652 yards; Pete Liske passed for 1,037 yards and 12 TDs; Junior Powell caught 32 passes for 303 yards and also intercepted 5 passes
All-Americans: End Dave Robinson, HB Roger Kochman
Neil Rudel’s take: PSU entered an agreement with Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia to forbid redshirting. They were known as the “Big 4.” Lions became first team to play all three service academies in same season; they went 2-1 against them, losing to Army. Dave Robinson became Nits’ first African-American to be voted All-American. Joe Paterno was presented with a game ball for the first time since joining the staff. Lions took 9-1 record into Gator Bowl but lost 17-7, a game in which they were supposedly disinterested.
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