1963 Penn State Nittany Lions football team explained

The 1963 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 1963 NCAA University Division football season. Led by fourteenth-year head coach Rip Engle, the Nittany Lions were 7–3 and were 16th in the final coaches' poll. Home games were played on campus at Beaver Stadium in University Park; Penn State was independent in football until 1993.

The Nittany Lions were led on the field in 1963 by fifth-year senior quarterback Pete Liske,^{[1] [2]} who had been selected in the NFL and AFL drafts the previous December and went on to play a dozen seasons in pro football. The regular season finale against rival Pittsburgh was postponed two weeks following the assassination of President Kennedy.^{[3] [4] [5]}

Although scoring was off in the 1963 season, the team's defense, headed by 230-pound middle guard (nose tackle in a five man line) Glenn Ressler,^[6] was particularly stout, giving up just 92 points in the first 9 games of the season. The Nittany Lions came within a single point of an upset victory over Pitt in the season finale.

Notes and References

1. News: Ducks open against Penn State . Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon . Uhrhammer . Jerry . September 20, 1963 . 3B .
2. News: Penn State outpunches Oregon in opener, 17-7 . Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon . Uhrhammer . Jerry . September 22, 1963 . 1B .
3. News: 57,331 sellout for Pitt-Penn State tilt . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Jordan . Jimmy . November 22, 1963 . 25.
4. News: 55,000 to see Pitt battle Penn State at stadium today . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Jordan . Jimmy . December 7, 1963 . 12.
5. News: Pitt rallies to edge Penn State 22-21 . Reading Eagle . Pennsylvania . UPI . December 8, 1963 . 40.
6. Dave Leherr, "Ressler Sparks Penn State's Defensive Line," Somerset [PA] Daily American, Nov. 21, 1963, p. 6.