PSU season snapshot: 1956
A daily series featuring each Penn State football season from 1947-2019:
Coach: Rip Engle
Final record: 6-2-1
Final ranking: Not ranked
Regular-season wins: Penn, Holy Cross, Ohio State, West Virginia, Boston, N.C. State
Regular-season losses: Army, Syracuse
Regular-season ties: Pitt
Bowl game: None
Team stat leaders: Billy Kane rushed for 544 yards and caught 16 passes for 232 yards; Milt Plum passed for 675 yards and also intercepted 7 passes
All-American: OG Sam Valentine
Neil Rudel’s take: Especially considering how difficult it’s been for Penn State to win in Columbus since joining the Big Ten, Rip Engle had excellent success against Ohio State — going 3-0 against the Buckeyes, with the games all in Columbus — and it started with a 7-6 win behind great defense and Milt Plum’s extra point providing the margin of difference. The Ohio Stadium crowd of 82,584 marked the largest to see a Penn State team. The Lions finished 6-2-1 with losses at Army and Syracuse and a tie at Pitt but broke their three-game losing streak to WVU.