Joe Paterno came to Penn State in 1966. In 1968 and 1969, Paterno’s teams capped off undefeated seasons with major bowl victories. Both times, they came up short in the final national championship voting. The 1973 Penn State football season was more of the same—undefeated, but unrecognized. Although this time, they produced one of college […]
The 1993 Penn State football season started a new era. After a long stretch as an independent—a stretch that included recent national titles in 1982 and 1986, and a #3 finish as recently as 1991—the Nittany Lions were joining the Big Ten. They were also looking to atone for what had been a disappointing 1992 […]
1985 Penn State football was in need of a bounceback year. After winning the national title in 1982, the Nittany Lions had slipped off the radar for two years. They went 8-4-1 in 1983 and then a 6-5 season in 1984 resulted in no bowl appearance. Joe Paterno’s program revitalized with defense. Shane Conlan, a […]
Penn State had gone 18-6 in the two years since 1978, when they came up a yard short of the national title in a Sugar Bowl clash with Alabama. Averaging three losses per year was high for PSU in this era, but they had finished in the Top 10 in 1980. The 1981 Penn State […]
Penn State hadn’t seriously competed for the national championship since their dramatic title in 1986. Two years after that, Joe Paterno had suffered the first losing season of his illustrious career. A seven-win campaign in 1989 put the Nittany Lions back on the right track and then they went 9-2 in 1990, including an upset […]
The 1986 Penn State football team came into the season focused on nothing less than the national title. They had gone undefeated in the 1985 regular season, but an Orange Bowl loss to Oklahoma ended their year in disappointment. The Lions were loaded in 1986 for another run at college football’s mountaintop and in a […]
The 1980 Fiesta Bowl marked a threshold moment for both teams involved, Penn State and Ohio State, as well as the bowl game itself. Here’s a look back on the road the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes took through the 1980 college football season, the Fiesta Bowl itself and the aftermath for the teams and the […]
Two storied programs and two legendary coaches battled for a national championship at the 1986 Orange Bowl. . Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma program was looking for its first ring since going back-to-back in 1974-75. Penn State and Joe Paterno were undefeated and seeking their second national title in four years. Let’s take a look back at […]
The 1983 Sugar Bowl was a landmark game in college football history. Penn State and Georgia played a national championship battle that featured two of the country’s great running backs in Curt Warner and Heisman winner Herschel Walker, both with good NFL careers ahead of them. And above all, it brought the legendary Joe Paterno […]
The 1982 Fiesta Bowl marked a new era for the Tempe-based bowl game. It represented the effort of the Fiesta to turn itself into a “major bowl”, as they moved their game to January 1. They certainly got two major opponents for the debut on the New Year’s stage. Penn State and USC were two […]
Alabama spent time at #1 early in the 1978 college football regular season. Penn State stayed undefeated throughout and was #1 late in the season. On January 1, they were 1-2 in the polls and settled it with a great battle at the 1979 Sugar Bowl that was defined by one of the most memorable goal-line stands and tackles in college football history.
It was looking like the end was near for Penn State’s legendary, but aging coach, Joe Paterno. After a career that had seen national titles in 1982 and 1986, plus four other unbeaten and uncrowned teams, Paterno’s program had fallen on hard times. Four of the previous five seasons had been sub-.500 and the calls for him to step down were getting louder.