No list of “essential” Penn State games can be considered complete with just five options, and even combining our lists to get to around 10 games is not nearly enough.
Still, some games mean a little more than others. They’re often games that need only a brief name to describe them. Or maybe only the final score.
While Darian appropriately includes the “We Are” game and the President Nixon Game in his list, there are arguments for a list that does not include those two savvy selections. After all, there have been more than 1,370 games in Penn State football history.
So, here’s my list of five, in chronological order.
’67 Miami – Sept. 29, 1967
Coach Joe Paterno had not set the world afire or led the team to dominant performances as his career started. Some older players chafed at his approach, and a talented group of sophomores was pushing for playing time and supporting the coach who had recruited them with a few less questions.
So, over the period of a few plays at the start of the game in Miami, Paterno started subbing in the standout sophomores — especially on defense. Penn State won the game and when the team returned to practice the following week those players had been named starters.
The team went 8-1-1 with that lineup and then 11-0 in 1968 and 11-0 again in 1969. So, 30-1-1 over three seasons — a firm foundation for 409 eventual victories. And, with both undefeated teams unrecognized with national championships, also a firm foundation for Penn State’s message of disrespect early in Paterno’s career (and as part of the program’s DNA in some ways.).
48-14 – Nov. 28, 1981
Eleventh-ranked Penn State visits No. 1 Pitt at Pitt Stadium, falls behind 14-0 and rallies for a lopsided victory.
The game fell at the height of the rivalry for the two then-independent Eastern football powers. It was nationally televised, at a time when that typically meant one college football game at a time with the whole country watching, and it included hard-hitting, game-changing moments that resonate with fans of both programs until this day.
Penn State went to the Fiesta Bowl and beat No. 8 USC with running back Marcus Allen, and the next season Penn State captured its first national championship.
Conversely, Pitt’s football program — which won 11 games in 1979, 1980 and 1981 — has had just two seasons with at least 10 wins in the 43 years since that game.
Fiesta Bowl – Jan. 2, 1987
Yes, Penn State had played in the Fiesta Bowl before (keeping USC’s Marcus Allen in check during a victory a few seasons earlier), but when Penn State fans talk about historic or essential games and mention the Fiesta Bowl, they can only mean this game against No. 1 Miami.
It was No. 1 vs. No. 2, a matchup made possible because both programs were independents and the bowl game itself had no conference ties. Plus, bowl organizers wisely moved the game to primetime and broadcast partner NBC conducted a 15-minute pregame show. The broadcast included a halftime interview with President Ronald Reagan.
In an era before pregame shows and special presentations, the game became special — attracting 21.9 million viewers and earning a made-for-TV moniker, “Duel in the Dessert.”
The contrast of Miami’s high-profile players and swagger to Penn State’s comparatively bland approach was stark. The whole thing provided intrigue from start to finish. That’s from the arrival of Miami players in Arizona wearing fatigues and later walking out of an event designed for both teams to Penn State’s defense forcing five interceptions and the outcome not being determined until Miami was facing a fourth-and-goal situation with 18 seconds remaining. That’s when linebacker Pete Giftopoulos got the final one of those interceptions and Penn State secured its second national championship.
’94 Illinois – Nov. 12, 1994
Second-ranked Penn State visits Illinois, trails most of the game and rallies for a 35-31 victory.
It’s not the comeback that matters, though, because poll voters focus only on the narrow margin of victory and Penn State never gets a chance to play for the national championship. Sure, it goes undefeated but so does Nebraska, which gets most of the accolades.
It’s this game that prompted this whole “essential” game idea for me. When any fan, or coach, or anyone associated with Penn State football talks about ’94 Illinois, they mean this, and all that goes with it.
Again, it’s in the DNA of the program, and if you’re hard-core conspiracist Penn State fan, another example of disrespect because if Michigan or Ohio State plays on the road at Illinois, no matter how good the Illini are or are not, and if the visitors trail by a lot and make a big comeback, they’re getting credit for a big character-building victory. A championship team effort.
That was not the case for Penn State in 1994.
6-4 – Oct. 23, 2004
If you Google “Penn State Iowa 6,” the search bar completes the rest for you.
This game is essential because saying 6-4 stands on its own. Among Penn State fans. Among Iowa fans too, probably, and even among college football fans.
The game prompts apologies and eye rolls. It represents the height, or rather depths, of the “The Dark Years” under Paterno. It was just such a bad game.
Two field goals for Iowa. Two safeties for Penn State’s points. Six first downs the whole game for the Nittany Lions, who amassed 147 yards of total offense.
We watched it all, start to finish, in person. You just kept thinking it would get better. That somebody would make a good play. That at some point it would look like quality football, worthy of being contested inside Beaver Stadium.
None of that ever happened. Still, the game earned a place in history.
Click here to share your picks and read Darian’s picks here.
