The athletes jsut weren’t there in the mid 90s as the off the field trouble hurt the program. They were just starting to build back up the charts when the decade ended. Wow, that sounds a lot like this decade.

While they had all those speedy receivers in the decade,  I will remember the trio of linebackers at the beginning of the decade the most.

Darrin Smith, Jesse Armstead and Michael Barrow made up the best group of linebackers in the history of college football, at least in my opinion.

6. Penn State (146)

The most memorable thing of the decade for Nittany Lions fans is how they didn’t earn at least a share of the title in 1994. The tandem of Kerry Collins, Ki Jana Carter and Bobby Engram made one of the best offenses of the decade. It would be the only time in recent memory the offense overshadowed the defense.

The end of the decade will be remembered by the teams that fell apart. They were undefeated late in the year when they were blown away at home by Michigan in 97. They were undefeated late in 99 before losing three straight games, including two at home.

Speaking of good linebackers, LaVar Arrington, Courtney Brown and Brandon Short made up a pretty good tandem in the late 90s.

Who can forget about Curtis Enis, who turned out to be as big of a bust as the PSU running backs before him. While PSU ended up with just one big year, it was a consistent top 20 team the whole decade.

5. Michigan (154)

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