Joe Paterno: Power Ranking Penn State's Greatest Bowl Game Victories Under JoePa
Joe Paterno led Penn State into the Outback Bowl yesterday, the 37th bowl appearance of his historic career.
The Nittany Lions fell to the Florida Gators, 37-24 in a great finish at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Although their was no national championship on the line and the Nittany Lions will certainly finish the 2010 season outside of the top 10, it was yet another classic showdown for the Nittany Lions and Paterno.
But where does this year's Outback Bowl rank in the near half-century of the Paterno era?
Here are the top 10 bowl games played by Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions.
No. 10: 1979 Liberty Bowl
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Opponent: Tulane
Score: Penn State 9, Tulane 6
Nittany Lion Seniors: LB Matt Millen, FB Matt Suhey
The Nittany Lions suffered a real down year (by their standards) in 1979. After back-to-back 11-1 seasons, Penn State struggled to replace star quarterback Chuck Fusina, who had just graduated.
A quarterback carousel featuring Frank Rocco, Terry Rakowski and Jeff Hostetler led to a 7-4 record with losses to rival Pitt (in Happy Valley), upstart Miami (in Happy Valley) and a crushing 42-17 loss at Nebraska.
But the Liberty Bowl still chose the Nittany Lions to face Tulane on Dec. 22 in Memphis.
In a hard-fought defensive battle, Paterno's group outlasted the Green Wave, thanks to fourth-string running back Joel Coles' 39-yard completion to Tom Donovan that set up kicker Herb Menhardt's game-winning 20-yard field goal in the final minute.
Penn State rode the momentum of that Liberty Bowl triumph to 31 wins in its next 35 games.
No. 9: 1983 Aloha Bowl
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Opponent: Washington
Score: Penn State 13, Washington 10
Nittany Lion Seniors: WR Kenny Jackson
After the Nittany Lions won their first national championship in 1982, the program suffered a real down year.
With their two star players on offense, quarterback Todd Blackledge and running back Curt Warner, now in the NFL, Paterno's bunch lost their first three games, and it didn't look like a bowl game was in their future. But they finished the season 7-1-1 and earned a trip to Hawaii for the Aloha Bowl.
Trailing 13-6 late in the fourth quarter, freshman D.J. Dozier scored a two-yard touchdown to gain the lead and give Paterno an incredible fifth straight bowl win in five seasons.
"We worked harder for this bowl game than any other bowl game we played," Paterno told the press afterward. "I really wanted the kids to win for the seniors. I was yelling and jumping on the sidelines because they worked too hard to let it slip out of their hands."
No. 8: 1989 Holiday Bowl
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Opponent: Brigham Young
Score: Penn State 50, BYU 39
Nittany Lion Seniors: RB Blair Thomas, LB Andre Collins
The 1989 Nittany Lions suffered three terribly close losses during the regular season. At home to Virginia, they fell 14-6 in the opener.
Then, near the end of the season, they suffered two one-point losses and a tie in the span of four weeks to fall to 6-3-1. But they defeated Pitt in the season finale and earned a trip to San Diego to play Holiday Bowl regular BYU.
At Jack Murphy Stadium, the Nittany Lions found themselves in a shootout with LaVell Edwards' high-scoring Cougars. Thanks to 35 carries and 186 yards from senior and future second overall draft pick Blair Thomas, the Lions scored a whopping 38 second-half points.
"It must've been a great game to watch, it's not exactly my style," Paterno said. "We were afraid we were going to be in one like this."
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 7: 1982 Fiesta Bowl
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Opponent: USC
Score: Penn State 26, USC 10
Nittany Lion Seniors: OG Mike Munchak
Amidst rumors that Paterno would leave Happy Valley to take over the woeful New England Patriots, the Nittany Lions met the Trojans and Heisman Trophy-winning running back Marcus Allen in Tempe.
The Penn State defense forced two fumbles from Allen (who rushed for 85 yards on 30 carries) to limit John Robinson's high-powered offense.
And with sophomore Todd Blackledge and junior tailback Curt Warner rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, the Nittany Lions took a 24-7 second half lead and cruised to their third straight bowl win.
"I felt going into this game that the winner would be the best team in the country," Paterno said after the win. "We feel we could probably beat any team in the country right now."
No. 6: 1992 Fiesta Bowl
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Opponent: Tennessee
Score: Penn State 42, Tennessee 17
Nittany Lion Seniors: FS Darren Perry, FB Sam Gash, LB Keith Goganious
Against the 10th-ranked Vols and a familiar old coaching foe (former Pitt head coach Johnny Majors), the Nittany Lions blew out Tennessee in their return to Sun Devil Stadium after a five-year absence.
Behind 17-7 early in the second half (and outgained 324-59 in yards at the half), Paterno's team exploded in the second half.
O.J. McDuffie's catches of Tony Sacca's passes allowed the Nittany Lions to score 35 unanswered points and reach a sixth ranking at the end of the season.
No. 5: 2006 Orange Bowl
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Opponent: Florida State
Score: Penn State 26, Florida State 23 (triple overtime)
Nittany Lion Seniors: QB Michael Robinson
In one of the greatest head-to-head matchups in bowl history, Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions faced Florida State's Bobby Bowden at Pro Player Stadium. Together, the two 70-something-year old coaches had combined for 700 victories.
Fittingly, they played one of the greatest bowl games in the BCS era.
With the score tied at 16, overtime was needed. Neither team scored in the first overtime period, the teams traded one-yard touchdown runs in the second, then a field goal by kicker Kevin Kelly gave the Nittany Lions a wild 26-23 win.
"I told [Bowden] we're too old for this," Paterno said. "It's almost past my bedtime."
Paterno led the Nittany Lions to an 11-win season for a remarkable 13th time.
No. 4: 1970 Orange Bowl
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Opponent: Missouri
Score: Penn State 10, Missouri 3
Nittany Lion Seniors: DT Mike Reid
Cruising through their regular-season schedule undefeated and untied earned Paterno (in his fourth season after replacing Rip Engle) a spot in the Orange Bowl for the second straight season.
In the old Orange Bowl, quarterback Chuck Burkhardt threw the game's only touchdown, connecting with sophomore running back Lydell Mitchell on a 28-yard pass that gave Penn State a 10-0 first quarter lead.
Against sixth-ranked Missouri, the Nittany Lions smothered the Tigers, intercepting quarterback Terry McMillan five times. Penn State finished 11-0 for the second season in a row.
"I don't know if were No. 1," Paterno said afterward. "But we have as much a right as anybody else to be No. 1...we ought to get one or two votes."
Soon after President Richard Nixon declared 11-0 Texas the national champion, prompting Paterno to say years later:
"I'd like to know....how could the president know so little about Watergate in 1973 and so much about college football in 1969?"
No. 3: 1995 Rose Bowl
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Opponent: Oregon
Score: Penn State 38, Oregon 20
Nittany Lion Seniors: QB Kerry Collins, RB Ki-Jana Carter, TE Kyle Brady
In just their second season in the Big Ten, Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions ran the table in conference play, winning games by scores like 56-3 (over Minnesota), 61-21 (over Iowa), 63-14 (over Ohio State) and 59-31 (over Michigan State).
As undisputed champions of the conference, Paterno's Nittany Lions earned their first-ever spot in the Rose Bowl.
With the score tied at 14 in the third period, Ki-Jana Carter and Kerry Collins (who would go first and fifth in that April's draft) exploded for 24 points in the span of 15 minutes.
Carter, who ran for an 83-yard touchdown on the game's first play, totaled 156 yards and three touchdowns to supplement Collins 200 yards on 19-for-30 passing.
The victory made Paterno the only coach ever to win all four "major" bowls (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta) and gave him his fifth undefeated season, but because Nebraska defeated third-ranked Miami in the Orange Bowl, Tom Osbourne's Cornhuskers won the national championship.
No. 2: 1983 Sugar Bowl
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Opponent: Georgia
Score: Penn State 27, Georgia 23
Nittany Lion Seniors: RB Curt Warner
Despite a midseason loss at Alabama, the Nittany Lions still earned a trip to the Sugar Bowl following the 1982 season.
Victories over Notre Dame, Nebraska, Dan Marino's Pitt Panthers and Jeff Hostetler's West Virginia Mountaineers were proof enough that 10-1 Penn State was one of the nation's elite teams.
And on New Year's Day 1983, the second-ranked Nittany Lions met the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, led by Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker.
With Penn State ahead 20-10 at the half, Walker scored a touchdown in the third quarter to cut the lead. But, in his final game at Penn State, Davey O'Brien winner Todd Blackledge threw a fourth quarter 48-yard touchdown pass to Gregg Garrity (who made an outstanding catch over freshman defensive back Tony Flack) that pushed the edge back to 10.
The Bulldogs scored on a John Lastinger touchdown to cut it to 27-23, but the Nittany Lions hung on in the final seconds.
"When the No. 1 and No. 2 teams play and the No. 2 team wins, I certainly think they should move up," Paterno said after. "I think we beat three or four of the top teams in the country during the season and certainly we should be No. 1."
The next evening, Paterno got his wish and the for the first time ever, Penn State and Paterno were declared national champions.
No. 1: 1987 Fiesta Bowl
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Opponent: Miami
Score: Penn State 14, Miami 7
Nittany Lion Seniors: LB Shane Conlan, RB D.J. Dozier
In 1985, the Nittany Lions finished the regular season with a perfect 11-0 record, but lost the Orange Bowl 25-10 to Barry Switzer and the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
The next year, Paterno's Nittany Lions again had an undefeated, untied regular season and faced a powerhouse program (led by a future Dallas Cowboys head coach): Jimmy Johnson's Miami Hurricanes.
Through three quarters, both teams could only manage a single touchdown apiece, but the Hurricanes and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde and Alonzo Highsmith took the lead on a field goal early in the final period.
Behind 10-7, Penn State linebacker Shane Conlan intercepted Testaverde to set up D.J. Dozier's touchdown run. Conlan's pick was one of seven turnovers Penn State forced.
Stopping Testaverde and the Hurricanes on three more drives sealed the victory and gave Penn State a second national championship in five seasons.
"This was a great night for college football," Paterno said afterwards. "It's a shame either team had to lose. But I'm glad we weren't the one who did."
Because the Nittany Lions held Testaverde, Highsmith, Michael Irvin and a tremendous Miami offense that would win the national championship the following January to 10 points (while amassing only eight first downs of their own), it was Paterno's greatest victory.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
