The WEIRDEST SCHEDULED GAME in Penn State HISTORY | Penn State vs. USC (1996)

[@TheSBleeder]

Great video. I had never heard about this.

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 8/9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about how Paul Brown was scared to have his Browns face the Lions in 1954.

[@citizenmikeyone]

I was a brand-newbie first-semester college freshman at PSU when this game took place. I watched this game live on ABC in my dorm building’s TV lounge on 8/25/96, three days before my 18th birthday! I was ecstatic that the Nittany Lions won that game so convincingly. I had no idea that Joe tried to talk the team into canceling the game until watching this video (our campus newspaper likely ‘buried’ the story…pre-smartphone days, of course). Thanks for sharing the video clips of PSU football back in 1995-96, JG! I’m getting super-nostalgic for my early days of young adulthood…BTW, that PSU-U Michigan game from 95 was notorious for snowballs being thrown onto the field if memory serves…Gotta look that up… And, of course, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

[@tafike22]

The reason you never heard anything about it is because USC made the story up in an effort to get PSU fans from getting tickets. This person is completely wrong about this. PSU never wanted to get this game canceled.

[@dustinsindledecker154]

I guess it is a college football urban legend.

[@derekmahaffey5417]

The snowball game is my favorite of all time because I grew up watching Nastasi (the holder who scored on the fake FG)

[@146TS]

Did Santa Claus happen to be on the field at the Michigan game? Lol

[@matthewkologi6833]

This is not true. Paterno spoke like this nearly every press conference.

[@robertreinoehl2805]

Just like Nebraska backed out in 1995 when PSU offered.

[@jaredanderson3012]

Thanks for telling us this very interesting story

[@eaglevillage3790]

Just one more thing to point out they did play in the first kickoff classic in 1983 coming off their first National Championship the year prior with a ton of player turnover in a Top 5 match against Nebraska who anihilated the Nittany Lions. That could have also played a factor

[@Joey_PSU]

They also played against Georgia tech in the kickoff classic in 1991 , the defending national champ

[@dflatt1783]

@@Joey_PSU Who Penn State destroyed in that game. The score was 34-21 but it wasn't even a competition.

[@eugenedenbrook322]

That 83 Nebraska squad was really, really good, though

[@antoniomaximo8119]

Rubbish. They had a head-to-head series with USC some years before this game. I saw the Lions at Beaver Stadium put 35 points only in the first half to the Trojans. Also, in those years they played a heavily favored Arizona team in their first game, ask the Wildcats how that went. The guy who made this does not really know how Paterno was.

[@brucetucker4847]

I'm still furious that they didn't get the chance to play for the national title in '94. They will always have a share of that title as far as I'm concerned.

[@posysdogovych2065]

Think what you want, but both the AP and Coach's polls gave Nebraska the nod. The Huskers convincingly beat #2 Colorado (giving them their only loss of the season) and beat #3 Miami in the Orange Bowl. Penn State's best win was against an Oregon team that lost by double digits to Hawaii and Utah.

[@aaronrider4051]

@@posysdogovych2065 Yes, as if the AP and Coaches polls are incapable of being wrong. Penn State's comeback win over Illinois (the nation's #1 defense) was far and away better than any of Nebraska's wins. There's really no mathematical reason to think Nebraska was much better than Ohio State, Michigan, or Illinois - teams PSU beat. Penn State also beat Michigan, which outplayed Colorado and lost only due to a fluky miracle play. 1994 PSU's offense, which only had to play the full second half 2 times all season, spotted Illinois a 21 point lead, on the road, and still outscored them 35-10.

[@aaronrider4051]

@@posysdogovych2065 Also arrogantly deceptive to talk about Oregon's double digit losses. Those were early in the season. The Oregon team that played from early October on was one of the better teams in the country, with an exceptionally good defense.

[@aaronrider4051]

Penn State's refusal to claim 1994, which would be an extraordinarily common sense claim, stands in stark opposition to the lunatics at Alabama, who claim the likes of 1964 or one other season that they claim because one bubba in Texas said they were champs.

[@jimmyplenderleith9471]

2 of the next 3 years after this, the Lions would be Pre-Season #1 only to lose HUGE games in 97 and 99,,,including getting blown out by Michigan in 97 and then Mich St having TWO RB go over 200 yards rushing and in 99 a fluke loss to Minnesota following by blowing a 24-14 lead at home vs. Tom Brady and Michigan. I am a PSU alum and was in school from 96-2000....kills me they couldnt finish the deal. As "feared" as the Lions might have been, they won 1 Big Ten Title in 90s and have only won 4 in total (94 / 05 / 08 / 16)

[@marquan1976]

I miss the Kickoff Classic to start the season

[@dustinsindledecker154]

Me too they should bring it back.

[@dflatt1783]

The big teams don't want to play it anymore since one loss can derail your entire season.

[@dustinsindledecker154]

Maybe that might bring it back now that the playoffs will be expanding not 12 teams in a few years.

[@aaronrider4051]

The more I watched this video, the more obvious it became that the person who made it does not understand how Paterno coached. Paterno liked to *challenge* his team. In 1995, he had proven leaders: Jeff Hartings, Marco Rivera, Bobby Engram, Terry Killens, and more. Those guys were all gone in 1996. It's not just that he didn't have proven skill kids (at receiver) but, everywhere, and especially at the heart of the team (the lines), he didn't know if he could trust his guys to step up and replace those seniors. Paterno was obsessed with having leaders. "Asking" them to give up playing USC was a ploy - he knew the guys would not agree to that, because they were smart enough to understand he was directly challenging them to step up in preparations and work harder to be good enough to challenge USC. And since PSU kicked USC's ass that August, it's fair to see Paterno was right.

[@quantumfootball]

A few years before this, USC was supposed to play Illinois in a "pre-season classic" in the Soviet Union called Glasnost Bowl, so it seems like their early games had issues. I also think they played in a game in that period that was shortened due to lightning.

[@Boldorion1958]

At the time, they were also considering playing a game in Ireland. I along with most of my fellow Trojan fans frowned on that idea because no one in either of those countries gives a hoot about American football.

[@nicholasbarber3644]

usc uniforms look different

[@dustinsindledecker154]

Not really like pretty similar to today.

[@earlschandelmeier751]

First of all this is absolute utter nonsense. Clearly whoever came up with this story doesn't know Joe Paterno. First off winning was never as important as teaching integrity for Paterno so there is no way he would ever propose this to a team. And I suspect he would have fired anyone who proposed it to him. 2nd, As far as putting any important decision up for a team vote, that's not Joe Paterno. I could just imagine the look he would have given anyone who asked if he was going to take a team vote on something that was his to decide. Lmfao 3rd Listen to any interview of Joe Paterno talking about his team. At the very best you might get him to say he isn't unhappy with the way part of the team is practicing or developing. Normal paterno was always to pick apart each and every aspect of the team never feeling satisfied with where he was at. The quotes about his 1996 team could be used in 2006, 86 or 76 or 67...lol

[@krisweinschenker598]

I think the reason JoePa(turnover) was so hesitant, was because of a similar game in 1983. After winning the national championship the year before, PSU opened against against in a prime time game against Nebraska in the Meadowlands and got their clocks cleaned. As a freshman at PSU, I can remember how silent all of East Halls (the largest dormitory complex in the 'free world', at the time) was.

[@richardj.m6773]

1996 was probably the last truly great year before the first Dark Years kicked in. 1997 had potential but the team stumbled near the end, including an ugly loss to Michigan at home. 1998 was meh. 1999 then was the year until that infamous upset loss at home against Minnesota, which set in motion the spiral until 2005.

[@dustinsindledecker154]

And then 2011 happened with the Sandusky scandal.

[@Boldorion1958]

Around that time, USC entered a Dark Age when a coach known as HWSRN (he who shall remain nameless) took charge. Despite a couple of wins over crosstown rival UCLA and a 10-0 shutout victory over Notre Dame, the Trojans did poorly and found themselves in the conference's cellar in 2000.

[@johnbondola3246]

BS, Joe never backed out of a game.

[@CTubeMan]

At 8:50, did his parents go away on a week’s vacation?

[@stephentownsend7379]

Are you sure this wasn't reverse psychology?

[@orionparish9858]

Why do I get the feeling that this was, word for word, an excuse JG8 himself used as a kid 🤪. And I bet Penn State and Paterno had a good laugh about this after the game 😁.

[@aaronrider4051]

IF Paterno had REALLY wanted to cancel this game, he would have done so himself. He did not ask his players to decide such things. That was 100% a motivational strategy.

[@jad647]

JaquarGator8 knows nothing of what he speaks to. Joe ALWAYS talked this way. Go look at his comments prior to the 1969 undefeated season. Find his quotes prior to the the 1973 Cotton Bowl before they thrashed Texas. This whole piece of BS is just a headline for clicks. OK, I clicked and all it showed me is that JaquarGator8 just makes things up. Come on why in the hell would Joe believe "there was no way" his team could NEVER WIN a game they won by 17 points. That is a Bull Sh*t notion!

[@rem145]

Joe Paterno always spoke this way. It could be easy to think they were afraid to play a team unless you listened to his interviews back then, which were always like this. Fortunately I am an old enough PSU fan to realize this. This team wouldn’t win the conference but would win a fiesta bowl.

[@TheSBleeder]

​@ICDUMPEPLLou Holtz was known for the same thing. Telling his team and his players individually that they weren't any good. But he did it in such a way that made his team want to go out and win.

[@quincee3376]

Curtis Enis was unbelievable at Penn State.

[@dustinsindledecker154]

Too bad he sucked in the NFL.

[@quincee3376]

@@dustinsindledecker154 true but he had bad injuries.

[@dustinsindledecker154]

Yeah you are right

[@wmsar8010]

The most feared team of the 90s!!!! Lmfao...0 national championships..maybe FSU or Nebraska or Florida or Tennessee

[@LilPitch-]

Maybe he used his skepticism to inspire his team. Do you know how many times Joe sounded this way before games? Almost always...

[@igorslocks]

'94 team was damn good. Great offense

[@psu7276]

Best offense in the history of college football. Imagine if the first and second teams actually played the entire game. That's what happens when you have a coach who was consistently against running up the score. it cost him in 94.

[@greggehrgood1834]

Your opinion doesn't make it fact.

[@michaelfitzgerald1328]

Nice try pal, but $$$$ talks and your theory walks.

[@aaronrider4051]

Mostly reverse psychology by Paterno. His habit, throughout his entire career, was to "hype up" the opponent. Only on rare occasions, when he sensed the team was too pessimistic and even down on itself, would he, in his pregame attitudes, express optimism to the team. In his public auras, he generally preferred to say - and I can still hear it in his nasally Brooklyn accent - "Ahh, Indiana or Syracuse or whoever is a good team, if we aren't careful, we could get beat."

[@anthony0358]

This is an interesting video. Penn State went on to go 11-2. The lost to a good Ohio State team and a weak Iowa team. They also won their bowl game

[@dustinsindledecker154]

My buckeyes had some good teams in the 90's but of course couldn't beat Michigan most of those years.

[@toddbiesel4288]

We are... scared of our opponent?

[@robwalls6057]

Every year Alabama schedules an absolute cupcake team before playing the last game of the season against their rival Auburn. This season they scheduled Austin Peay for example. They intentionally do this in order to protect their starters and give them basically a break and to be healed up, fresh going in to the Auburn game which not this year, but most years could be a potential loss. So is Saban afraid to play an SEC game against the likes of an LSU or Georgia before facing Auburn? No, many coaches want a schedule that's favorable, it's called strategy. As for Paterno he felt they were not ready and simply wanted some more time. It has nothing to do with being afraid.

[@dustinsindledecker154]

Lets go Peay!

[@brucetucker4847]

Auburn is ALWAYS a potential loss. Remember the kick 6 in 2013? One of the all-time great regular season game endings.

[@bdkane721]

Fake news?

[@curtisdavis2157]

#PlayingCities!

[@chrisguardiano6143]

This is very similar to when Man United wanted to pull out of a preseason friendly in the US against the Seattle Sounders in 1977. The main reason why Man United wanted to back out of this match was because they had recently fired their coach Tommy Docherty for having an affair with the wife of the team doctor & were trying to figure out who their next coach was going to be. Like Penn State, Man United were also scared of losing especially to an American team which they viewed as inferior. However they actually followed through and backed out of the match. Man United would come to Seattle 5 years later in 1982 to make up for it and play the Sounders losing 2-1.

[@keithouderkirk7493]

I had no idea Manu U and Seattle had friendlies going back that far. Pretty neat that the Sounders won at least one of them

[@quincee3376]

Did Man U bring their best players?

[@chrisguardiano6143]

@@quincee3376 they were going to but because of the controversy surrounding the coach that I mentioned in my initial comment, many of the players decided that they wanted to wait until a new coach was named to play their preseason matches. The match with the Sounders was supposed to be played in late July but it took Man U until the first week of August (about a week before the season started) to hire a full time coach. Instead of playing the Sounders, Man U ended up staying in England & playing 3 lower league sides with an assistant coach serving as the interim coach as part of their preseason tour.

[@quincee3376]

@@chrisguardiano6143 thx. BTW I assume Man U was good in1982???

[@chrisguardiano6143]

@@quincee3376 they were like what they are currently but with less drama

[@MrLeoni2]

Happy to see a story here about my alma mater (Class of 83). Glad the players made Uncle JoePa's concerns unfounded.

[@yebobbummann1622]

ELITE MINDGAMES BY THE GREATEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM IN HISTORY

[@dangeiger9796]

I was going to say Penn State was a man among boys, but that’s probably not the best choice of words

[@johnkerry6312]

Sandusky

[@dustinsindledecker154]

That's probably why jerry Sandusky was not turned on by his players.😆

[@crazyj5051]

He was the defensive coordinator at this time and Mike McQueary was the back up quarterback.

[@CTubeMan]

At 10:02-10:50, signed Epstein’s Mother.

[@pappy4075]

Please penn State history is running from opponents. Like Alabama play easy schedule. Remember they dropped Pitt. WV. And Syracuse. That why Houtzdale U sucks ever since the coach did the same. 😢

[@rowdycmoore]

Even as far back as 1969: they rejected an invitation to the Cotton Bowl - which would have led to No. 2 Penn State vs No. 1 Texas - in favor of the Orange Bowl because the players wanted to spend New Years in Miami instead of Dallas, then have spent eternity since bitching about Texas being declared the national champion that year over them.

[@tafike22]

@@rowdycmoore they rejected the cotton bowl because of racial issues, not fear. Dallas was very segregated and had segregated hotels.

[@dustinsindledecker154]

They also have a history of running away from rape allegations.

[@brucetucker4847]

Easy schedule with Michigan and Ohio State on it every year? This year they beat Auburn in their own house, when they scheduled that series no one knew Auburn was going to go into a tailspin, they wanted a credible SEC opponent. And nobody's scared of Pittsburgh, Syracuse, or West Virginia. PSU is 8-2 against Pitt the last 10 games they've played, winning the last three, and 19-1 in their last 20 vs. Syracuse. West Virginia has managed to beat PSU exactly twice in 35 games since the end of WW2. I'm guessing Franklin would love to have any of those teams on their schedule in place of Michigan or OSU or even MSU most years. Hell, Maryland and Purdue are both tougher opponents than WVU or Syracuse.

[@pappy4075]

@@brucetucker4847 well before PState went to big 10. They go to those. Schools dropped the home and home PSU demanded the series be something of 3-4 times at PSU 1 time Schools said pound salt. Thee last time PSU play at Syracuse. HEAVILY favored PSU got waxed.

[@Jamelk1]

90s FSU> Penn State 90s

[@brucetucker4847]

Sure, but 90s FSU was one of the top 2 teams in the country (along with Nebraska). And they were 1-1 in head-to-head matchups in the Bowden-Paterno era.

[@robertcupelli757]

True

[@jimsturm2061]

Judging by some of the Rose Bowls I’ve seen in my lifetime, this isn’t the first and only time Penn State was scared of USC lol

[@jonknestrick5219]

USCs 6-4 vs Penn State in their last 10 matchups including the last one which USC only won because McSorley didn't get that throw away out of bounds with a minute left. He gets that ball outta bounds and they're literally .500.

[@Boldorion1958]

I attended the 2008 Rose Bowl Game to cheer on the Trojans against the Nittany Lions--our first faceoff against Penn State in the Rose Bowl since 1923. I told some Penn State fans that they should come to the Rose Bowl and play us more often.

[@jacobluedy5534]

As a pitt fan, we know all about psu being scared to play teams !

[@josephmiller3672]

There's nothing to be scared of when playing Pitt

[@jacobluedy5534]

@@josephmiller3672 if that's the case they should grow a pair and schedule us!

[@markcrider4574]

52-43-4 go away Shitt the adults are talking.

[@jacobluedy5534]

@@markcrider4574 damn that's crazy 9>2

[@dustinsindledecker154]

Pitt hasn't been scary since the early 80's.

[@dukemexplorer481]

I Watched Penn State at giants stadium against USC this time Joe Paterno would of been right I think it was the next year Penn State Lost 33 - 2 This time that jawing would of been right . I had to sit by a drunkened guy who spit when he talked and he fell asleep in the middle of the game. The beer there was a 5$ cup Everything else was about right . I did not drink but ever wanted to get out of the stadium this time I wanted to fast, I never had such a bad time tell ya this , I wouldn't go back to giant stadium even tho it's the new giant stadium The only other time was when I wanted to see what the height of three stadium looked like I was only 10 , I snuck out and went to the highest point if three river stadium mainly because I was bored watching the pirates playing I never was a pirate fan, I was a Phillie fan then , well I got to the top of the stadium and wow factor kicked in, for some reason I didn't mind going up there then now my knees would buckle and I would have to go right back down, well I tried to right back down to where I was suppose to be sitting, but I got caught . Well my butt got a spanking , cause I scared the ones I was with , they thought someone took me out of the stadium. I really didn't want to go to Pittsburgh again. I was there tho one more time this time was Heinz field hosted a band , I had to listen outside of the stadium in my van I had at the time. As for Penn State that year was a ok year but loosing to usc sid hurt them that year Penn States My favorite college team to watch I try to watch them every game they play

[@TheNjweave05]

Joe Paterno not doing the right thing? Shocking

[@kevingreen2400]

JoePa only wanted to play big name teams when he knew he had the advantage personnel wise... especially if he had to go on the road. Ohio State is the same way

[@carloscolon3331]

They were scared of losing wow

[@dustinsindledecker154]

We are all scared of losing and we also scared of dying.

[@user-my2fw9sn3u]

His definition of dominance is ranked in top 25 or 9-3 records? Psu had just one conference title in the 90s. Osu has never lost to psu in the shoe in the 90s. Mich won 9 straight against psu. Mich won national title in 1997. Psu was good but never dominant.

[@bradjohnson4500]

And the defensive coordinator was busy feeling up little boys

[@dustinsindledecker154]

That's a good one.