Then vs. now on style points for Penn State
Something very interesting happened near the end of Saturday’s Penn State game against Indiana that serves as a reminder of just how times have changed and how different the Nittany Lion program is from what so many people grew up watching.
First, let’s go back to 1994, to the victory that many people believe cost PSU a national championship.
The Lions were in total control at Indiana, up 35-14 with 6:09 left, then saw the Hoosiers score two touchdowns in the closing minutes to make the final score look a lot closer, 35-29.
This is how the New York Times game story, written by Malcolm Moran, summed it up.
“When does a victory become a defeat? When does the preservation of a perfect season include the possibility that national championship chances have been jeopardized? When does the losing team celebrate at the end of a game, while the winners, whose lead was never in jeopardy, depart with grim faces?”
ow on style points for Penn State
Local Sports
Oct 3, 2017
PATRICK WAKSMUNSKI/For The Sun-Gazette Saquon Barkley’s touchdown pass highlighted the second half of Penn State’s win over Indiana.
Something very interesting happened near the end of Saturday’s Penn State game against Indiana that serves as a reminder of just how times have changed and how different the Nittany Lion program is from what so many people grew up watching.
First, let’s go back to 1994, to the victory that many people believe cost PSU a national championship.
The Lions were in total control at Indiana, up 35-14 with 6:09 left, then saw the Hoosiers score two touchdowns in the closing minutes to make the final score look a lot closer, 35-29.
This is how the New York Times game story, written by Malcolm Moran, summed it up.
“When does a victory become a defeat? When does the preservation of a perfect season include the possibility that national championship chances have been jeopardized? When does the losing team celebrate at the end of a game, while the winners, whose lead was never in jeopardy, depart with grim faces?”
Moran is a highly respected sports journalist who served as head of the sports journalism department at Penn State from 2006-12. Ironically enough, he’s now head of the sports journalism department at Indiana.
Moran’s story in the Times that day also included these two paragraphs:
(Joe) Paterno, asked about the potential political consequences caused by the victory today, grimaced and shrugged.
“I don’t care about the polls,” he said. “What do I care about the polls?”
No, Paterno didn’t care about the polls. Or style points. That Indiana game was over, he knew it, everyone knew it.
But pollsters who only saw the final score didn’t know that it really was a rout that turned into a fluky final score. Some dropped Penn State in their votes, and sure enough, the Lions wound up missing out on a chance to play for a national title.
“I don’t think anybody knew at the time that outcome would have an impact on the national championship,” Moran told me by phone Sunday night.
I then asked him if he believes Paterno ever came to regret how that Indiana game ended up being so close.
