What was the "Best" Penn State game you ever saw "in person"?

[EdH85]

At Beaver stadium would have to be the 4 OT game against Michigan. The ups and downs were incredible. As for elsewhere, I will go with the 83 Sugar Bowl against Georgia. Just a hell of a football game and loved watching the stunned Dawg fans walking out of the dome after the game. Prior to the game they did not believe there was any chance they were going to lose that game. There belief was Herschel Walker was unstoppable.

 

[colt21]

1-Nebraska 82. HS Junior-ran on filed after game. Made mistake of wearing HS Football Jersey (RED tornadoes). But, hey, I was a rookie-first game attended.

2-@ ND in 90 I believe. Upset the Irish on a late Fayak FG. Think they were #1? Hell of a party in parking lot after

3-@ Mich 94. Got there so early with our RV, Wes actually took one of their high powered boosters spots. He had security make us move (ONE SPOT OVER-which was a move he came to regret after the game!!). Party in parking lot after that game required police

 

[joeparules]

Since I was a student during the 81 thru 84 football seasons, I saw a TON of great games in The Beav. I believe I only missed two home games those years ... the 1983 Cincy loss due to our pledge bolt and (MY BIGGEST REGRET) the 1982 Nebraska game due to a Who concert in Philly.

I haven't been to a lot of road/bowl games, but that list would include some memorable games:

• 87 Fiesta Bowl - best game I have ever seen and probably ever will
• 14 Pin Stripe Bowl - took my daughter who just graduated from PSU last weekend ... very special memory
• 96 Kick-of Classic - still remember that USC safety trying to pop Enis and bounced off like a bug on a windshield
• 86 Orange Bowl - had a great time in Florida with fraternity brothers, but not happy with the result

Beating Miami in a game I had very little hope of winning will always be the "best ever". Sat in the end-zone in front of Gifto's final interception and stormed the field afterwards!

 

[Fac]

Fiesta Bowl - 1987

 

[bmw199]

05 OSU and 13 Mich.
Some other cool games were 99 Zona, 01 OSU to tie Bear, 02 Neb and MSU bc of LJ (called that toss sweep where he went over 2K), 08 MSU to book our trip to Pasadena also coldest game ever, and the Pinstripe Bowl

 

[PSUFBFAN]

The "best game" without regard to the impact on the season had to be the 4 OT thriller against UM in 2013. Weren't there 3 or 4 plays where the game could literally have been won or loss on that play?

For the "best game" considering the outcome, it had to be the first NC against UGA in the 1983 Sugar Bowl.

 

[Lion84]

82 Nebraska - We were jumping on them so hard we broke the bench seats in our row. Skeeter Nichols was in that one. (he fumbled) but I always liked him, maybe because of his name.

 

[TarheelFlyer]

My first game at Beaver Stadium. Nov. 22, 1986 against Pitt. 34-14 victory. I was and had been watching football for about 10 years. Sat in the end zone and watched Blair Thomas take a KO to the house pretty much right at me. Totally worth it! Not a great "game" per say, but since it was my first, it made a lasting impression.

 

[SUR1]

Toss up.... Either Nebraska 82 or Miami in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 87 One was and offensive thriller (Nebraska 82) at the end, while Giftopolos provided the defensive play that saved the championship at the end in 87.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Senior year, vs. Ohio State in 1997. Enis and Harris vs. The Big Kat. Amazing.

 

[Jerademan74]

You know, just about ANY game mentioned on all your replies were the kind of games that would create a Nittany Lion fan "for life". I am just so proud of Penn State over the years, and want us back to glory years again fast! I have to admit though, all these games had Joe Paterno on the sideline. He is so missed, and even though we WILL return as an elite team again, it won't be the same without Joe. When we do win another MNC, look up to the sky and say...thanks Joe! Then look down on the field and say......thanks guys for keeping the tradition alive and well!

 

[Carl Spackler]

Nebrasks 1982, bar none.

 

[elvis63]

You know, just about ANY game mentioned on all your replies were the kind of games that would create a Nittany Lion fan "for life". I am just so proud of Penn State over the years, and want us back to glory years again fast! I have to admit though, all these games had Joe Paterno on the sideline. He is so missed, and even though we WILL return as an elite team again, it won't be the same without Joe. When we do win another MNC, look up to the sky and say...thanks Joe! Then look down on the field and say......thanks guys for keeping the tradition alive and well!

If pick psi 1994 just because one never seen a team best a quality team that bad prior to that game. I think they could have scored a hundred if they tried.
There are other more exciting games like osu 05 and 97, but tha 94 game was ridiculous .

 

[elvis63]

Autocorrect, I might osu.

 

[Roar More]

Unfortunately, I missed the 2 national championship games we won, but did get to go down to Miami to see us beat the Hurricanes on that last minute Kevin Thompson to Chaffee Fields TD pass for the win. My best game at Beaver Stadium was is hard to choose from. My best Bowl Game was maybe the FSU win at the Orange Bowl I think in 08, or our win over Oregon at the Rose Bowl in 95.The tailgating at Miami outside the Orange Bowl game was phenomenal as it was our "comeback" bowl from a few drought years.

Oh, so many:

48-14
Both National Championship games.
Orange Bowl vs. Kansas.
Cotton Bowl vs. Texas - the game that put us on the national map.
Illinois '94
JoePa's 400th - "Look around!" (I miss that man.)
First night game vs. Nebraska. I thought Beaver Stadium might suffer structural damage.
2005 Ohio State as Tamba puts Troy Smith into a headstand.
Rose Bowl vs. Oregon and their duck calls. Handoff - game over.
86 Alabama - Held the #2 team without a TD in their own stadium.
82 Notre Dame
68 WVU - Top two rushers in the country shutout.
67 NC State - #3 team loses on a goal line stand at the end. The Four Tops in Rec Hall that night: "I hear y'all one a football game today."
Orange Bowl vs. Missouri - C'mon Terry, throw us another one. We had more interceptions than Mizzou had completions.

 

[VaNtyLion]

You know, just about ANY game mentioned on all your replies were the kind of games that would create a Nittany Lion fan "for life". I am just so proud of Penn State over the years, and want us back to glory years again fast! I have to admit though, all these games had Joe Paterno on the sideline. He is so missed, and even though we WILL return as an elite team again, it won't be the same without Joe. When we do win another MNC, look up to the sky and say...thanks Joe! Then look down on the field and say......thanks guys for keeping the tradition alive and well!

Ohio State '97 had it all.

 

[Jerademan74]

OSU 97 did have it all, as we looked like we were letting the game get away, but then with some pretty nifty twisting, bouncing and running, Aaron Harris started the turnaround! Curtis Enis then woke up too to put the game away! One of our best comebacks, but no better comebacks than the 94 IL or Miami game where Thompson to Fields connected when it seemed like we were done!

 

[Jerademan74]

OSU 97 did have it all, as we looked like we were letting the game get away, but then with some pretty nifty twisting, bouncing and running, Aaron Harris started the turnaround! Curtis Enis then woke up too to put the game away! One of our best comebacks, but no better comebacks than the 94 IL or Miami game where Thompson to Fields connected when it seemed like we were done!

Oh, and did I mention 48-14. That was perhaps our greatest comeback, but the drama was over shortly after halftime.

 

[Roar More]

Oh, and did I mention 48-14. That was perhaps our greatest comeback, but the drama was over by halftime.

You mean halftime when the score was 14-14?

 

[Alphabets]

Toss up: Michigan '13 or the Pinstripe Bowl last season.

Win 400 against Northwestern and 409 were pretty special too.

 

[StL_lion]

I have three that that I enjoyed greatly: 1) PSU over Pitt 48-14, big win over #1 Pitt team with Marino. Kenny Jackon had some great TD catches. Pittsburgh was my home town, many of my friends went to Pitt; only one in my class that went to PSU. 2) PSU over scUM in '94 24-17, with Ingram catching game winner late in q4. I was sitting in the UM section with a friend of mine from work (a UM grad who moved back to Detroit). Moeller (the UM coach at the time) kept coming out on field...In the 4th quarter I yelled out that he had more yards on the field than the their leading running back...even got a few laughs from the pro UM crowd. 3) in 82 (i think) enjoyed the PSU over Pitt in the 19-10 game at Beaver stadium...very windy that day...hard fought game...I think this is the one where Pitt lost track of the downs and kicked a FG from the inside the 10 yd line. Foge Fasio was the Pitt coach.

 

[MrDibbs]

Tough for me as I haven't been to too many games for quite some time.

1. 48-14 - I can tell stories for hours about that day.
2. Nebraska in 1982 - what a ball game.
3. At Pitt Stadium in 1977 - PSU defense stuffing Elliot Walker on a 2 point conversion to preserve a 15-13 win in the snow.
4. Beating Boston College in 1984 (not certain of the exact year) when Doug Flutie must have passed for a thousand yards. What a quarterback!
5. PSU vs Alabama - forget the year, but watching the Bear walk out onto the field with his "entourage" at the start of the game.

 

[BillyBert]

'87 Fiesta Bowl - The pre-game build up was huge and the game lived up to and exceeded expectations.

 

[BUFFALO LION]

Unfortunately, I missed the 2 national championship games we won, but did get to go down to Miami to see us beat the Hurricanes on that last minute Kevin Thompson to Chaffee Fields TD pass for the win. My best game at Beaver Stadium was is hard to choose from. My best Bowl Game was maybe the FSU win at the Orange Bowl I think in 08, or our win over Oregon at the Rose Bowl in 95.The tailgating at Miami outside the Orange Bowl game was phenomenal as it was our "comeback" bowl from a few drought years.

Best game I ever saw IN PERSON was EASILY the 1982 Nebraska game. Went with a Pitt fan to the game, and after the game, we were on the field playing football with our now empty large Scope bottle. Partied heavy all night. He had so much fun that on the way home the next day, he told me he could never root for Pitt again. If the stadium would have been configured the way it is now, it would have easily topped the 2005 Ohio State game for noise and energy.

Number 2 is the 2005 Ohio State Game. We were sitting in the third deck at that game in the South endzone, and every time they would play Zombie Nation, that deck would bounce up and down like a pogo stick. I remember my buddy yelling over the crowd "This deck is going to collapse"! And I remember yelling back "Who the f ck cares"!

Number 3 was 2002 Nebraska. We hammered the previous year's National Championship Game runner up after 2 losing seasons. Probably the second loudest game I was ever at (yes, louder than the 2013 Michigan game).

One thing I do remember about the games in the 70's and early 80's. We seemed to rip down the goal posts a lot. I have a hunch if the stadium would have been configured then like it is now, some of those games would have been bedlam.

 

[PSU_Chicago]

so many great games. 4 OT win against scUM was certainly an incredible "w" for PSU

 

[Ktownlion]

1-Nebraska 82. HS Junior-ran on filed after game. Made mistake of wearing HS Football Jersey (RED tornadoes). But, hey, I was a rookie-first game attended.

2-@ ND in 90 I believe. Upset the Irish on a late Fayak FG. Think they were #1? Hell of a party in parking lot after

3-@ Mich 94. Got there so early with our RV, Wes actually took one of their high powered boosters spots. He had security make us move (ONE SPOT OVER-which was a move he came to regret after the game!!). Party in parking lot after that game required police

those are in my top 5; I will round it out with Georgia 1/1/83 and OSU In 2005-after the Tamba sack it was the loudest stadium I was ever in....

 

[tdeter]

This:

 

[Skeller]

'97 Ohio State game was such a nail-biter and well played game by both teams. Hard to pass that up on the list.

 

[Lion78]

THE game. Fiesta Bowl vs. The Convicts. Sat on the 20 Yd line at the end of the field where Gifto intercepted. Best game of any sport, I've ever been to.

Ding Ding, we have the winner.

 

[johnmpsu]

Nebraska 82 was incredible. Favorite moment was when the guy in front of me kept yelling "let em score" at the end so we would get the ball back with time. He was right.

Sugar Bowl against Georgia for the first (official) national championship is really 1 A. A great time and a great game.

Of course number 3 has to be every game I watched the '94 team play. Nothing short of jaw dropping amazing.

 

[mbahses]

48-14 Bristol Stomp of Pitt...Miami NC

 

[LafayetteBear]

THE game. Fiesta Bowl vs. The Convicts. Sat on the 20 Yd line at the end of the field where Gifto intercepted. Best game of any sport, I've ever been to.

I was at that game ("The Game of the Century," they were calling it), and it was great. Most of the media was predicting a Miami victory. Game was in suspense until the final interception by PSU sealed the deal. If memory serves me correctly, Shane Conlan made that interception. Am I wrong, or was he nicknamed "Gifto?" Have never heard that nickname before.

 

[Coultr77]

2005 Ohio State at home, after the fumble Zombi Nation started playing the entire stadium jumping up and down, I stopped to soak it in and could literally see the stadium flexing. I think that is the one that produced this quote.





The 2006 Florida State Orange bowl was just crazy with all the missed field goals.

 

[10 Years After]

I have seen my share, 1982 Neb, The Flutie game in '84, ND in '85 and '87, '01 OSU(324), '02 Neb, '05 OSU to name a few, but the best (maybe most satisfying would be a better phrase) I think was the away game in Miami in 1999, thank you Kevin Thompson and Chafie Fields. Everywhere we walked that day all we heard were canes fans gloating about how the canes where going to stomp us in the "bowl". I specifically remember 3 semi-drunk fans as we were waiting in line to go through the gate screaming in our faces how this was their house and how dare we come down to play them. I looked at them and then looked up at the old crappy orange bowl and said something to the effect of "yeah this is definitely your house, and you can keep it rust and all, but we are using it today". I thought my girlfriend was going to send me into the game alone (my younger days and a few Corona's had an influence, generally not a trash talker but I was getting pissed). Thankfully, this occurred at the turnstiles with security around. Anyway I recall they were selling beer in the old Orange Bowl that day (plastic bottle Miller Lite was one selection and they gave you the opened bottle at the concession stand) so that didn't help things inside the stadium. We sat in a probably 70-30 Miami-PSU mixed section with a fair amount of yelling through out the game but no actual fights. The taunting and gloating got really bad when the bad guys went up 23-20 late in the 4th. But then with about 1:30 left lightening struck and Thompson hits Fields down the sideline for about 70 yds for the winning score with future All-Pro Ed Reed making a last diving attempt before Fields hits the end zone. Pin drops audible in all but the upper deck PSU sections. PURE SATISFACTION, period. And then the next day we jumped in the rental convertible and drove to Key West for the rest of our vacation and proceeded to experience the fringes of a hurricane on the island.

On a side note, does anyone know if they still sell beer at Miami games these days? As a visitor didn't think it was such a good idea....

 

[hohmadw]

Best two in person:

Sugar Bowl 1983 vs. Georgia-still remember Garrity's catch.
at Notre Dame in 1986-held on to beat Notre Dame with Tim Brown-the key game in my view to the undefeated 1986 season and winning the National Championship.

 

[Option Bob]

1. 1972 Cotton Bowl vs Texas. Coming off a 31-11 loss at Tennessee, Penn State was once again drawing jeers as an "Eastern pretender." JoePa knew this game against the team that Nixon crowned unwisely in 1969 would either cement the Lions as "pretenders" or thrust PSU into national prominence. Trailing 6-3 at the half, Penn State unleashed its vaunted offensive weapons Mitchell, Harris, and Hufnagel while the defense, led by Bannon, Skorupan, and Laslavic, shut the Longhorn Wishbone down. Penn State's 30-6 rout of Texas established its legitimacy as a national power rather than simply an Eastern one. Note: My wife and I rode to the game on the San Antonio Longhorn Die-Hard Club bus as "special guests" -- but we rode home in near silence.


2. 1997 Fiesta Bowl vs Texas. Another important game against one of the media's absolute darlings. UT was coming off the initial Big XII championship upset of mighty Nebraska and boasted some solid offensive firepower in QB James Brown and RBs Ricky Williams and Priest Holmes. But Penn State had a few aces up its sleeve, as well. As in 1972, PSU trailed the Longhorns at halftime, falling behind 12-7. And again as in 1972, the Lions unleashed its offensive power in the 2nd half. From Chafie Fields' 84-yd run to Kenny Watson's kickoff return to Curtis Enis' power running, Penn State cruised past the Big XII champions 31-3 in the 2nd half on the way to a convincing 38-15 win.

 

[psu7981]

Ohio State white out 2005

 

[es19]

Orange Bowl over FSU. Had a blast the entire time. Remember the fontainebleau announcing early on my first day there, "We've heard that Penn Staters like to work hard and play harder, so we've made sure that the bars are well-stocked." By the end of my three day trip I was drinking a beer from Japan because that was all that remained. Phenomenal tailgating scene, good game, and our return to prominence = best experience at a PSU game.

 

[NittanyDave]

1983 Sugar Bowl
I went with my college room mate and we had a fantastic time in New Orleans. Who said Joe Paterno did not throw the ball or have an offense. Watching Todd Blackledge and Curt Warner was a WOW and We were No. 1

 

[Jerademan74]

I have seen my share, 1982 Neb, The Flutie game in '84, ND in '85 and '87, '01 OSU(324), '02 Neb, '05 OSU to name a few, but the best (maybe most satisfying would be a better phrase) I think was the away game in Miami in 1999, thank you Kevin Thompson and Chafie Fields. Everywhere we walked that day all we heard were canes fans gloating about how the canes where going to stomp us in the "bowl". I specifically remember 3 semi-drunk fans as we were waiting in line to go through the gate screaming in our faces how this was their house and how dare we come down to play them. I looked at them and then looked up at the old crappy orange bowl and said something to the effect of "yeah this is definitely your house, and you can keep it rust and all, but we are using it today". I thought my girlfriend was going to send me into the game alone (my younger days and a few Corona's had an influence, generally not a trash talker but I was getting pissed). Thankfully, this occurred at the turnstiles with security around. Anyway I recall they were selling beer in the old Orange Bowl that day (plastic bottle Miller Lite was one selection and they gave you the opened bottle at the concession stand) so that didn't help things inside the stadium. We sat in a probably 70-30 Miami-PSU mixed section with a fair amount of yelling through out the game but no actual fights. The taunting and gloating got really bad when the bad guys went up 23-20 late in the 4th. But then with about 1:30 left lightening struck and Thompson hits Fields down the sideline for about 70 yds for the winning score with future All-Pro Ed Reed making a last diving attempt before Fields hits the end zone. Pin drops audible in all but the upper deck PSU sections. PURE SATISFACTION, period. And then the next day we jumped in the rental convertible and drove to Key West for the rest of our vacation and proceeded to experience the fringes of a hurricane on the island.

On a side note, does anyone know if they still sell beer at Miami games these days? As a visitor didn't think it was such a good idea....

10 Years After (Alvin Lee): I too had those recollections on Miami fans just binge drinking outside and inside the stadium. I'm not sure some of them really cared about the Univ. of Miami or who won. For them it was just an excuse to party!I We dominated the first half of that game, but Miami fought their way back late in the 4th quarter. It seemed like we were destined to lose that game until the most improbable connection from Thompson to Fields. What a finish to a game in the heart of enemy territory!