FROSTING...THE NOMINEES - PART 3

Sparked by the upcoming season's unusually weak slate of games (especially non-conference), we recently introduced our hunt for Penn State's easiest schedule of the last 45 years.

With the first two nominees already introduced, we now unveil the third in our list; from the 1980s.

1987

The Nittany Lions were coming off of arguably the best season and best game in the program's history. An 11-0 regular season in 1986 was capped off by a classic 14-10 victory over top-ranked Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, securing Penn State its second National Championship of the decade. Anybody hoping to see a repeat performance in 1987 was sorely disappointed as the Lions lost 13 players to the NFL draft, and had to replace graduated quarterback John Shaffer, who was 23-1 as a starter for Joe Paterno. Luckily for the Lions, the temporary fall from the top of college football was padded by a soft schedule that featured only one team with fewer than four losses and included just four road games, none further away than Boston.

The Lions were able to rack up eight wins in 1987, but beat only two teams with winning records, Rutgers (6-5) and Notre Dame (8-4). Less than half of Penn State's opponents finished the season above .500, and only three teams were invited to play in a bowl game, combining to go 0-2-1 in the post season. The Lions took on Clemson in the Citrus Bowl, falling 35-10 to the Tigers, and finished the season unranked.

1987 Schedule
vs. Bowling Green (5-6) W 45-19
vs. Alabama (7-5) L 13-24
vs. Cincinnati (4-7) W 41-0
@ Boston College (5-6) W 27-17
vs. Temple (3-8) W 27-13
vs. Rutgers (6-5) W 35-21
@ Syracuse (11-0-1) L 21-48
vs. West Virginia (6-6) W 25-21
@ Maryland (4-7) W 21-16
@ Pittsburgh (8-4) L 0-10
vs. Notre Dame (8-4) W 21-20

THE GOOD
The Lions took on three teams that were ranked in the top-20 at the time they played them, including #7 Notre Dame in the regular-season finale. Only one of the final five opponents finished below .500. The Lions did get to celebrate a milestone, when Joe Paterno opened the campaign with win #200 against Bowling Green.

THE BAD
The Lions' four road games were in Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Syracuse - all just a few hours from campus. Each of Penn State's first six opponents ended the year with at least five losses.

POSTSCRIPT
Penn State was coming off of back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 1985 and 1986, so its pedestrian performance in 1987 could certainly be forgiven. Penn State would fall even further in 1988, finishing at 5-6, Paterno's worst record yet. The coming seasons would see the Lions take on teams like Texas, USC and Miami as Penn State's time as a college football independent ran out. It began play in the Big Ten Conference in the 1993 season, bringing an end to many of its traditional rivalries.

FROSTING...THE NOMINEES - PART 2

Sparked by the upcoming season's unusually weak slate of games (especially non-conference), last week we introduced our hunt for Penn State's easiest schedule of the last 45 years.

With the first nominee already introduced, we now unveil the second in our list; this one from the 1970s.

1971

The 1971 Nittany Lions ran roughshod over everybody in their path to start the season 10-0. Then, a funny thing happened on the way to their third undefeated regular season in four years, they ran into the Tennessee Volunteers - the only club it played that season with more than seven wins.

The ten straight wins to open the 1971 campaign came via brutal domination by the Lions. Penn State's offense, led by one of the school's greatest backfields ever, Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell, averaged 44 points per game over that stretch, and failed to put up more than 30 only once. The defense was just as impressive, surrendering just 10 points per contest and notching a pair of shutouts. Things would change in Knoxville however, as the fifth-ranked Lions were thoroughly beaten by the Vols, 31-11, on national television.

A closer look at those first ten opponents reveals a lackluster lineup including just one team with more than six wins and a group of five opponents that had just 12 total wins among them. The Lions started the year with back-to-back road games against Navy and Iowa, the former in the middle of a string of six straight losing seasons and the latter on its way to a one-win season; the tenth of nineteen straight non-winning campaigns. The Lions hung 66 points on a TCU team that may have been guilty of feeling a little too good about what would become a 6-4-1 season, it's only time finishing above .500 in 18 straight years.

1971 Schedule
@ Navy (3-8) W 56-3
@ Iowa (1-10) W 44-14
vs. Air Force (6-4) W 16-14
vs. Army (6-4) W 42-0
@ Syracuse (5-5) W 31-0
vs. TCU (6-4-1) W 66-14
@ West Virginia (7-4) W 35-7
vs. Maryland (2-9) W 63-27
vs. NC State (3-8) W 35-3
@ Pittsburgh (3-8) W 55-18
@ Tennessee (10-2) L 31-11

THE GOOD
Penn State played six road games this season and only five at home. It also had a true national schedule, playing games in six different states from Iowa to Tennessee. In addition, say what you want about the level of competition, but Penn State left no doubt as to how great it really was, winning its games by an average of 34 points.

THE BAD
The Lions played five teams with three or fewer wins, and only one squad that was ranked at the time of the game.

POSTSCRIPT
This Penn State team featured the one-two punch of Harris and Mitchell and although it didn't have a chance to prove it during the regular season, could have played with anybody in the country. It did finally get its chance in the Cotton Bowl, dismantling the Texas Longhorns and its wishbone attack, 30-6. Penn State would finish ranked fifth in the AP Poll, it's third top-five finish in four seasons. The Lions would post another double-digit win season the following year before going 12-0 in 1973 behind Penn State's only Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti.

Check back to see the next nominee from the 1980s.

FROSTING...THE FIRST NOMINEE

Sparked by the upcoming season's unusually weak slate of games (especially non-conference), last week we introduced our hunt for Penn State's easiest schedule of the last 45 years.

Since this is a highly subjective and debatable subject, we are going to steer far clear of making a definitive decision and instead put the onus on you, the reader, to decide. We'll provide the facts and a bit of background and you provide the conclusion and award (or is it disgrace) one season with the title of "Weakest Penn State Schedule."

One final note, before unveiling the first nominee. This exercise says nothing of the process of making a schedule or who should take the blame for a soft schedule. We only want to know which year had the softest lineup of opponents. And without further adieu, here is the first of five nominees, one from each decade Joe Paterno has been the head coach.

1968

Joe Paterno enjoyed the first of his five unbeaten and untied squads in the 1968 season, and while this team was absolutely loaded with talent, the unblemished record came at the hands of some real creampuffs. The Lions' 10 opponents finished a combined 43-56 and not one of them was ranked at the time it played Penn State. The schedule did feature five road games, including a cross-country trip to take on the UCLA Bruins sandwiched between dates in Morgantown, WV and Chestnut Hill, MA, but also included six teams that failed to win more than half of their games. The true measure of the greatness of this team was somewhat crystallized when a total of 17 players who were on the 1968 roster were drafted into the NFL, including eventual Hall of Famer Jack Ham.

THE 1968 SCHEDULE

vs. Navy (2-8) W 31-6

vs. Kansas State (4-6) W 25-9

@ West Virginia (7-3) W 31-20

@ UCLA (3-7) W 21-6

@ Boston College (6-3) W 29-0

vs. Army (7-3) W 28-24

vs. Miami (5-5) W 22-7

@ Maryland (2-8) W 57-13

@ Pittsburgh (1-9) W 65-9

vs. Syracuse (6-4) W 30-12

THE GOOD:
The Lions had to play three straight road games, two of which came against teams with winning records.

THE BAD:
Penn State opened the year with a Navy squad that finished 2-8 and wrapped up its road schedule with a Pitt Panther team that was 1-9.


POSTSCRIPT:
The Lions would accept an invitation to The Orange Bowl in Miami, Fl to take on the sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Penn State would win in thrilling fashion after the Jayhawks were flagged for too many men on the field, giving the Lions a second chance at the game-winning two-point conversion, which Penn State scored on to take a one-point lead with just eight seconds left on the clock. The Nittany Lions finished the 1968 season ranked #2, behind an undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes team that had knocked off USC in The Rose Bowl. The next season, Penn State would once again run the tables to finish 11-0, but be overlooked by the national media and a certain president, winding up #2 behind the Texas Longhorns.