Penn State v Nebraska

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Penn State and Nebraska fans know each other well.

 

Ask Penn State fans about Nebraska. The first thing they'll mention is getting shafted by the pollsters in 1994, when both the Nittany Lions and Cornhuskers went undefeated. The Huskers, however, were awarded the national championship.

 

Ask Nebraska fans about Penn State. The first thing they'll mention is the apparent blown call on Mike McCloskey's grab near the sidelines with just seconds remaining in the 1982 matchup between the teams. The Lions scored on the ensuing play to cap off the come-from-behind victory. Both the Lions and Huskers finished with one loss. The Lions, however, were awarded their first national title.

 

Few, though, talk about the 2002 game in Happy Valley, which provided some history of its own. When the No. 7 Huskers, fresh off a national championship appearance, visited State College for a Sept. 14, 2002 showdown of unbeatens, 110,753 fans packed Beaver Stadium, the biggest crowd in the venue's history, by far.

 

"Gotta be the crowd," Gino Capone, a starting linebacker on the '02 team, said when asked about the first thing he remembers from the '02 game. "I remember the atmosphere. In terms of crowd noise, that was definitely the pinnacle for Beaver Stadium."

 

The 25th-ranked Lions used the crowd's support that night to rout the Huskers, 40-7.

 

For the Huskers, it would be a game that marked the end of their dominance, sending the historic program to its worst record (7-7) in 41 years and into a seven-year stretch that produced just one 10-win season.

 

For Tamba Hali, it was an introduction to what Penn State football is all about. After failing to play in the first two games, Hali made his debut that night against the Huskers.

 

"That was one of the most exciting games I've been in," he said. "It was an 8 o'clock game, so we was rocking. The crowd was loud."Unlike his then-teammate Capone, Hali's fondest moment from that game wasn't the crowd. It was a little more personal.

 

"I remember being recruited [by Nebraska], and [the coach recruiting Hali] said to my [high school] coach, 'If that kid wants to play as a true freshman, tell him to go to places like Syracuse or something,'" Hali said. "And that stuck with me, and when we won that game I was looking for him."

 

For a number of members on that team, redemption was a major factor. Not for the 1994 season – or in Hali's case, for being slighted – but for the embarrassing 33-7 loss to eventual national champion Miami (FL) in the season and home opener in 2001. "The year prior was the same situation, we had Miami coming in," Capone recalls. "We didn't fare too well in that game, so [Nebraska] was redemption for that game."

 

Jay Paterno didn't join the Penn State staff until 1995, but that sure didn't stop him from feeling disappointed after his father, legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno, wasn't awarded at least a split national title in '94.

 

While fans, alumni and national pundits spent the weeks leading up talking about the '94 controversy, the coaching staff kept the players focused. Capone said the '94 injustice was something that was rarely mentioned in the locker room. The team's focus on the future and not the past left Jay confident his team would be in good position for the upset.

 

"Thursday night we were walking off the practice field, and I really felt like we were gonna play really, really well," Jay said. "But, I didn't think it would go that well."