This week won’t feature a new game but will give you a chance to go back and read any stories you might have missed. If you want the best stories of the ‘70s or ‘80s, click here. If you want to remember the greatest games from the ‘90s, keep reading.
The nineties started out strong with Tony Sacca at the helm. Sacca led PSU to a major upset of Notre Dame in South Bend in 1990 and then a Fiesta Bowl rampage over top 10 Tennessee.
Penn State’s next quarterback would be even more legendary. Kerry Collins got hot in the 3rd quarter in East Lansing against Michigan State to close out the 1993 regular season. The experience paid off in 1994, as the team ran roughshod over Big Ten foes before winning their defining game of the undefeated season against Illinois in Champaign. The team earned its first trip to the Rose Bowl and dismantled a pass-happy Oregon team.
Penn State couldn’t emulate the success of 1994 the following two years, but a top 10 finish in 1996 culminated in another Fiesta Bowl win, this time over Ricky Williams and the Texas Longhorns. The 1997 squad ascended all the way to No. 1 in the country after a gritty win over Ohio State, while the ’99 edition of the Nittany Lions rose to No. 2 in the country after a wet and wild win over the Hurricanes in Miami.
Keep coming back to the Nittany Lions Den for more stories of historic wins for Paterno and Penn State in the next decade. And don’t forget to look for my book, Ring the Bell: The Twenty-two Greatest Penn State Football Victories of Our Lives, this summer on Amazon and through Father’s Press.
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