For you guys of a certain age…1977 PSU-NC State game
- Thread starter psuro
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Love it, mid 70's-mid 80's the Golden era of PSU Football. Loved listening to George Paterno as well.
Thanks. We had a pretty good OL. Imagine Irv Pankey starting for an injured Keith Dorney.
NC State had those players that would just drive us nuts. Ted Brown, Mike Quick
LOL, at the commercials.
Interesting half time interview.
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replace on OT who played 10+in the league (Dorney) with other who played 10+ Pankey.
Fusina looked pretty good. For an offense that was supposedly all about the run we had a decent passing game.
+1. Its interesting going back and watching some of these older games. Our Passing game in 1977 looked more sophisticated than some of the stuff we ran during the dark years, where every pass pattern seemed to be 2 yrds short of the 1st down and up the side line.
The other thing that I was surprised at is we were only using 2 LBr's.
I’m sure many would disagree with me, but I would love to see a home and home with NC State.
2 LBers- PSU basically played a 5-2 monster with 3 DL and 2 DE , 2 ILBer. Depending on the O formation, one of those DE was like a third LBer while the other was like a 4th DL. Just fyi. I always thought, and I think they thought, Rick Donaldson was going to be the next great PSU LB, I am not sure what happened a long the way.+1. Its interesting going back and watching some of these older games. Our Passing game in 1977 looked more sophisticated than some of the stuff we ran during the dark years, where every pass pattern seemed to be 2 yrds short of the 1st down and up the side line.
The other thing that I was surprised at is we were only using 2 LBr's.
he did at the end, but in this game he is playing inside LBer #92, he played inside his sophomore year
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Bill Cowher was on that NC State team.
Returning to my dorm from the previous year’s NC State game my friends and I were invited to a tailgate held by NC State alums. Great people who invited us to come down to the 1977 game and stay with them. Unfortunately I didn’t make the game because I was recovering from an appendectomy at the time, otherwise I was going to contact them and accept their offer.
Bo Rein was the HFC of NC State at the time. My father was team physician for his Niles McKinley HS football team and knew him.
My avatar is an NC State player and three year starter a little before this era of Penn State Football, my uncle Andy. A high school teammate of Steve Belicheck. Probably why I was invited down to the game.
Returning to my dorm from the previous year’s NC State game my friends and I were invited to a tailgate held by NC State alums. Great people who invited us to come down to the 1977 game and stay with them. Unfortunately I didn’t make the game because I was recovering from an appendectomy at the time, otherwise I was going to contact them and accept their offer.
Bo Rein was the HFC of NC State at the time. My father was team physician for his Niles McKinley HS football team and knew him.
My avatar is an NC State player and three year starter a little before this era of Penn State Football, my uncle Andy. A high school teammate of Steve Belicheck. Probably why I was invited down to the game.
I'm having one of those days at work where I am really looking hard at the retirement numbers... 
Taking a few minutes to run thru that video was a tonic for me. Thanks!
As bbrown mentions above, watching that game, the overall play seems much more sophisticated, and effective, versus what we see today. They made handoffs behind the LOS but you knew the RB would get past the LOS. Pass plays weren't spectacular pretty but they got the job done. MIllen stepped up nicely at the end of the game too. You may not think of Chuck Fusina as a great QB but at least in that game he was clutch.
Hearing Joe and George Paterno...brings a tear to my eye. Miss them both and thankful to have enjoyed what they gave us.
Taking a few minutes to run thru that video was a tonic for me. Thanks!As bbrown mentions above, watching that game, the overall play seems much more sophisticated, and effective, versus what we see today. They made handoffs behind the LOS but you knew the RB would get past the LOS. Pass plays weren't spectacular pretty but they got the job done. MIllen stepped up nicely at the end of the game too. You may not think of Chuck Fusina as a great QB but at least in that game he was clutch.
Hearing Joe and George Paterno...brings a tear to my eye. Miss them both and thankful to have enjoyed what they gave us.
Rick Donaldson was a very good LB, not an all-timer, but a consistently very good player who knew his assignments and didn't make mistakes. The players from those teams had great respect for him.
How about Mickey Shuler deliberately throwing the ball out of bounds to stop the clock on that last drive?! He was between the yardline number and the boundary, and just made the motion as he was being tackled. Heads up play, giving PSU an extra stop of the clock during the final minute.
no as mentioned here and in the clip, Bo Rein. after the season Bo left for LSU, sadly he was killed in a small engine plane on a recruiting trip, never coached a game for them
no Lou was the HC and left for Arkansas, they promoted Bo to HC. At the time he was the youngest HC in college football
Lou coached at Arkansas in 1977 after a year with the Jets. He coached NC State before that.
Fusina was second in the heisman race. I think every one regards him highly.I'm having one of those days at work where I am really looking hard at the retirement numbers...
As bbrown mentions above, watching that game, the overall play seems much more sophisticated, and effective, versus what we see today. They made handoffs behind the LOS but you knew the RB would get past the LOS. Pass plays weren't spectacular pretty but they got the job done. MIllen stepped up nicely at the end of the game too. You may not think of Chuck Fusina as a great QB but at least in that game he was clutch.
Hearing Joe and George Paterno...brings a tear to my eye. Miss them both and thankful to have enjoyed what they gave us.
so did the Jets!Oh man I completely forgot about Lou and the Jets.
I feel that the 1977 PSU Football team deserves more credit as a "great" team.
If my memory serves me, their only loss was to Kentucky who I think finished the season with 1 loss.
PSU had some great college players...the debut of Millen and Clark, stable of good running backs and receivers, excellent offensive line.
Did anybody else notice Mike Guman at DB?
Saw Fran Ganter on the sidelines.
Great memories here.
If my memory serves me, their only loss was to Kentucky who I think finished the season with 1 loss.
PSU had some great college players...the debut of Millen and Clark, stable of good running backs and receivers, excellent offensive line.
Did anybody else notice Mike Guman at DB?
Saw Fran Ganter on the sidelines.
Great memories here.
Bo Rein was killed on a recruiting trip after becoming the HC at Wisconsin, which was after his LSU stint, if I recall.
Sad nonetheless.
2nd in Heisman the following season, 1978.
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