and probably cost us a national championship.
The victory we have been paying for ever since...
- Thread starter Roar More
- Start date
We were 5-12 that year, but we did have JHughes finish first, Abe second, & McCoy third.
We dropped after the OSU game????. I recall Indy was the problem game. We were up big, brought in the subs and Indy scored a bunch of late points.
Actually, the game that probably cost PSU the National Championship that year was Colorado beating Michigan. Michigan was ranked #4 at the time. If they beat #7 Colorado they probably move up higher and the PSU win over them later moves PSU higher and prevents them from dropping after the misleading Indiana win. Regardless, the polls and the voters were biased. We had B1G writers and coaches voting for Nebraska out of spite. Nebraska wasn’t even in the B1G then either. Colorado ended up finishing 11-1 that year and #5. Their only loss….Nebraska.
You boys are barking up the wrong tree. Indiana had nothing to do with it.
The week we dismantled Ohio State, Nebraska beat undefeated Colorado. Nebraska passed us in the AP poll, and gained ground in the coaches poll.
So if beating OSU by 50 didn't matter, beating Indiana by 30 certainly wasn't gonna.
As someone above pointed out, the game that actually cost us the National Championship was Colorados Hail Mary over Michigan.
Colorado had a lot of first place votes, most of which shifted to the Huskers after Nebraska beat them. If Colorado had lost to UM they would not have had any first place votes.
Thanks for setting things straight.
I can recall screaming obscenities at the TV watching Miami prance and dance early in their game against Nebraska....then they pissed the game away.
Miami didn’t have the resume to be in that game in the first place. It should have been 1 vs 2, no questions asked. It’s a travesty that it wasn’t.
While the CU-Michigan game provided a result some point as one reason, I don’t think there was anything PSU could have done to stop the media’s coronation of Osborne getting his first MNC that year.
Seeing how the Heisman vote went, I don’t think the odds would have been in favor of a split title had CU somehow managed to beat NU that year.
As can be seen by the treatment in ‘11, there had been a lot of unmentioned dislike for PSU (and Paterno). They just waited for the opportunity to unload.
Split titles in ‘90, ‘91, and ‘97 when there was the possibility of a question, but not ‘94. Just like the earlier times in 60s and 70s.
Seeing how the Heisman vote went, I don’t think the odds would have been in favor of a split title had CU somehow managed to beat NU that year.
As can be seen by the treatment in ‘11, there had been a lot of unmentioned dislike for PSU (and Paterno). They just waited for the opportunity to unload.
Split titles in ‘90, ‘91, and ‘97 when there was the possibility of a question, but not ‘94. Just like the earlier times in 60s and 70s.
It was a travesty but sadly no way to make it happen. In those days the Big Ten champ was contractually obligated to the Rose Bowl and the Big 8 Champ to the Orange.
I always wondered if there was any avenue for us to decline the Rose Bowl bid and take an at large bid to the other Orange Bowl spot.
Picture 5 Davey Jones losers from the Midwest voting in the AP. That’s why PSU, clearly the best team in the country, was not voted no. 1. People forget Miami sucked that year on offense plus Nebraska’s better team was in 1995 not the year before.
After Nebraska comeback. Toretta had a wr 10 yards past cb and missed him. Can still picture that play.
The posters who mentioned Colorado/Michigan game are correct IMO. That was the Kordell to Westbrook Hail Mary too.
While the argument can be made that this game cost us a National Championship I believe it cost us much more. Not only did PSU embarrass OSU (one of the Big 2) but PSU had the gall to go undefeated that season. In only our second year in the BIG 10 we ran the table, beat both of the Big 2 and took the coveted trip to the Rose Bowl.
In 1993 our first year in the BIG 10 we had made a small splash but showed the good sense not to rough up the Big 2 and win the conference.
What did it cost us?
I believe we got a lot of bad calls against the Big 2 for years after.
Look at the 1994 game against Michigan. PSU got some close calls and won the game. This would not be allowed again.
PSU had to show respect for the BIG 10 and the Big 2.
One of the factors favoring PSU entering the BIG 10 was to get votes from the Mid-West. PSU had been beating up on Eastern teams but now we would be facing the BIG 10 line-up. I looked at how the Mid-West voters voted in 1994 and we did not get the support.
So this game cost us a lot!
In 1993 our first year in the BIG 10 we had made a small splash but showed the good sense not to rough up the Big 2 and win the conference.
What did it cost us?
I believe we got a lot of bad calls against the Big 2 for years after.
Look at the 1994 game against Michigan. PSU got some close calls and won the game. This would not be allowed again.
PSU had to show respect for the BIG 10 and the Big 2.
One of the factors favoring PSU entering the BIG 10 was to get votes from the Mid-West. PSU had been beating up on Eastern teams but now we would be facing the BIG 10 line-up. I looked at how the Mid-West voters voted in 1994 and we did not get the support.
So this game cost us a lot!
The one time I need Miami to win a game for me, Frank Costa (St Joe's Prep kid), let's me down.
Ding ding ding. Yeppers!!
we were so excited at the time when they caught the Hail Mary. Ended up biting us in the ***!!
I really felt after that season that the Big 10 was a backwards, parochial, inbred conference that treated PSU as an outsider. No voter support from the conference when PSU needed it. Screwed by the inability to play Nebraska for the championship. And the haters couldn't have been happier.
Farq the Big Ten inbreds. They showed their true colors that season. I will never trust them. The Lions WON the B1G Championship in 2017, but a team they beat was put into the Playoff because they passed the”eye test.” Farg em.
This is exactly what I was alluding to in the original post.
You're sorta right and sorta wrong.
The 1994 national championship was Tom Osborne's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Penn State was known to have a dynamite offense that year, which was rare among Paterno teams. But allowing Indiana to look like they belonged on the same field as Penn State, and allowing Illinois to jump out to a 21-0 lead, made many voters believe that Penn State's defense couldn't handle the Nebraska offense.
The 1994 national championship was Tom Osborne's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Penn State was known to have a dynamite offense that year, which was rare among Paterno teams. But allowing Indiana to look like they belonged on the same field as Penn State, and allowing Illinois to jump out to a 21-0 lead, made many voters believe that Penn State's defense couldn't handle the Nebraska offense.
No, the Midwest media, coaches, etc. were not going to vote for Penn State under any circumstances. Parochial, petty jealousy, that is all. Then in Pittsburgh, you had Beano Cook openly lobbying for Nebraska despite earlier in the year voting for Penn State and at the time saying he never changes his vote as long as the #1 team remains undefeated.
My understanding is that 5 voters for the AP were based in Ohio and after that dismantling, 4 of the voters switched their votes to Nebraska, which certainly didn't help us.
Why the f*ck media was or is ever allowed to determine which teams are 'best' in any given sport is f*cking ridiculous.
But, let's see what the Coaches did in 1994/95:
Top 5 By Week:
Week 1 - Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Michigan (PSU 8)
Week 2 - Nebraska, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Michigan (PSU 8)
Week 3 - Nebraska, Florida, Michigan, Florida State, Penn State
Week 4 - Nebraska, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Penn State
Week 5 - Nebraska, Florida, Florida State, Penn State Colorado
Week 6 - Florida, Nebraska, Florida State, Penn State, Colorado
Week 7 - Florida, Nebraska, Penn State, Colorado, Michigan
Week 8 - Penn State, Nebraska, Colorado, Miami, Alabama
Week 9 - Penn State, Nebraska, Colorado, Miami, Alabama
Week 10 - Penn State, Nebraska, Miami, Alabama, Florida
Week 11 - Nebraska, Penn State, Miami, Alabama, Florida
Week 12 - Nebraska, Penn State, Alabama, Miami, Florida
Week 13 - Nebraska, Penn State, Alabama, Florida, Miami
Week 14 - Nebraska, Penn State, Alabama, Miami, Colorado
Week 15 - Nebraska, Penn State, Miami, Florida, Colorado
So the coaches kept us number 1 after the Ohio State game, but by the slimmest of margins.
In the October 24th poll we led Nebraska by 15 points in the poll.
In the October 31st poll, the weekend we beat OSU 63-14, we led Nebraska by TWO points.
So as I said in an earlier post, the coaches appeared unimpressed by a 50 point win over Ohio State. Would a 30 point win over Indiana have changed the dynamic any?
As someone alluded to earlier, Tom Osborne was getting his MNC whether we beat Indiana by 5 or 55....
The coaches just took a week longer than the media to drop us.
And don't for a minute think that the coaches are above politics and other petty axes to grind.
Ki-Jana had a famous quote after the polls came out after that game.
"63-14 and we drop to #2, what do we have to do to these guys!?”
Absolutely correct....look at the 1994 MNC AP voting map as it shows how majority of BIG 10 voters voted for Neb...as well as Pitt, WV, NJ, Md, and Va voters.
