BTN replay of '82 Penn State game

[grayhairedfreak]

I'm old enough to have seen this live the first time, so I tried to watch with more unbiased eyes.

*PSU dominated the entire first half except the last 3 minutes. We trailed 14-7 but could have easily been down 27-0. PSU missed 3 FGs and had 2 TDs called back by penalty (both on same drive).
*Our run game was not overly effective all day and we had far and away the most success in hurry-up passing situations.
*Was Kevin Siebel was our last straight-on placekicker?
*It was amazing how Rimington could be 2 yards off the ball before any other O or D lineman would move.
*Targeting was alive and well back in those days.
*At one point there were 3 turnovers in the space of 4 plays.
*There were a crazy number of close sideline catches from both teams that were much harder to call than McCloskey's.
*Husker fans dwell on McCloskey's phantom catch at the end, and rightly so, but we benefitted from two very questionable fumble recovery call/no calls that unfortunately we didn't turn into points.
*I had forgotten the McCloskey "catch" was on 1st down, not 4th. So even if the refs called that play right, PSU would have still had 9-10 seconds from our 16 yard line. The way Blackledge was dealing that game, I would not have been surprised if they still scored.

In summary, the loss still sucks and still hurts and will forever live in Nebraska lore, but any Husker fan that thinks we were the better team for any more than one-third of that game is just not being honest.

 

[saluno22]

I need to watch this game at some point, thanks for the reminder!

 

[Newbomb_Turk1]

Dave Schneider started out the following season as the kicker but soon lost his job to Livingston after a few misses

 

[Newbomb_Turk1]

Wasn’t the 82 Penn St team the first national champ to throw for more yards than running. Start of a new age of football

 

[scarletred]

Wasn’t the 82 Penn St team the first national champ to throw for more yards than running. Start of a new age of football

If it wasn’t them it was BYU without looking it up..

 

[Nebraska_Reality]

I'm old enough to have seen this live the first time, so I tried to watch with more unbiased eyes.

*PSU dominated the entire first half except the last 3 minutes. We trailed 14-7 but could have easily been down 27-0. PSU missed 3 FGs and had 2 TDs called back by penalty (both on same drive).
*Our run game was not overly effective all day and we had far and away the most success in hurry-up passing situations.
*Was Kevin Siebel was our last straight-on placekicker?
*It was amazing how Rimington could be 2 yards off the ball before any other O or D lineman would move.
*Targeting was alive and well back in those days.
*At one point there were 3 turnovers in the space of 4 plays.
*There were a crazy number of close sideline catches from both teams that were much harder to call than McCloskey's.
*Husker fans dwell on McCloskey's phantom catch at the end, and rightly so, but we benefitted from two very questionable fumble recovery call/no calls that unfortunately we didn't turn into points.
*I had forgotten the McCloskey "catch" was on 1st down, not 4th. So even if the refs called that play right, PSU would have still had 9-10 seconds from our 16 yard line. The way Blackledge was dealing that game, I would not have been surprised if they still scored.

In summary, the loss still sucks and still hurts and will forever live in Nebraska lore, but any Husker fan that thinks we were the better team for any more than one-third of that game is just not being honest.

While I was only 9 when the game happened, didn't PSU convert a 4th and 11 on the same drive as the phantom catch? Seems to me that if the Huskers stop them on that play, the game is likely over.

 

[schuele]

While I was only 9 when the game happened, didn't PSU convert a 4th and 11 on the same drive as the phantom catch? Seems to me that if the Huskers stop them on that play, the game is likely over.

No the 4th and 11 conversion was legit. The amusing part was that Kenny Jackson got the first down by about a yard and a half, but the officials conveniently stopped the clock for a measurement so the clock would remain stopped while PSU lined up for the next play.

 

[scarletred]

Check out 2:25 in the video Penn St with :57 converts on a 2 and 10 with and the Nebraska sideline disputes the call on the side lines and you have no idea if he did or didn’t have position in bounds..

 

[xrugger]

That was a memorable day in my family for reasons that involved the game. My sister (no fan of football) picked that morning to get married. The wedding was held in a remote national monument out west where she and her fiancee worked. Friends and relatives gathered afterward at their small government housing, for an informal reception. Mom, Dad, and me, all ardent Husker fans were sequestered in a back room watching the end of the game while presents were being opened in the living room. Right at the moment the bride was opening a particularly large, nice present in front of small quiet group, the bogus catch was ruled in bounds. Mom let out a very loud "Oh, Sh**". My sister will still not speak of it. We were never sure she was really related to us.

 

[Nebraska_Reality]

No the 4th and 11 conversion was legit. The amusing part was that Kenny Jackson got the first down by about a yard and a half, but the officials conveniently stopped the clock for a measurement so the clock would remain stopped while PSU lined up for the next play.

Yeah....I've seen officials in both college and HS measure, and afterwards, I was like "did you really have to measure that?"

Was the 4th and 11 the play right before or earlier?

 

[schuele]

Yeah....I've seen officials in both college and HS measure, and afterwards, I was like "did you really have to measure that?"

Was the 4th and 11 the play right before, earlier?

The measurement happened when PSU converted the 4th and 11 (by gaining about 12-13 yards). The clock was going to stop briefly anyway to move the chains, but the measurement was basically a free timeout.

 

[saluno22]

Started watching and it will be in bits and chunks as I have time. First things that stood out (just like watching old NU games) is how small the pre-expansion stadium looks. The broadcaster said in the open Penn State was expecting a record crowd at that game.

Second thing was the blue end zones with white "PENN STATE". Anyone know what year they changed to be as generic as possible?

 

[saluno22]

*It was amazing how Rimington could be 2 yards off the ball before any other O or D lineman would move.

I have always heard this and you weren't kidding. My goodness, how was he never called for that?!

Man, about 3 plays into our first offensive series, and I have zero confidence in these officials. First signaling a Penn State fumble recovery before changing back to Nebraska ball, then signaling short on a measurement that made it by almost half the length of a football.

 

[Nebraska_Reality]

The measurement happened when PSU converted the 4th and 11 (by gaining about 12-13 yards). The clock was going to stop briefly anyway to move the chains, but the measurement was basically a free timeout.

Yep...I got what you're saying. I was just saying that I've seen measurements where I wondered why it was they needed to measure. Sounds like it would have been one of those occasions had I seen it when it happened.

I was helping out with a junior high team about 4-5 years ago. We ran a play, and it looked to me like we had a 1st down by a good yard (I had a down the line view)....but they wouldn't measure and changed the box to say 3rd down. Next play, we lost almost a full yard...but then the officials measured that one, and signaled 1st down; we had it by about by 2-3 inches. Our fans were irate the play before; their fans were irate on that play. I guess that's why they were still junior high refs....

Did the clock stop to move the chains in those days? I was thinking that came a little later.

 

[scarletred]

Yes the clock has always stopped after a first down to move the chains in college football.. That is one of the reasons why the games are so much longer than a NFL game..

 

[Nebraska_Reality]

Yes the clock has always stopped after a first down to move the chains in college football.. That is one of the reasons why the games are so much longer than a NFL game..

I was thinking that the clock stoppage didn't come until the late 80s. Guess not.

 

[saluno22]

*PSU dominated the entire first half except the last 3 minutes. We trailed 14-7 but could have easily been down 27-0. PSU missed 3 FGs and had 2 TDs called back by penalty (both on same drive).

You weren't kidding. We had no business being in that game at halftime. Penn State was dominant but shot themselves in the foot. We couldn't get anything going in the run game and until the last drive before halftime, our passing game was abysmal as well. Then we carried that momentum to start the second half.

 

[saluno22]

Then we carried that momentum to start the second half.

Of course, as I hit "Post Reply", we have a botched snap on a field goal and Gill fails to convert on the broken play.

 

[saluno22]

*At one point there were 3 turnovers in the space of 4 plays.

Just got to this point in the game, wow. Then we had another fumble that Penn State almost recovered a few plays later.

Even in 1982 the broadcasters were pushing for replay to look at borderline calls.

 

[saluno22]

No the 4th and 11 conversion was legit. The amusing part was that Kenny Jackson got the first down by about a yard and a half, but the officials conveniently stopped the clock for a measurement so the clock would remain stopped while PSU lined up for the next play.

Just got to this. The officials gave him a bad spot and the measurement was a lot closer than it should have been. Had the ball been placed where it should have been, there would have been a clear no need for a measurement.

Obviously the clock still wuold have stopped, but like you said, it essentially became a timeout and allowed Penn State to think more thoroughly about the upcoming play(s).

 

[saluno22]

The broadcasters mentioned late in the 3rd Blackledge hadn't been sacked, and I don't think we sacked him in the 4th. Impressive.

Blackledge is a heady player, made a lot of good plays in this game. Was applying to be a Rhodes Scholar at the time.

 

[scarletred]

Penn St played Alabama after Nebraska and lost by 21..and Bama finished 8-4 and lost to LSU 20-10..
Georgia won the SEC but didn’t play either Alabama or LSU

* Bear Bryant last season was also 1982..

 

[saluno22]

After we took the lead late, we got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the ensuing kickoff. Shades of the 2009 Big 12 title game against Texas with the kickoff out of bounds followed by Larry Asante's (?) personal foul.

Anyway, that was a great game.

 

[whatsuphuskerfans]

The college rule to stop the clock after a first down and reset the chains started in 1968.