I was at this game. IIRC, ND found out beforehand they'd been accepted to play in the Sugar Bowl, which PSU wanted. A reporter wrote that during the game, Sugar Bowl representatives watching in the pressbox looked they just found out their blind date with a Hollywood actress turned out to be Rosanne Barr. PSU settled for the Fiesta Bowl, and clobbered Tennessee to finish #3 in the nation. Good times.
My wedding day! My wife and I are both 1986 PSU grads. We arranged to have TVs at the cocktail so our guests could watch the game which was quite unusual at that time.
ND got buried in this game coming in after losing the year before in gut wrenching fashion.. thankfully they beat them in 92 to rip their hearts out with that two point conversion..glorious moment
@yesscode Yes, when Lou Holtz coached Notre Dame the battles with Penn State were some of the best games PSU ever played in. And Notre Dame was a powerhouse. Jerome Bettis was on this team. Remember him?
Respond to this video...My favorite PSU play against Notre Dame was the Derrick Williams 78 yd. punt return for a TD. He made an impossible catch off his shoe tops right as a Notre Dame player was about to hit him, shrugged off the hit, picked up his blocks as he cut back across the field, and then let his blockers escort him for the TD. No less than 7 Notre Dame players got slobber-knocked on their butts during the play. And the roar when he broke free to the end zone was deafening. Epic!
Great win...OJ McDuffy was the man...Best receiver ever...he embarrassed me in Practice every day I was at PSU!!! Nice seeing Sacca, throwin the ball. 91-93 were F****g great YEARS!!!
Thank goodness for the internet and youtube, we are able to catch highlights or complete games many of us missed watching. ABC had #1 Florida St. vs #2 Miami as the first game, then had this Penn St/Notre Dame game but due to regional coverage living in the West Coast we ended up with a dogshit game in Oregon vs UCLA (before they become the Oregon we all know and love now).
On one hand I love when these teams play, since they're classic rivals, but on the other hand it's kind of hard to cheer against Notre Dame because they're my second favourite team (after Penn State, obviously).
I was at this game as a 9 year old ND fan! The Irish got physically manhandled by a really good PSU team that finished #3 in the country. ND was considered "soft" after this game (gave up 42 points to Hawaii two weeks later) and didn't regain respect on defense until the 1992/93 Cotton Bowl beatdown of undefeated #4 Texas A&M. This game was the same day as Miami vs FSU Wide Right 1. I remember watching the end of that game on a black and white portable TV someone snuck into Beaver Stadium.
I remember it was so surprising to see Notre Dame get hammered like this - from 1988 to 1993 if the Irish lost it was usually right down to the last possession (or the last play). This game was the lone exception to that during that period.
ND was very flat after blowing a 24-point lead to Tennessee the prior week. Plus, Gary Darnell was a lousy defensive coordinator, and was let go at season's end.
That was the problem. Immensely talented Defense with DuBose and Burris etc. But out-coached and porous with Darnell as DC. PSU was one of the best teams in the country. Sacca played his career best vs. ND. That 4th down at the 4 yard line to end the half was a killer!
I remember Holtz fired his defensive coordinator this year because of how poor he was then did a 3-8 D against Florida that rocked their socks (not to mention the bus destroying them at the end)
Respond to this video... Richie Anderson was another highly under rated PSU offensive player. He was unbelievable in the open field, he could run like a gazelle and hit like a truck. Watch the '91 Pitt game for proof of his ability. Also the '91 Georgia Tech game, where we blew them out in the kickoff classic. It's a much different story when these southern teams have to come north to play us on our own turf.
That 91 PSU team was one of the best in the nation, they flew under the radar due to all the hype given to Miami and FSU and UW. They only lost at Miami by 6 points. What kept them out of the conversation about being one of the elites was their head scratching double digit loss at one of the worst USC teams in history, even including today.
That loss to Miami that you mention they actually had the final possession and had a pass intercepted in the end zone with less than a minute to go. You are right about that loss to 3-8 USC - maybe they spent too much time at the SoCal beach that week or something. Made no sense.
Tony Sacca was outstanding in two seasons against ND '90 and '91. OJ McDuffie was incredible in this game. What's more, ND was still loaded on both sides of the ball, youngsters that shoulda been awarded the Natty in '93. Holtz said Paterno couldnt be out-coached. Good to see PSU starting to dominate again and would love them on the Irish schedule soon.
I think PSU had OLine problems in the early seasons of both 90 & 91 however that USC loss in 91 was one of the top 10 worst of the Paterno era. They were certainly a completely different team by this ND game.
Is it me or has Brent Musburger always seemed to hate PSU? Every game he does with Penn State seems like he's more energetic for the other teams doing well rather than when PSU does well. I think he always secretly hated Paterno...
OJ McDuffie was good? NO, OJ McDuffie was fabulous, one of the best offensive players to come out of Penn State, who went on to have a pro bowl career with the Miami Dolphins.
Great rivalry. More schools should go INDEPENDENT. FSU and Miami were also powers as Indies. Penn St. hasn't been a national power since. They'll never be an Ohio St. in the Big Ten...deal with it. Go Irish!!!
