Home >  Sports >  Penn State

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Penn State players can still recall how they felt as they walked off the field at Beaver Stadium last season after being throttled by Miami -- frustrated, humbled, embarrassed. Those were the overwhelming emotions of players on a team that was overmatched before 100,000-plus fans on its home turf.

	More on Penn State: Penn State Notebook, 9/11/02

It's a feeling the Nittany Lions have come to know all too well after big games in recent years. It used to be the Lions ate up ranked competition, but the past few years, the Lions have been at the bottom of the food chain.

From 1982-86, a five-year span in which Penn State won both of its national championships, the Lions had an exemplary record against ranked opponents. The Lions were 10-4 against top 25 opponents, were 9-4 against top 10 teams and had victories against two top-ranked teams in national championships games.

The past five seasons for Penn State were not successful. From 1997-2001, the Lions were 10-13 against top 25 teams, 3-4 against top 10 teams. The past two seasons have been especially bad for the Lions. They are 2-6 against top 25 teams, and the losses were one-sided with an average margin of defeat of 22.6 points per game.

When Penn State (1-0) plays host to No. 8 Nebraska (3-0) Saturday night, it's another chance for the Lions to rebuild their stature as a national power.

"This is definitely a game where Penn State can make a statement because it's one of the biggest games we'll play, just like the Miami game last year," said running back Larry Johnson, who, like the rest of the fifth-year seniors, is 8-11 against ranked teams. "A game like Nebraska is what every college player dreams about. This is a big game that can put us on the map again."

Last season, Penn State lost to No. 2 Miami, 33-7, and to No. 15 Michigan, 20-0, at home before a 33-28 loss at No. 15 Illinois later in the season. In 2000, the Lions lost to No. 22 Southern California, 29-5, to No. 14 Ohio State, 45-6, and to No. 20 Michigan, 33-11.

The two victories against ranked opponents the past two seasons were against a Northwestern team that was ranked No. 22 early last season before faltering to a 4-7 record. The other victory was the emotional home win against Purdue two years ago, one week after Adam Taliaferro had been severely injured at Ohio State.

Penn State is unranked in The Associated Press poll and 25th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll this week. The Lions have not defeated a top 10 team since Sept. 18, 1999, against No. 8 Miami.

"This is a very important game," quarterback Zack Mills said. "It's against a top 10 team. It's been a year since we played a top 10 team. A win would bring us back to the top and, hopefully, get us back in the top tier of teams.

"Penn State has always been known for being one of the top teams in the nation. Since I've been around here, we've been 5-7 and 5-6. This is our opportunity to go 2-0, to beat a top 10 team and to put Penn State back where it's supposed to be. We have to take advantage of this opportunity."

Coach Joe Paterno doesn't know whether his team is ready to compete with a team like Nebraska, but he is looking forward to the opportunity because it is a measuring stick.

"To me, the important thing is we're a young team that has a chance to be good one of these days," he said. "Who knows whether we're good enough to play Nebraska at this stage? If we win, great. If we don't, hopefully we have made strides and our kids will realize that they can be competitive with a very good football team.

"You don't go from here to here in one shot. When you go backward like we've gone the past two seasons, it takes awhile to get back. You can't be impatient. We have a ways to go. This will be a good team. This could help us get to where we need to go because we'll have a way to measure ourselves against a really good football team."

Emotionally, the Lions believe they are in a better frame of mind for such a game. Much better than when they faced the Hurricanes at the beginning of last season.

"We definitely have more confidence," senior guard Tyler Lenda said. "We're going in with confidence that we can play with anyone. That's different than the past couple of years."

"We know where we are now," Johnson said. "Last year, we didn't know which guys were starting or playing. There's not as much controversy. We're all going in with clear minds."