Joe Paterno

Joseph Vincent Paterno (born December 21, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York), nicknamed Joe Pa, has been the head coach of The Pennsylvania State University's college football team since 1966.

1994 National Championship controversy

The 1994 team featured statistically the best offense in Big 10 history, with quarterback Kerry Collins, running backs Ki-Jana Carter, Mike Archie and Stephen Pitts, wide receivers Bobby Engram, Freddie Scott and Joe Jurevicius, tight end Kyle Brady and lineman Jeff Hartings. The 1994 team was the opposite of the 1985 and 1986 teams, in terms of strengths, with an unstoppable offense and adequate, but unspectacular, defense. The 1994 Nittany Lions went undefeated for a fifth time in Paterno's tenure and their Rose Bowl victory over Oregon made Paterno the only coach in history to win each of the 4 traditional New Year's Day Bowl Games (the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl being the others). They were denied the national title in the AP and Coaches' Polls, however, finishing second to the undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers. The New York Times Poll ranked Penn State number one and Nebraska number two. Penn State was denied the national title by the two major polls, despite playing the 17th toughest schedule in the nation in 1994, while the Cornhusker's played the 57th toughest schedule. This strength of schedule disparity has led the Penn State faithful, as well as neutral observers, to believe that Nebraska was voted national champions out of sympathy for venerable Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, who at that point in his career had not won a national championship, while Paterno had already won two.

Related Topics:
1994 - Kerry Collins - Ki-Jana Carter - Bobby Engram - Joe Jurevicius - Kyle Brady - Jeff Hartings - Rose Bowl - Orange Bowl - Sugar Bowl - Cotton Bowl - Nebraska - Tom Osborne

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Some college football analysts point to a game in which neither Penn State nor Nebraska played as determining the 1994 national championship. On an amazing play which would go down as the second most famous Hail Mary play in college football history, behind only Boston College's Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan Hail Mary against Miami (FL) in 1984, future NFL star Kordell Stewart lobbed a 64 yard desperation pass, which was miraculously hauled in by Michael Westbrook for the winning touchdown with no time left on the clock, lifting the Colorado Buffaloes to a 27-26 victory over the Michigan Wolverines before a stunned 106,427 fans in "The Big House." Colorado's rally from a 12 point defecit with just 2 1/2 minutes remaining meant that Michigan had one loss when Penn State would later defeat Michigan 31-24, while Colorado was undefeated and sharing first place votes with Penn State and Nebraska when the Cornhuskers beat the Buffaloes, and in the process, took all of Colorado's first place votes.

Related Topics:
Kordell Stewart - The Big House

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In response to being snubbed by poll voters, The General Assembly of Pennsylvania unanimously passed a symbolic proclamation, which was signed by Governor Tom Ridge, declaring Penn State the 1994 college football national champions.

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