November 26, 1982: Number 2 Penn State beat Number 5 University of Pittsburgh, 19-10 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. This was a big moment for Penn State, as it set them up to win their 1st National Championship, after controversial denials of such in the seasons of 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977 and 1978.
It was a bad moment for "Pitt," because it meant that the man often regarded as their greatest player ever, quarterback Dan Marino, would finish his career without a major championship. Both schools were then independents, and thus had no Conference Championship to win. It was possible for them to win the National Championship, but now, Dan Marino would not win one.
Under head coach Johnny Majors, with Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett running the ball, Pitt went undefeated and won the National Championship in 1976. Then Majors took the job at his alma mater, the University of Tennessee, and was replaced by his defensive coordinator, Jackie Sherrill.
There are 2 games Pitt fans demand a win from every year, their 2 closest rivals: Penn State, 136 miles to the northeast; and West Virginia, 77 miles to the south. The Pitt-West Virginia rivalry is known as "The Backyard Brawl," and, while Western Pennsylvania can be very rural, Pitt fans view it as a city vs. country matchup.
In 1979, with Marino, from Pittsburgh's Central Catholic High School, as a freshman who became the starter midway through the season, Pitt went 11-1, losing only an early-season game away to North Carolina, 17-7. They beat West Virginia away, 24-17. Three weeks later, ranked Number 11, they beat Number 20 Penn State, 29-14. On Christmas Day, they beat Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl, and finished the season ranked Number 6. Had they beaten North Carolina, they would have been 11-0, and likely would have been paired up with undefeated and Number 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, for a National Championship decider. Instead, Alabama beat Arkansas to win it.
In 1980, Sports Illustrated made Pitt their preseason Number 1, putting defensive end Hugh Green on the cover. With Marino starting all the way as a sophomore, Pitt again went 11-1, their only defeat away to then-Number 11 Florida State, 36-22, as coach Bobby Bowden was rebuilding their long-moribund program. He had wanted to beat Pitt, because his previous job was at West Virginia. He remarked, "In Morgantown, the bumper stickers read, 'BEAT PITT.' In Tallahassee, they read, 'BEAT ANYBODY.'" The Seminoles were beginning to beat anybody.
The week after losing to Florida State, Pitt beat West Virginia at home, 42-14. The day after Thanksgiving, back up to Number 4, they went to Number 5 Penn State, and beat them, 14-9. They were invited to the Gator Bowl, and beat South Carolina. Had they beaten Florida State and remained undefeated, they likely would have been paired with Number 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl -- the same matchup that won them the title in 1976 -- for a National Championship game. Instead, Georgia beat Notre Dame to win it. Regardless, Marino was now 15-1 as a starter, and, in 2 years, Pitt were 22-2.
In 1981, with Marino a junior, and the most highly-regarded quarterback in the country, Pitt beat West Virginia in Morgantown, 17-0, and after beating Boston College away on Halloween, rose to Number 1. They went into the Penn State game undefeated, and had it at home, but were slaughtered, 48-14.
This time, they were invited to play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, and beat them, 24-20, but finished 11-1, and ranked Number 4 in the AP writers' poll and Number 2 in the UPI coaches poll. Had they beaten Penn State, there might have been a split poll, as Clemson beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Marino was now 26-2 as a starter, and, in 3 years, Pitt were 33-3. This was one of the best 3-year stretches in college football history, but they hadn't won the National Championship.
In 1982, with Marino as senior, and Sherrill having been lured away to Texas A&M and replaced by Serafino "Foge" Fazio, Pitt were the consensus preseason Number 1. Penn State started out Number 8. The 2 Keystone State teams were on a collision course.
Pitt began the season at the Steelers' Three Rivers Stadium, beating Number 5 North Carolina, 7-6 in a game nationally televised on CBS. They beat Florida State and Number 19 Illinois away, then West Virginia (16-13) and Temple at home, Syracuse away and the University of Louisville at home, the last of these by a whopping 63-14 score. They had now won 40 of their last 43 games.
But on November 6, Number 1 Pitt lost at home to Notre Dame, 31-16. They beat Army away and Rutgers at home, and up next was Penn State on the day after Thanksgiving, on ABC.
Penn State's 1st 4 games were at home. They beat Temple, Maryland, Rutgers, and, on a controversial play, then-Number 2 Nebraska. On October 9, they went to Birmingham, and were throttled by Number 4 Alabama, 42-21. They picked themselves up, and beat Syracuse at home, West Virginia and Boston College away, North Carolina State at home, and Number 13 Notre Dame away.
Both teams went into the big game 9-1, with at least a theoretical shot at the National Championship: Penn State were then Number 2, while Pitt were Number 5. A crowd of 85,722 filed into Beaver Stadium for a 12:30 PM kickoff on ABC. Pitt led 7-3 at the half, but Penn State scored a touchdown and a field goal in the 3rd quarter, and 2 more field goals to Pitt's 1 in the 4th quarter. Penn State won, 19-10, ending the National Championship dream of the University of Pittsburgh, head coach Jackie Sherrill, and quarterback Dan Marino.
In 4 seasons, Pitt ended up 42-6, with Marino going 35-5 as a starting college quarterback. Pitt has never been so good again, finishing Number 7 in 1989, Number 9 in 2003, and Number 8 in 2009. Sherrill won 3 Southwest Conference titles at Texas A&M, but never got higher in a final poll with them than Number 6.
Marino was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. In his 2nd season, 1984, he set several single-season passing records, and led the Dolphins to the AFC Championship. But they were embarrassed in Super Bowl XIX by the San Francisco 49ers. Marino played another 15 NFL seasons, but only reached 2 more AFC Championship Games, losing both. He is one of the greatest passers in the history of football, but, both in college and in the NFL, despite being surrounded by talented players, he failed to win a championship.
Penn State finally got that elusive National Championship by beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. They won another in 1986.
In 1991, Pitt joined the Big East Conference, as that league began playing football. In 1993, Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference. In 2013, with the Big East breaking up, Pitt joined Boston College, Syracuse and the University of Miami in moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Penn State won the Big 10 and the Rose Bowl in 1994, but, as in 1968, '69 and '73, they were denied the National Championship despite being undefeated. They won the Big 10 again in 2005 and 2008. Pitt tied for the Big East title in 2004, and won the ACC title in 2021.
Because of the conference shifts, Pitt and Penn State did not play each other from 1993 to 1996, did play each other from 1997 to 2000, did not from 2001 to 2015, and did from 2016 to 2019. As of November 26, 2022, they have not played since September 14, 2019; and Penn State leads the all-time series, 53-43-4.
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November 26, 1982 was a Friday: As I said, the day after Thanksgiving. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in midweek. There was another college football game that day, also a major rivalry, and also a clash between highly-ranked teams: Number 3 Nebraska beat Number 11 Oklahoma at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nebraska clinched the Big Eight Conference title. Penn State went to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, which became a de facto National Championship game, because they were playing the Southeastern Conference Champions, Number 1 Georgia. Nebraska went to the Orange Bowl in Miami, and played Number 13 Louisiana State University.
The games were being played at the same time, the Orange Bowl on NBC and the Sugar Bowl on ABC, and Nebraska's only hope of winning the National Championship was to blow LSU out, and hope that Penn State beat previously undefeated Georgia in a dull game. Instead, it was a very good game, although for those of us who don't like Penn State, it was a bad result: The Nittany Lions won, 27-23. And the Tigers held the Cornhuskers to another classic, with Nebraska winning, 21-20. So Penn State got the National Championship.
Pitt lost the Cotton Bowl to Southern Methodist University, 7-3, and finished Number 10. SMU, led by running back Eric Dickerson, had gone 11-0-1, and claimed the National Championship, but both the AP and UPI gave it to 11-1 Penn State.
There were 8 games in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 110-99 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Utah Jazz, 137-103 at the Boston Garden.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-102 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 132-118 in overtime at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Washington Bullets beat the Indiana Pacers, 87-85 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Chicago Bulls, 122-120 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. George Gervin led all scorers on the day with 44 points.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Diego Clippers, 117-115 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Magic Johnson scored 32 points.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Denver Nuggets, 127-106 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And there were 6 games in the NHL:
* The New Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The Washington Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landcover, Maryland.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the St. Louis Blues, 8-6 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Minnesota North Stars played to a tie, 6-6 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 6-5 at the Winnipeg Arena.
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