Irish’s Beaver Stadium Debut Was One To Remember
By JOE SOPRANO [email protected]
Saturday, October 27, 2001 Page: 6B
In a recent Sports Illustrated article, columnist Rick Reilly attempts to
comfort a friend from another country who has been looking forward to seeing
the Washington Redskins play the Dallas Cowboys.
Reilly has the unfortunate task of explaining to his foreign friend that
the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry just ain’t what it used to be.
No problem, says the friend. He’ll just take in a college football game
played by one of his favorite teams.
Reilly, to his horror, learns that his friend’s two favorite college teams
are Penn State and Notre Dame.
Reilly’s friend may not enjoy watching the two struggling teams play today,
but he certainly would have been entertained by the 1981 matchup.
Notre Dame, at 5-4, was making the school’s first trip to Beaver Stadium.
And the Irish were coming in hot, winning their last three games.
Penn State, on the other hand, limped into the game having lost two of its
last three. In that span, the Nittany Lions had dropped from No. 1 in the
nation to No. 13.
The Irish appeared primed to score the upset, but the Lions weren’t about
to let themselves slip any further.
With an offense led by quarterback Todd Blackledge and running back Curt
Warner, the Lions held off the Irish 24-21.
The victory wasn’t without some tense moments, however.
After blowing a 17-7 halftime lead, Penn State needed a goal-line stand
just to get back in the game.
Leading 21-17 with 10:39 left in the game, Notre Dame faced a
fourth-and-one at the Penn State 4-yard line. Deciding a field goal wouldn’t
be enough to guarantee a victory, Irish head coach Gerry Faust decided to go
for the first down.
Running back Greg Bell was stopped short and the Lions took over.
“We just wanted to get everyone up for that one play,” said Penn State
strong safety and former Nanticoke star Harry Hamilton. “It meant a lot to
the seniors. And when we stopped him, it changed the momentum of the game
around.”
Still, the Lions needed more heroics to hold off the Irish. This time, Greg
Gattuso intercepted Notre Dame quarterback Blair Kiel at the Penn State 18.
The Lions then went on a 82-yard, nine-play drive to score the winning
touchdown. Blackledge scored the clincher, going in from a yard out right in
front of the Penn State student section.
“It is what football games are about,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said
of the game.
Faust agreed.
“It was a great game for both sides,” he said, according to the Penn
State Football Encyclopedia.
After the game, Penn State accepted a invitation to face Southern Cal in
the Fiesta Bowl. The Nittany Lions would go on to defeat Pitt the next week
and then top the Trojans in the bowl game, finishing ranked third in the
country.
Now, if someone could just find a tape of any of those games for Reilly’s
friend.
