Sometimes in a college football season, you can look back to one game or one play where the consequences of that game or play would determine the fate of two teams' seasons.
For the 1982 Penn State Nittany Lions and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, that game would come on September 25th when a disputed play would later came back to haunt one team while pave the way for good fortune for another.
Nebraska came into the game ranked #2 with a 2-0 record as they were expected to compete for the national championship.
The Cornhuskers were led by head coach Tom Osbourne, who was in his 10th season as head coach, having lead the Huskers to at least nine wins in all nine of his seasons as head coach.
The Huskers had a high powered option offense featuring quarterback Turner Gill and running backs Roger Craig and Mike Rozier which had complied 110 points in Nebraska's first two games of the season.
The Huskers were hoping to have another strong day from their offense as they headed to "Happy Valley" to take on the #8 ranked Nittany Lions.
Penn State was 3-0 and coached by Joe Paterno who was in his 17th season as head coach of the Nittany Lions having lead Penn State to 10 seasons of at least 10 wins, including three undefeated seasons, but zero national championships.
The '82 Lions had a strong offense as well, which featured quarterback Todd Blackledge and running back Curt Warner, which had scored 119 points in the team's first three games of the season as Penn State jumped out to a 3-0 start.
The Top-10 showdown would be televised nationally on CBS and have a then-record crowd of more than 85,000 fans at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
For the fans that were there and the viewers watching at home, they would get a game for the ages and a play that was endowed in controversy for nearly 40 years with a man named Mike McCloskey in the middle of it.
After Penn State went three-and-out to start the game, Nebraska got the ball in Penn State territory as they took over at the Nittany Lions' 46-yard-line and drove 18 yards to the 28-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 2 situation.
Osbourne decided to go for the 1st down which would backfire as Gill fumbled the 4th down snap, allowing Penn State to take over at its 27-yard-line.
The Nittany Lions would drive down to the 23-yard-line when Blackledge found Kenny Jackson for an apparent 23-yard touchdown pass, only to have called back because of an illegal motion penalty.
After back-to-back incomplete passes, Blackledge hit Gregg Garrity for another apparent touchdown that was called back because of a false start penalty.
The Nittany Lions had to settle for a 50-yard field goal attempt by Massimo Mancha, but he missed it to keep the game scoreless.
The Penn State defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 17-yard-line where they drove 83 yards in six plays, with the big play being a 43-yard pass from Blackledge to Warner on a deep pass which set up Blackledge's 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kirk Bowman to give the Nittany Lions a 7-0 lead with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
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| Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge would complete 23 of 39 passes for 295 yards and threw three touchdown passes. |
Nebraska would begin its next possession at its 20-yard-line and after two runs by Rozier gained eight yards, Gill found wide receiver Irving Fryar for 14 yards, only to lose the football when he was hit by Penn State cornerback Dan Biondi.
Penn State safety Mark Robinson recovered the ball at the Nittany Lions' 43-yard-line but the Penn State offense would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Cornhuskers, who took over at their six-yard-line as the game moved into the second quarter.
The Huskers would drive to the Penn State 22-yard-line not by running, but on the right arm of Gill who connected with Fryar for nine yards on 3rd & 6 from the Nebraska 10-yard-line, then hit Ricky Simmons for 15 yards, and then Todd Brown for 27 yards.
But on 3rd & 3 at the Penn State 22-yard-line, Gill threw a bad pitch which was recovered by Penn State at its 29-yard-line.
Blackledge would hit Garrity for 20 yards to begin the drive, but after that it was all Warner as he carried the ball for 16 yards on the following play, then after an incomplete pass ran for 31 yards to set up 1st & goal from the Nebraska four-yard-line.
It would take Warner two runs to get in the end zone as his two-yard touchdown run extended the Nittany Lions' lead to 14-0 with 8:51 left in the second quarter.
Penn State looked to be in complete control especially after its defense forced a three-and-out to give its offense the ball at their 45-yard-line where they would drive to the Nebraska 30-yard-line until two straight incomplete passes forced the Nittany Lions to call on Mancha to attempt a 47-yard field goal.
But once again, Mancha missed the kick as Nebraska would take at its 30-yard-line, only to go three & out to give the ball back to the Nittany Lions who took over at their 31-yard-line.
Blackledge would lead the Nittany Lions to the Nebraska 16-yard-line as passes of 21 yards to Garrity and 24 yards to McCloskey set up a 33-yard field goal attempt for Mancha.
However, the third time was not the charm for Mancha as he again missed the field goal giving the Huskers the ball at their 20-yard-line with time winding down in the first half.
That is when Gill hit back-to-back passes, first to Brown for 20 yards and then to Simmons for 11 yards to put Nebraska in Penn State territory at the Nittany Lions' 49-yard-line.
After two straight incomplete passes, Gill found Fryar for 19 yards and a 1st down at the 30-yard-line.
Following another incomplete pass, Gill avoided pressure to hit Fryar at the Penn State 15-yard-line, who then broke two Penn State tacklers to run in for the 30-yard touchdown to cut it to a 14-7 Penn State lead with 38 seconds left before halftime.
Blackledge would take a knee to run out the clock in the first half as the Nittany Lions went into the locker room up 14-7.
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| Nebraska running back Mike Rozier ran the ball 19 times for 86 yards and caught a two-yard touchdown pass. |
The Cornhuskers would get the ball at their 20-yard-line to start the second half, but they would do so without Craig, who was out of the game because of a thigh bruise.
Rozier would take Craig's spot in the offense and would run for 16 yards on 3rd & 9 to give Nebraska a 1st down at the Penn State 37-yard-line.
Then after an incomplete pass on 1st down, Fryar got the ball on a reverse and ran 45 yards to the Penn State 18-yard-line where the drive would stall as Nebraska would be forced to attempt a 35-yard field goal by Kevin Seibel.
But Seibel would not get the kick away as Gill fumbled the snap and then tried to run for the 1st down, only to be knocked out of bounds at the Nittany Lions' 17-yard-line.
From there, the Nittany Lions would drive 83 yards in eight plays, culminating with a 18-yard touchdown pass from Blackledge to Jackson to push the Penn State lead back to two touchdowns at 21-7 with 9:42 left in the third quarter.
The Cornhuskers would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line when Osbourne decided to go back to the running game to get Nebraska back in the game.
The strategy worked as the Huskers drove 80 yards in 15 plays, 11 of them running plays as Rozier carried the ball seven times for 28 yards while Gill would run for 38 yards on three carries, including runs of 15 and 21.
The drive would end with a two-yard touchdown pass from Gill to Rozier to bring the Huskers back within a touchdown at 21-14 with 3:28 left in third quarter.
The Nittany Lions would begin its next possession at their 23-yard-line but without Warner, who left the game because of cramps.
It didn't seem that the Nittany Lion offense would miss him though as Skeeter Nichols ran for 22 yards on the second play of the drive to give Penn State a 1st down at the 50-yard-line.
But four plays later at the Nebraska 38-yard-line, Blackledge completed a pass to fullback Jon Williams, only to have the sophomore fumble the football which was recovered by Nebraska defensive tackle Rob Stuckey at the 50-yard-line.
After Jeff Smith was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Gill was picked off by Penn State defensive lineman Al Harris on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Nittany Lions the ball back at their 48-yard-line.
But on the very next play, Nichols fumbled the football which was recovered by Nebraska at their 45-yard-line for the third turnover in four plays.
The Huskers would hang on to the ball for a few plays as Fryar caught a deflected pass for 18 yards to the Penn State 38-yard-line, which was followed by a 15-yard run by Doug Wilkening to the Nittany Lions' 23-yard-line.
But the drive would stall as Gill would threw two incomplete passes and Wilkening would only pick three yards on one carry to set up a 37-yard field goal by Seibel to cut the Penn State lead to 21-17 with 13:02 to go in the fourth quarter.
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| Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill would complete 16 of 34 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns while running the ball 12 times for 52 yards and a touchdown. |
The Nittany Lions would begin its next possession at their 21-yard-line where after Williams caught a six-yard pass from Blackledge and ran for two yards, faced a 3rd & 2 at their 29-yard-line.
That is when Tony Mumford came in and ran for six yards and the 1st down at the Penn State 35-yard-line, which was followed by a 15-yard run by Williams to the 50-yard-line.
Two plays later, the Nittany Lions were faced with a 3rd & 11 at their 49-yard-line when Blackledge connected with Jackson for 19 yards and a 1st down at the Nebraska 32-yard-line.
Three plays later, the Lions were faced with a 4th & 1 at the Huskers' 23-yard-line when Paterno decided to go for the 1st down instead of kicking a field goal as he showed no faith in Mancha who had missed three field goals in the first half.
The gamble worked as Mumford ran for two yards and the 1st down only to have Blackledge be intercepted in the end zone on the very next play by Nebraska cornerback Neil Harris on a pass intended for Garrity.
The Huskers would take over at their 20-yard-line with 6:52 left in the game and needing a touchdown to take the lead.
After two runs picked up only five yards, Gill fired a pass for Brown, which was good for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Nebraska 37-yard-line which was followed by a five-yard run by Rozier.
Then Gill hit tight end Jamie Williams for 18 yards and a 1st down at the Penn State 40-yard-line, which was followed by a 10-yard pass to tight end Mitch Krenk for another 1st down at the Penn State 30-yard-line.
Two plays later, the Huskers would be faced with a 3rd & 8 when Gill hit Fryar for 13 yards and a 1st down at the Nittany Lions 15-yard-line, which was followed by a 12-yard run by Rozier to set up 1st & goal from the three-yard-line.
After two runs picked up two yards, Gill snuck into the end zone for the one-yard touchdown to give Nebraska its first lead of the game at 24-21 with 1:18 remaining in the game.
The Nittany Lions were set to begin its next possession at their 20-yard-line, but a 15-yard personal foul penalty was called on Nebraska defensive end Dave Ridder meaning that Penn State would start its last chance drive to win the game at their 35-yard-line.
The drive began with a 16-yard screen pass from Blackledge to Nichols to give Penn State a 1st down at the Nebraska 49-yard-line, which was followed by an incomplete pass to force 2nd down where Blackledge hit Jackson for 16 more yards and another 1st down at the Nebraska 33-yard-line.
But two incomplete passes and an one-yard-loss by Williams lead to a do-or-die 4th & 11 at the Nebraska 34-yard-line.
That is when Blackledge hit Jackson for the 11 yards to pick up the 1st down and keep Penn State's hopes alive.
On the following play, Blackledge would scramble for five yards and get out of bounds at the Nebraska 18-yard-line with 14 seconds left when the play that has been discussed for years occurred.
Blackledge took the snap and dropped back to fire a pass toward the left sideline for McCloskey who made the catch but looked to have his right foot land out of bounds as he made the catch at the two-yard-line.
However, officials ruled that McCloskey made the catch inbounds to set up 1st & goal at the two-yard-line.
Here is the play that is in question and judge for yourself:
With nine seconds left, the Nittany Lions had time for at least one shot into the end zone or maybe two since a field goal would end the game in a tie(There was no overtime in FBS football in 1982). |
| Penn State tight end Kirk Bowman makes the game-winning touchdown catch with four seconds left. |
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