I Wish We Had A Tape Of The 1979 Pitt - PSU Coin Toss!

[ILLINOISLION]

IIRC - a big if these days - that was the year Pitt won the coin toss and their captains couldn't figure out what to do, they kept telling the official they wanted to receive at this end of the field, the official kept saying you only get one choice, they kept looking back at their bench for guidance.

The announcers were going nuts.....PSU's captains were going nuts.....I think Pitt ended up kicking into the wind and PSU got their choice in the second half.

Anyone else remember that?

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Here's a video of it.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Here's a video of it.

View embedded media

THANKS TOM - I should have looked for it on YOU TUBE, wasn't thinking tonight. Hard to believe it was 37 years ago.....!

 

[john4psu]

Pitt's finest no doubt Rhodes Scholars or at the very least dental students.

 

[psuro]

And after all of that, they still won that day

Because Penn State was laughing so hard all game.

 

[psuro]

Haha I like coming over here every now and then to talk some football. See you guys September 10.

No issues - relatively benign needling is always acceptable.

 

[jferretti]

the Pitt player is Fast Freddy Jacobs. He lived 2 doors down from me my freshman year. Nicest guy you would want to meet but Freddy was not the scholarly type. We watched the game in our dorm lounge and were laughing hysterically at Freddy's inability to grasp the concept of "choose the ball or choose the goal". Jackie Sherrill was going nuts trying to yell at him about what to do.

While I was rooting for Penn State that day (and every day) Pitt was the better team. They had a freshman class that year that would go on to become one of the most talented teams ever in college football.

 

[fairgambit]

And after all of that, they still won that day

That is the bottom line. I was at the game and while the Pitt coin toss choice was funny, the final score was not. We lost 29-14.

 

[LemonEars]

And after all of that, they still won that day

Yes, the loss was disappointing. It was one of the 7 games out of 31 played that Paterno lost to pitt. There is no reason why Joe shouldn't have won all 31 against a garbage program like pitt.

 

[jferretti]

Yes, the loss was disappointing. It was one of the 7 games out of 31 played that Paterno lost to pitt. There is no reason why Joe shouldn't have won all 31 against a garbage program like pitt.

Garbage program??? That 79 team eventually put 17 out of 22 starters in the NFL after the 82-83 seasons including numerous high level All Pros. That's one reason it would have been completely unrealistic to expect Joe to have won all the games against Pitt and why your statement is off base.

 

[fairgambit]

Yes, the loss was disappointing. It was one of the 7 games out of 31 played that Paterno lost to pitt. There is no reason why Joe shouldn't have won all 31 against a garbage program like pitt.

Sure there is. Joe never thought of Pitt as a garbage program. Certainly between 1976 and 1982 they were a national player. In those 7 years they won 71 games, finished in the final top 10 six times, and beat us (and Joe) 3 times. I will add that Pitt's 705 wins are 19th best all time. There are only 4 Big Ten programs with more. That is hardly the mark of a garbage program.

 

[21Guns]

And after all of that, they still won that day

Dayle Tate.

If we had a D1 quarterback (and we DID but he was redshirting) we would have won.

 

[LemonEars]

Don't act like those games weren't good. Too bad I wasn't alive for those games. Two of the top teams in college football both in Pennsylvania the good ole days

Yes, for about 6 years pitt was competitive with Penn State. Those were the years that Posvar told Johnny and Jackie that they could recruit anyone they wanted. Grades and character meant nothing. So Johnny and Jackie scoured the southern jails and brought in the likes of Hugh Green, Fast Freddie Jacobs, Rickey Jackson, etc. and pitt was decent for a few years. After the pitt administration came to their senses the program regressed to the normal dismal status.

 

[Diego Badman]

Don't act like those games weren't good. Too bad I wasn't alive for those games. Two of the top teams in college football both in Pennsylvania the good ole days

And there was a time--in the early 1980's (1982, I think) that the now defunct "Sport" Magazine was ranking college football rivalries and had Pitt-Penn State as number 1. Think about that: you had Michigan-Ohio State, Oklahoma-Nebraska, Texas-Arkansas, and USC-Notre Dame. "Sport" magazine was a respected magazine at the time.

 

[Jakey_John]

Pitt was and is the only team in the history of the NCAA to recruit Southern guys with questionable character. Shame on them.

 

[jferretti]

See, I don't know the whole story about the rise of the dynasty, as I wasn't alive then and I've only heard so much from family and the Internet. But at the time, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not sure if Pitt was the research power and as well respected in the education universe as it was today, so it might not be as bad as it sounds, as far as letting in student athletes who might not have been admitted otherwise. From what I heard, they took that next step when Nordenburg became chancellor. But that's one of the few things Pitt has done right, avoided any trouble or scandals, outside of Wanny and the player arrest issues and the obvious two week stand with Haywood.

I attended Pitt in the early to mid 80's and was actually an employee of the NCAA who at the time provided "Support Services for Student Athletes". This was a tutoring program and I was paid to meet with student athletes and provide help out of the classroom. I recall stats being provided by the NCAA in comparison to the eastern independent schools, which included Pitt, Penn State, and the old Eastern 8 affiliated schools and the graduation rates and compliance with NCAA standards at the time were relatively equal. Penn State was the leader in graduation rates but it was not by a large margin over the other schools.

During this time Pitt was able to recruit areas with regularity now controlled by Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn, Florida and FSU. Of course you can recruit well when your coaching staff includes Jackie, Joe Moore, Wanny, Foge, and Jimmy Johnson, to name a few.

 

[jferretti]

Ah, okay. That's interesting. I take it they don't provide that service anymore then because that's the first I heard of it. I always thought most of the academic help now a days is done through the university directly.

And it always amazed me to see all the big names on the Pitt coaching staffs during that time period. Countless future college and pro head coaches yet couldn't get their act together for 30 years.

I would assume the service is no longer available. I tutored a few football playes in my day but really helped track and field types who had language barriers.

 

[Obliviax]

Bruce Clark looking good! Also, ref has no neck...what happened? Great video with our #56 laughing. who is he?

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Bruce Clark looking good! Also, ref has no neck...what happened? Great video with our #56 laughing. who is he?

Notice Matt Millan besides Clark, he also missed the game with an injury. Those two could play ball!