This video is called Pride and Passion. These season recaps of years gone by are really good. This 69 team was loaded. Great men on and off the field.
69 highlights, interviews
69 highlights, interviews
Penn State Football season highlights 1969
- Thread starter PSUPride1
- Start date
That team remains under appreciated. That defense was as remarkable as the 1994 offense.
I can’t remember the exact number anymore, but I think it was in Ridge Riley’s “Fooball Letter” that he gave how many points the starting defense gave up that year. It was an astoundingly low number for 11 games, especially considering some of the offenses the team faced.
in addition, the defense either scored itself or set up for the offense a large percentage of points through fumbles or interceptions. Heck, Neal Smith had 12 of the latter all by himself, and Dennis Onkotz turned a couple into touchdowns, as well.
while Chuck Burkhart was no Kerry Collins, he was surrounded by 3 All-American caliber backs in Lydell Mitchell, Charlie Pittman, and Franco Harris. Add in Don Abbey for solid relief.
but the offense only needed to be decent, for the defense was so extraordinary. Think of how many runs you’d need when Sandy Koufax was pitching. When Koufax was “on,” the Dodgers didn’t need 6 runs to beat you. In1969, when it was “on,” Penn State’s defense didn’t need 3 touchdowns to beat you... and it was almost always “on.”
i am convinced that had Bowl bids been extended later than they were in 1969, Penn State would have shut Texas down and staked itself as among the greatest teams of all time.
I can’t remember the exact number anymore, but I think it was in Ridge Riley’s “Fooball Letter” that he gave how many points the starting defense gave up that year. It was an astoundingly low number for 11 games, especially considering some of the offenses the team faced.
in addition, the defense either scored itself or set up for the offense a large percentage of points through fumbles or interceptions. Heck, Neal Smith had 12 of the latter all by himself, and Dennis Onkotz turned a couple into touchdowns, as well.
while Chuck Burkhart was no Kerry Collins, he was surrounded by 3 All-American caliber backs in Lydell Mitchell, Charlie Pittman, and Franco Harris. Add in Don Abbey for solid relief.
but the offense only needed to be decent, for the defense was so extraordinary. Think of how many runs you’d need when Sandy Koufax was pitching. When Koufax was “on,” the Dodgers didn’t need 6 runs to beat you. In1969, when it was “on,” Penn State’s defense didn’t need 3 touchdowns to beat you... and it was almost always “on.”
i am convinced that had Bowl bids been extended later than they were in 1969, Penn State would have shut Texas down and staked itself as among the greatest teams of all time.
My first PSU game was as an 11 year old kid at the Orange Bowl vs Mizzou. Pretty good way to begin a life long obsession.
I think Neal Smith had 14 interceptions which is unbelievable. And he was a walk-on that became an all-american. That defense had play makers and game wreckers all over the field.
And then you have two NFL Hall of Famers in the backfield. This team could play with anybody.
I heard that Jack Ham kid had the potential to be a decent linebacker.
Neal played for Selinsgrove. I played against him when I was at Southern. I thought the best player on that team was a guy named Roger Hoffman. Roger ended his senior year married with a child.
Strange how they actually had something in common with the 94 team that was also slighted: Paterno took the entire first team out of the game in Manhattan, and K State scored 2 touchdowns at the end to make a convincing win look like a nail biter. Just like he did 25 years later in Bloomington when Indana did the exact same thing against the back ups. Both games ended up causing damage in the polls.
Watching this film made me feel really old (maybe 'cause I am!). This was my senior year at Penn State - what great memories!
Yup. Joe was a tremendous coach but he knew how to keep games closer than they should have been. I'm the end being nice didn't win him any friends or votes.
If I remember correctly, this defense scored more points in 1969 than they gave up.
I remember the defense forced a high powered Missouri offense into nine turnovers including seven interceptions which is still a major bowl record.
I was four years old and living in Riverside Pa. Our neighbor was telling us about how he thought Paterno was a flash in the pan and wouldn’t last.
42 years later he was proven correct.
42 years later he was proven correct.
To this day, the best college football team I've ever seen.
I was at that Orange Bowl. The Mizzou qb, McMillan(?), threw more cpmpletions to our dbs then to his own receivers.
amazing what Mike Reid has accomplished outside of football and wrestling. Always follow your passion.
Thank you for posting this I have always said that D never gets the recognition it deserves nationally and that team was solid
I watched the Orange Bowl against Missouri on youtube. The announcer, maybe Charlie Jones, kept saying "The All American Charlie Pittman". And I'm thinking yeah, and his two sidekicks are a future NFL Hall of Famer, and an NFL Pro Bowler, AND the defense is the stronger unit. What a team!! Wish there was more video available on them.
Great team and players. Really nice when you see LBers who knock people back when they tackle. Those were the days.
I had a chance to BS with Charlie Pitmans HS FB coach, and one of his team mates. He was holding court. About every sentence started with ‘ when I was coaching Charlie Pitman at Edmondson’
Lost in all this is why they did not win the National Championship. PSU was number 2 in 1968 but coming into 1969 were not in the top 5. For most of the season Ohio State was #1. Back then the Big Ten had a rule that no team could go to the Rose Bowl two years in a row, and no Big Ten team could go to any other bowl. So it looked like OSU would be #1 without having to face a bowl opponent. Then Michigan upset OSU in the last game. This along with a victory over an Arkansas team vaulted Texas to Number #1. Texas faced Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. This was a major media matchup because for years prior ND did not go to bowl games. Needless to say the way the bowl matchups were decided was quite different back then. The bowl bids went out in Nov., when it looked like OSU had a lock on #1 so the team went back to the Orange Bowl. With a Texas win over ND they got the #1 rank. I remember watching the first half of the Cotton Bowl before leaving for the Orange Bowl. Texas won before the Orange Bowl kickoff. So we knew that PSU was playing for #2.
Here's a good article that explains why Penn State played in the Orange Bowl. Joe left it to the players but Tarman indicated Joe wanted to play Texas.
Why PSU went to the Orange Bowl
I went to three road games and the Orange Bowl that year. Only games missed live were KSU and NC State. That team was phenomenal. The video in the OP mentions breakdowns in the kicking game. What was not mentioned were the kicks Penn State blocked in that game. Until Barkley, Mike Reid was to me the best I ever saw at PSU
Good comparison between Texas and Penn State in 1969:
1969 College Football National Championship
www.tiptop25.com
While that was what I had always “heard” my whole life, a couple years ago I came across the below article from Sports Illustrated written at the time:
https://www.si.com/vault/1969/12/22/618800/knute-would-have-agreed-ara
A key statement I article about Cotton Bowl reps:
Scovell and Evans hauled it. They left Penn State at 6 p.m. Sunday, still not knowing—indeed, not caring—how the Nittany Lions voted
