Penn State and Oregon have now played five times, with the most recent remembered by everyone reading this: last December’s Duck win in the Big Ten Championship game.
Before that, the most recent match up between the two was the 1995 Rose Bowl – a game loved by any Penn State fan of a certain age.
But how about the first meeting between the two teams? It took place way back in 1960 and it’s the focus of today’s Lion Tales.
In 1959, Penn State played in arguably the most famous, and first ever, Liberty
Bowl. The game, played in Philadelphia, saw Alabama and Bear Bryant come north to face an integrated team for the first time ever. It was Bryant’s first bowl game as the Tide’s coach and the first bowl for Alabama in five years.
But Penn State, coached by Rip Engle and assisted by Joe Paterno, used its defense to escape with a hard-fought 7-0 upset win against Alabama. The game’s lone touchdown was scored by Roger Kochman on a pass from Galen Hall (yes, that Galen Hall) on a fake field goal in the second quarter.
Well, in 1960, the Lions would head back to Philadelphia to play in the game once again – this time against 7-2-1 Oregon. The Ducks were fresh off a tie in their Civil War game against a ranked Oregon State foe.
Meanwhile, the Lions had ripped off four straight wins and were now ranked No. 15 after a lackluster 2-3 start.
The two teams met in a frigid Municipal Stadium where Oregon jumped to an early first quarter lead.
The Lions answered with three, short second-quarter touchdown runs.
While Oregon scored the game’s lone points to ease back within 21-12, Penn State would own the fourth quarter.
Ed Caye scored on a one-yard run, while Dick Hoak ran for an 11-yard score and then hit Dick Pae for a 33-yard touchdown that gave Penn State a 41-12 win.
Hoak was named the game’s MVP as the Lions finished the year 7-3 and ranked No. 16 in the country.
