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remembered Conlin, now a businessman in State College. "We had an assistant strength coach, Mike Wolfe, who had played on the '86 team. He took me and Jeff into the weight room every day in- stead of going to practice, and we picked up a considerable amount of strength that first year." Conlin played enough at tackle and guard as a redshirt freshman on Penn State's 1992 team to earn a letter, and so did Rivera at the right tackle position. An injury at midseason caused Johnson to miss earning a letter that season, while Hartings became a key reserve at left guard, averaging 34 plays per game. In 1993, Hartings and Rivera, now a left tackle, were starters, with Conlin serving as a backup at left guard and Johnson as a reserve at right tackle after moving from the defense during spring practice. The start of something big The 1993 season was a milestone, Penn State's first year in the Big Ten Confer- ence after more than century as an inde- pendent. It also turned out to be the springboard to the great 1994 season, de- spite a controversial midseason loss at Beaver Stadium in Penn State's first-ever game against Michigan. Nittany Lion fans still cannot believe what happened in the opening moments of that game when the referee threatened to penalize Penn State if the hepped-up record crowd of 96,719 didn't quiet down when Michigan was on offense. In the end, the Lions lost, 21-13, with the turning point coming on a series of four plays in the second half at the Michigan 1-yard line when the offense could not score on two quarterback sneaks by Kerry Collins and two runs up the middle by Carter. Hartings, Rivera and other players who were on the field during that ignominious sequence vowed it would never happen again. With Collins, Carter, wide receiver Bobby Engram and tight end Kyle Brady spearheading the offense, the Nittany Lions finished 10-2, including a come- from-behind 31-13 win over then-No. 6 Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl, a victory that moved them up to eighth in the final Associated Press poll. Hartings missed the Maryland game because of an injury, giving Conlin the opportunity to make his only start that season. A shoulder injury that forced Rivera to miss the last three games paved the way for Johnson to start those games at right tackle. Centers E.J. Sandusky in 1992 and Bucky Greeley in 1993 were crucial to the development of the four 1991 recruits, said Anderson. Greeley was a redshirt junior from Wilkes-Barre in '93 who be- came the starter after getting plenty of experience for two years as a backup guard and center. In '93, Greeley joined starting right guard Mike Malinoski in buying lunch for the offensive linemen at the local VFW every Thursday before a game. Those lunches helped build the ca- maraderie and teamwork of the offensive line and continued in earnest in 1994 after Malinoski had graduated when Greeley was a co-captain. "Bucky was great," Conlin said. "To this day, I still call him captain. He was a great leader and he kept us all in line. He was like the liaison between us and the coaches and Joe. He's such a cynical, funny, funny dude. He had a way with handling everything. It's a pretty well-known story that in presea- son camp of '94 we realized how good of an offense we were because the offense was beating up on the defense. [Joe] had to fudge some things to make the defense not feel so [bad] about themselves, like saying 'you were offside' or 'that was a hold.' He was getting us mad, and Bucky said, 'Relax. Chill out. He's stacking the deck. We're good.' And we realized he was right." The 1994 team went on to set NCAA records for total offense (520.2 yards per game) and points (47.8 per game). Over those final two seasons, Hartings, Rivera and Johnson started all 24 games. Conlin missed two starts in early October of 1995 against Ohio State and Purdue after in- juring a knee during the Wisconsin game Sept. 30. After the 1995 season, Rivera, Johnson and Conlin were among the more than 100 elite collegiate players, including 20 offensive linemen and 10 Penn State players, who participated in the Senior Bowl. Hartings was invited, Conlin said, but did not need to play in the game be- cause he already knew he was going to be a high draft choice. Hartings achieved something in academics that was more significant than playing in the Senior Bowl. He was a first-team Academic All- American in 1994 and '95, and after his senior year he received the College Foot- ball Hall of Fame's prestigious $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, becoming one of only 18 Penn State players honored with the award from 1971 through 2020. Off to the NFL In the 1996 NFL Draft, Hartings was the 23rd overall player taken, picked by the Detroit Lions as a center. Johnson became the 30th overall selection when he was chosen by Washington. Four other Penn State players – Engram, linebacker Terry Killens and fullbacks Jon Witman and Brian Milne – were drafted before Conlin, who went in the sixth round to Indianapo- lis as the 191st overall choice. Tailback Stephen Pitts followed seven slots later, before Green Bay grabbed Rivera, making him the 208th overall selection. Tailback Mike Archie was the last Nittany Lion draft choice that year, going to Houston in the seventh round as 218th player selected. Hartings went on to enjoy a very good career, playing five seasons with Detroit and six with Pittsburgh. He missed only two starts in 162 games and made two Pro Bowls with the Steelers. Johnson struggled at the pro level and was out of football after 1998. Indianapolis took a chance on Con- lin even though he had been dealing with recurring neck problems since college, but "another episode" in the preseason ended his NFL aspirations. Rivera was the over- achiever. After spending his first season as a reserve, he started almost every game for the Packers from 1998 through 2004 and for Dallas during the 2005 and '06 seasons, earning three Pro Bowl invitations during his time in Green Bay. Bove and Anderson believe the only other group of offensive linemen playing together that compares to the 1991 re-

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