Blue White Illustrated

mentioned the JVs, although the 1982 publication actually had a full page of statistics about the 1981 season in which the team finished 3-2. The Lions outscored their opponents 114-62. Bill Emerson had 179 yards on 48 carries, and Jeff Butya finished with 143 yards on 37 attempts to lead the team in rushing, while quarterback Doug Strang completed 18 of 40 pass attempts for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Two years later, Strang became the starting quarterback. Two other current members of Penn State's football staff were involved with the JV squad before it was disbanded in 1983 after three games. "I was a student trainer for football from 1979 to '82 and head trainer in 1982, re" called current head trainer Tim Bream. "I helped out at the junior varsity games. I can't remember all the coaches, but I think John Rosenberg [who coached defensive backs] was one of the coaches, along with a graduate assistant named Brian Ford. " Spider Caldwell, the popular equipment and facilities coordinator, was in his first year as a student manager in 1983 and was assigned to be the equipment manager for the JV games. Graduate assistant Pat Flaherty, who assisted Dick Anderson with the offensive line, was the JV coach. "The junior varsity was the scout team, so when we played a game, we usually ran the plays of the opponent our varsity was playing that week," Caldwell said. "We would hold the play cards we used in workouts against the varsity, holding up the play cards in the huddle. We would run some of our own plays, but much of the time we would use the scout plays. That way, anyone scouting the JV games to see what plays the varsity ran wouldn't get much. I specifically remember running the West Virginia plays against Fork Union on the intramural field the day before we played West Virginia at Beaver Stadium. " That Fork Union game on Oct. 21 was the second of the season after an earlier game against Nassau. The final JV game was played against Milford on Nov. 11, 1983, but all the final scores have been lost somewhere in the sports archives. That was nearly 78 years after the original freshman team walloped State College High School, 45-0, in its historic first game on Oct. 2, 1915. Although that game is not listed in the official athletic records, it is noted in the 1917 school yearbook, La Vie. The freshman team didn't lose again until five years later, on Nov. 8, 1919, when Pitt won, 7-0, to end a streak of 18 consecutive victories, including wins over such opponents as Penn, Indiana and Wyoming Seminary and scoreless ties with Pitt and the Bellefonte Academy. A 78-0 victory over Bloomsburg in 1917 set the record for the highest score by a freshman team. Through the 1920s, the Lions continued to field strong freshman teams, but what's surprising is that the school continued to have a freshman team after de-emphasizing athletics in the 1930s. As part of the de-emphasis, financial aid was eliminated, meaning that the teams of the early 1930s were made up, essentially, of walk-ons and became perennial losers. The 1931 varsity team is considered the worst in the school's 126-year history, with a 2-8 record, and the freshman team was just as bad. Those frosh were outscored 123-14, with Kiski Prep handing the team its most lopsided loss ever, 65-0 When coach Bob Higgins' alumni friends began recruiting players in the mid-1930s and providing them with jobs and housing, the varsity team improved, and so did the freshman team. Perhaps the greatest freshman team of all time was the 1941 squad, which was loaded with outstanding players like guard Steve Suhey and end John Potsklan who, after World War II, became the foundation of the varsity's undefeated Cotton Bowl team of 1947. Led by triple-threat tailback Dave Alston – Penn State football's first black player – the 1941 team became the first undefeated freshman team in 15 years. Coached by Marty McAndrew, the frosh rolled over five opponents: Bucknell (1910), Colgate (21-0), Syracuse (21-0), Cornell (20-6) and Army (33-8). Alston scored eight touchdowns, passed for three others – two to his brother Harry – and dropkicked five extra points. The decisive victory over Army is significant because the Cadet frosh would form the foundation of Army's national championship varsity team of 1944. "This game, according to the players, was the toughest and hardest they have ever played in, stated the official " record in the Penn State archives. With the outbreak of World War II, freshmen were eligible from 1942-45, but Penn State did not field another freshman team until Engle became the head coach in 1950. Instead, the Lions had a JV teams that went 0-1-1 in 1942, 3-2 in '48 and 21 in '49. (They also played three JV games in '47, but their record is not known.) Now, declaring the 1941 freshman team the greatest of all time would get a strong argument from the 1968 team. It featured such future standouts as backs Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris, offensive tackle Dave Joyner, linebacker Gary Gray and defensive back Greg Ducatte. They played only two games, defeating West Virginia, 49-7, in Beaver Stadium before a crowd of 400, and Pitt, 32-13, in a Friday night charity game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh on Nov. 8 that drew 6,000 fans despite rainy weather. A Pitt fumble following the opening kickoff led immediately to an 8-yard touchdown by quarterback Bob Parsons, and minutes later Mitchell scored after the defense forced a punt. The Lions had a 20-point lead on a pass interception for a touchdown by linebacker Mike Reitz, who also kicked the two extra points before Pitt finally scored just before the half. When Pitt scored again late in the fourth quarter, Penn State had 32 points, including another interception by Reitz for a touchdown. "I remember the game well, said Joyner, " now Penn State's athletic director. "It was one of the last athletic events at Forbes Field, and they were starting to dismantle the stadium for their move the next season to Three Rivers [Stadium]. We dressed in the Pirates' locker room, and I remember seeing the names of [Roberto] Clemente, [Willie Stargell] and others above the lockers. A lot of us were awed that we were in the same locker room where Clemente and Stargell dressed. "I also remember the rain and the mud, and we were having fun because we were beating the heck out of our biggest rival. But it was an eerie feeling under the lights and because of the weather, and I didn't think there were more than 1,000 people there. That was a great freshman team, and I can't see how there was ever a better I one."

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