Blue White Illustrated

and The Associated Press selected him Lineman of the Week. However, what is remembered more than Reid's safeties is that Saban, mak- ing his debut with the Terps after six years as a head coach in the American Football League, ran off the field with- out shaking hands with Penn State's rookie coach. As Paterno recalled, Saban telephoned a few days later and apolo- gized, saying, "You really stunk. We just stunk more." As the years passed and Paterno's suc- cess grew, that game against Maryland became more momentous. So I decided to expand on the original research I did for The Penn State Football Encyclope- dia. That led me directly to the Paterno- Pattee Library Sports Archives, where I scoured all the paper files of the game and reviewed the football team's official game film. What I found was not only surprising but enlightening. It had been a perfect day for football, sunny with temperatures in the mid- 60s and winds of 10-15 mph when Penn State kicked off at about 1:30 p.m. The game was not televised, and because classes had not started, the student sec- tion was sparsely filled. It was Band Day with 60 Pennsylvania high school bands marching instead of the absent Blue Band. Still, the official crowd of 40,911, including about 5,300 high school band members, was 5,373 short of the stadi- um's 46,284 seating capacity in 1966. The library file includes the official typewritten play-by-play account of the game. This is how Reid's safeties are recorded: [First Quarter] 4-26 MD-2 Carlson punt blocked by Penn State's Mike Reid Safety Time: 2:08 [Fourth Quarter] 2-7 MD-7 Pastrano [sic], 7 yd. loss, Safety, caught by PS Vukmer & Reid Time: 48 seconds of period [Fourth Quarter] 1-10 MD-2 Petry, 2 yd. loss, Safety PS Time: 14:56 On one of the final statistic pages list- ing the scoring, the three safeties are noted, but no players are named. I decided to see exactly what happened and began watching the game film. Here's what I found: Safety No. 1: As Carlson sets up to punt from the south end zone, Reid is lined up as the right linebacker behind the six-man front and between end Frank Pringle and tackle Mike McBath. When the Maryland snapper centers the ball, Pringle is held up by the Terps' end and McBath by the tackle, but there is a small opening between them giving Reid a clear path to the punter. Reid runs by Maryland's up blocker, and with both arms high over his head he hits the ball with his right hand, causing it to carom backward out of the end zone. So much for eyewitness reporting that Reid blocked the ball with his stomach! Safety No. 2: Reid is lined up over the center as part of Penn State's front five against Maryland's unbalanced line right when Pastrana takes the snap. Reid is held up by a solid block from the cen- ter, and McBath is double-teamed by the Terps' left guard and tackle. Maryland's halfback sprints off the line, and with- out a Maryland right end on that side, Vukmer rushes in and pushes the Terp fullback-blocker into the quarterback as Morgan steams in from the left side. By this time, Reid has broken through an- other block by the left guard. Vukmer and his blocker go down to the right of Pastrana, and the quarterback is blasted to the ground by Reid and then Morgan. Score one for the eyewitness. Penn State University Archives SAFETY IN NUMBERS One of PSU's all-time great players, Reid was credited with three safeties in a sin- gle game, but films cast doubt on whether the record is valid.

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