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D E C E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 18 With its appearance in the 2016 TaxS- layer Bowl, Penn State will be playing the Georgia Bulldogs for only the second time. The teams' first meeting, in the 1983 Sugar Bowl, was an historic occa- sion, as Penn State won its first national championship with a 27-23 victory on New Year's Day. Blue White Illustrated contributor and Penn State sports histo- rian Lou Prato was at that game as a fan and later wrote about it for his first book, The Penn State Football Encyclopedia. This story is adapted from the account of the game that appears in the encyclope- dia. N o one honestly predicted this would be the team that would give Penn State its first national champi- onship. There were far too many ques- tions before the season began and another imposing schedule. The Nittany Lions' principal rival, Pitt, was the preseason No. 1 team. The AP media poll tabbed the Lions eighth, and Sports Illustrated ranked them ninth, as- serting that "Penn State will be pressed to equal last season's 10-2 record" aDer losing 11, including two first-round NFL DraD choices and most of the offensive line. But Joe Paterno overhauled his offense, installing a big-play attack that com- bined the passing of veteran quarterback Todd Blackledge and the Lions' talented receivers, All-American Kenny Jackson and Gregg Garrity, with the speed and quickness of running backs Curt Warner and Jon Williams. In front of them was a revised offensive line featuring tackles Bill Contz and Ron Heller, guards Pete Speros and Dick Maginnis and center Mark Battaglia On defense, Paterno shiDed some per- sonnel between the front line and line- backer as he worked with various schemes. The starting unit featured ex- perienced players such as linemen Greg Gattuso and Walker Lee Ashley, line- backers Scott Radecic, Dave Paffenroth and Ken Kelley, as well as a veteran sec- ondary made up of Roger Jackson, Mark Robinson and Dan Biondi and hero Harry Hamilton. What happened through the season was a mixture of exceptional playing, emotional highs and lows, and some bad and good luck. A thrilling 27-24 upset of Nebraska in the first game under the lights at Beaver Stadium propelled the Lions to No. 3 but was followed by the lowest of lows, a stunning 42-21 loss at Alabama. But prodded by a fiery postgame locker room pep talk from backup senior running back Joel Coles, the team rebounded to win six in a row. Then, when it counted most, good luck intervened. A tie with Arkansas by then- No. 2 SMU one week before Penn State beat the Panthers helped set up the na- tional championship game in the Sugar Bowl at the New Orleans Superdome on New Year's Day with undefeated Georgia led by Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. And the Nittany Nation flocked to Bourbon Street by land, air and sea. "How 'bout them Dawgs?" came the Georgia cheer echoing down Bourbon Street and the French Quarter. "Woof- woof-woof." But the yells didn't have the same sting and were nowhere near as ag- gravating as the "Roll Tide" hoots that State fans had heard on their previous visit to the Sugar Bowl in 1978. They may have been outnumbered, but the Lion followers in New Orleans this time were not outdone by Bulldog fans, and screams of "We are… Penn State" could be heard throughout the downtown and especially in and around the team's headquarters at the Hilton Hotel. The manager of the hotel was a PSU graduate, and the lobby seemed like one gigantic tailgate for hours on end. Blue and White signs proclaiming "Lions #1... No Bull" were plastered on billboards and buses, and "Love Ya Lions" placards hung in the windows of many New Or- leans shops and bars. One watering hole on Bourbon Street catering to PSU fans renamed itself Fritzel's Lion's Den, hang- ing a giant Penn State football helmet on its second-floor balcony and playing recordings day and night of "Hail to the Lions" and "Fight on State." A pep rally outside the Superdome around 4 o'clock on New Year's Eve at- tracted thousands of fans, who were given large blue or white foam hands with the index finger pointed in the air and a #1 printed on it. Most of the sou- venir hands were toted into the stadium the next evening and thrust high into the air continuously by the exuberant Penn State followers. Following the usual routine for a New Year's Day game, the team arrived in New Orleans the day aDer Christmas. Once again, Paterno closed practices. He also tried to keep players away from the ar- dent fans who crowded the lobby of the Hilton for hours each day to socialize and catch glimpses of the team coming and going on buses. This was Paterno's chance to redeem himself and the Nittany Lions for what happened at the 1979 Sugar Bowl, when the team was No. 1 and was upset by Al- abama, 14-7. He didn't want any major distractions to deter the Lions from pur- suing their ultimate goal. Still, some players were able to cruise Bourbon Street early in the week, as Paterno kept his word to let them have some fun. Sportswriters saw this game as a matchup between State's explosive of- fense and Georgia's running game and pass defense. For the first time, a Lion team had gained more yards passing (2,369) than rushing (2,283), but it was a balanced attack with an attacking de- fense and boasted four All-Americans in Warner, Jackson, Ashley and Robinson and a Phi Beta Kappa quarterback in Blackledge. But Georgia had Walker, a junior who PSU's first meeting with Georgia yields a victory for the ages HOW SWEET IT IS

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