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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 21 the Bulldogs needed more than a field goal to take the lead. Georgia opted not to try an onside kick, and while Dooley would later second- guess that decision, the strategy nearly succeeded. With Penn State facing third- and-3 from its own 32-yard line, the Bulldogs called timeout, and Blackledge went to the sideline to discuss the play. Paterno said a run was the safe play, but Blackledge wanted to throw a pass. "Throw it," Paterno said. The 7-yard square out to Garrity for the first down caught the Bulldogs completely by sur- prise. When reflecting on the game years later, Paterno said it was this play that epitomized Blackledge and the 1982 team. "That was my most memorable catch in the game," Garrity remembered years later. "We needed a first down to keep the drive going and to keep the ball. It was for a first down and kept the drive going, and we could run the clock. Basically, it kept Herschel Walker and the Georgia offense off the field. Herschel could just explode at any second. This was just as important as the catch in the end zone. And it was the last catch I ever caught at Penn State." As the seconds ticked off the clock with the scoreboard showing a 27-23 score, it was obvious to the players and their fans in the record Superdome crowd of 78,184 that the Lions were about to reach college football's Holy Grail. "We're No. 1, we're No. 1," they started chanting. When the game was finally over, they stood and cheered for nearly 15 minutes as the players hoisted Paterno on their shoulders and carried him into the center of the field with his right arm out- stretched and his index finger pointing to the top of the Superdome. It is an indeli- ble image captured by photographers and flashed to newspapers around the coun- try, and it remains one of the iconic scenes in Penn State history. "This is the best football team I've ever had," a jubi- lant Paterno told sportswriters. Dooley said, "Penn State is the best-balanced football team that I've seen since I've been coaching." Meanwhile, in the locker room, Blackledge broke out the cigars for himself and his teammates. "No. 1 At Last!" read the headline on the cover of Sports Illustrated, featuring Garrity celebrating aDer his touchdown. Copies of that SI cover photo now oc- cupy prominent spots in the homes of thousands of Penn State fans around the world. "There is nothing phony about college football's newest champion," wrote Peter Finney, sports editor of The New Orleans Times-Picayune. With his 228 passing yards, including the TD toss to Garrity, Blackledge was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Warner, despite his cramps, had outdueled the Heisman Tro- phy winner for the second year in a row, this time gaining 117 yards and two TDs on 18 carries and 23 yards on two pass re- ceptions. Radecic, an Academic All- American like Blackledge, had led the Lion defense with 14 tackles, and his fel- low Academic All-American, Hamilton, had 10 tackles. Paterno's Grand Experi- ment had finally paid the biggest divi- dend of all. A crowd of nearly 8,000, including Gov. Dick Thornburg, met the team upon its arrival at the Harrisburg Airport the next morning. Then, as the team buses made the 100-mile trip back to State College through the small towns in the central Pennsylvania mountains, thousands of well-wishers were on the road along the way to cheer, wave and honk their horns into the night as their new heroes passed by. "I learned as never before how much this team and its success are an expres- sion of so many people," Paterno would later write in his autobiography, "Paterno By the Book." "I never saw such love be- tween people who didn't know each other." When the team reached State College, it was greeted by a large crowd in the parking lot of a shopping mall, then another rally at Rec Hall. A few days later, they were honored with parade through downtown State College, and thousands turned out despite a heavy snow storm. It was a heady few months for Paterno and Penn State fans. Today, it is still a great memory for the players and coaches of the 1982 team and for all the fans who were inside the Superdome on that historic night to see it all happen. ADer 95 years of football, Penn State was, as the famous Sports Illustrated cover proclaimed, "No. 1 At Last." Penn State Athletics

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