Blue White Illustrated

showed it in their first Big Ten game at Piscataway on Sept. 13, 2014, by display- ing crass signs in the parking lots and wearing crude custom-made shirts. One particularly vulgar item was a blue-and- white pennant hoisted high in a promi- nent tailgate spot close to the stadium gates with an indecent image of a man and a boy. During the game at High Point Solutions Stadium, Penn State fans were frequently verbally harassed by Scarlet Knight fans shouting near- obscenities about the scandal. The fol- lowing Monday, Rutgers' then-athletic director, Julie Hermann, publicly apolo- gized for the "regrettable actions of a handful of Rutgers fans on Saturday night that do not convey the message of good, competitive spirit that we look forward to having with our new Big Ten rival Penn State University." What galled the pumped-up record crowd of 53,774 even more was that their team was winning a close game all night over a struggling Penn State offense and defense until quarterback Christian Hackenberg led an 80-yard drive in the last two minutes for a 13-10 victory. By the time Rutgers played at Beaver Stadium in late September 2015, head coach Kyle Flood had been suspended for various violations of school and NCAA policy, and in December of that year he was fired. One of his assistants was in charge as Penn State coasted to an easy 28-3 win thanks partly to the run- ning of true freshman Saquon Barkley, who had decommitted from Rutgers a year and a half earlier to become a Nit- tany Lion, rushing for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps it was the miserable rain, sleet, cold and windy weather in Piscat- away on Nov. 19 of last season that helped prevent a repeat of the ugly scene two years earlier. When Penn State abruptly turned a 9-0 halftime lead into a rout early in the third quarter, most of the Rutgers fans in the announced crowd of 51,356 scampered to their cars, and at one point in the fourth quarter hundreds of Penn State students bolted into the almost empty Rutgers student section until police intervened. Rutgers won only two nonconference games in 2016 under new coach Chris Ash, but this year his team went into November still in contention for a bowl invitation. After losing to Penn State earlier this month, 35-6, those chances were looking slim, primarily because its "climatic" final game of the season is against – you guessed it – Michigan State. Competitive potential Now, here is something surprising that could figure into this discussion: Both Maryland and Rutgers are officially listed as land grant colleges, but so are Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin. Maybe they all should have a chance to win that lovely Land Grant Trophy in a round-robin framework – a la the Com- mander-in-Chief Trophy with the Army, Navy and Air Force academies So, here we are, still trying to deter- mine whether Maryland or Rutgers should be Penn State's new season-end- ing "bitter rival." Perhaps there should be a vote, with an innovative formula that would include each school's coaches, players, administrative person- nel, beat media and fans, as well as Big Ten brass. My vote would be for Mary- land because its competitive potential could lead to the type of upsets that spoil the loser's season. Another unique trophy could be created with a snapping turtle sitting on the back of a ferocious- looking growling Lion. Yet, there is another solution that would be perfect. Get Pitt to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Big Ten and finally convince Notre Dame to relinquish its football independence. Place Pitt in the already strong East Division and Notre Dame in the weaker West and you've made each division stronger. Then in the "climatic" regular-season finale, Pitt plays Penn State, Michigan State plays Notre Dame and Maryland plays Rutgers. Not a chance, you say? Never underes- timate the college football gurus. ■ A Penn State football book by Lou Prato with a forward by Adam Taliaferro The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions Price: $14.95 plus shipping Published by Triumph Books (soft cover) Autographed copies available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171 Autographed copies of Lou's book We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions are still available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171. Price: $19.95 plus tax where applicable and shipping

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