40.10/31/92 - First Win over Penn St. on Halloween: BYU Cougars – 30, #14 Penn St. Nittany Lions – 17

             The #14 Penn St. Nittany Lions (6-2) came into Cougar Stadium on Halloween night to play the BYU Cougars (4-4) for their first ever trip to Provo. The Nittany Lions had won both previous matchups against higher ranked Cougar squads. The game was the third and final matchup between two iconic coaches: Joe Paterno, who ranked first among NCAA coaches with 246 career victories, and LaVell Edwards, who was ranked fifth with 187 career victories. As the teams took the field, they were greeted by 66,016 howling fans who continued to howl throughout the game.

The Nittany Lions scored first with a 39-yard field goal by V.J. Muscillo. BYU responded immediately. Starting at their own 31-yard line, third-string QB Ryan Hancock led the Cougars down the field, including a spectacular 26-yard catch by Eric Drage that took them to the 20-yard line. A Penn State penalty advanced the ball to the 10. Two 5-yard rushes from Kalin Hall (father of Jalen Hall) pushed the ball over the goal line to give BYU the lead. On their final drive of the first quarter, BYU made it to the 11-yard line before flipping the field for the second quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Hancock connected with Otis Sterling in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard TD reception. Penn State drove to the Cougar 40, but a couple of illegal procedure calls sparked by the deafening crowd derailed the drive and forced another punt. The Cougars rode the backs of Kalin Hall and Jamal Willis on a long drive, including a 26-yard romp by Hall, to the Penn St. 6-yard line. On second-and-goal, Hancock dropped back surveying the field. As two Nittany Lions closed in on him, he threw a pass to a pair of Cougars in the back corner of the end zone. Hema Heimuli caught it for a touchdown to give BYU a 21-3 lead. After a third consecutive punt by the Lions, the Cougars started their next drive at their own 20. After two consecutive running plays gained no yardage, Hancock went to the air on third-and-ten. From the shotgun position, he spotted speedster Tyler Anderson sprinting through the defense and launched a ball that Anderson caught in full stride at the Penn St. 35. Anderson swerved to avoid the referee and raced untouched into the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown - BYU’s fourth consecutive TD drive - and a 27-3 lead after special teams muffed the extra point attempt. The roaring crowd continued to cause problems for the Penn St. Offense, which couldn’t get in sync with several false-start penalties. BYU’s next drive ended quickly - with an interception at the Penn St. 41-yard line. With just two minutes remaining in the half, the Lions mounted their longest drive of the first half. On fourth-and-six, from the Cougars’ 8-yard line, the Nittany Lions decided to forego the field goal. The Cougar D tenaciously guarded the receivers and Kerry Collins’ pass fell incomplete, allowing BYU to head to the locker room with a 24 point lead.

Tyler Anderson
Courtesy of BYU Photo

Kalin Hall lost 15 yards on the Cougars’ first drive of the second half, leading to a punt. Luckily the Cougar D kept Collins from completing a long bomb on their drive leading to another Penn State punt. The Cougars’ next drive was almost derailed when Jamal Willis fumbled the ball in Cougar territory. Luckily the ball managed to roll out of bounds after a Nittany Lion failed to recover it cleanly. Sticking with the run, the Cougars drove to the 9-yard line; but when they failed to convert the first down, David Laudner booted a 27-yard FG to give BYU a 27-point lead. Penn State drove 78 yards on their next possession, including a fourth down conversion that gave the Lions a first-and-goal. The goal line stand by the Cougar D, bolstered by the roaring crowd resulted in a 4th down pass being batted away in the end zone to end the drive at the Cougar 2.

BYU started to bring in their second-stringers for the fourth quarter. Penn State organized two 80-yard TD drives in the fourth, but it was too little, too late. The first one ended with a one-yard jump by Richie Anderson on fourth down - after the Cougars rejected his first two plunges. The two-point conversion attempt was swatted incomplete. The second TD drive ended with a 5-yard pass from Collins to O.J. McDuffie with less than two minutes remaining. This time Collins completed the two-point conversion to Justin Williams to round out the scoring in the 30-17 BYU win.

Ryan Hancock
Courtesy of BYU Photo
Kalin Hall
Courtesy of BYU Photo



Kalin Hall finished the night with 117 rushing yards and a TD. Ryan Hancock threw for 220 yards and 3 TDs. Following the loss, Penn State dropped to #23 in the AP poll with a 6-3 record. They would finish the season 7-5 with a loss to Stanford in the Blockbuster Bowl. BYU would eventually make it back into the top 25 following their victory over Utah a few weeks later, but finished unranked following their loss to Kansas in the Aloha Bowl.

 

Game highlights: https://youtu.be/y55otjdqzGI

 

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