Penn State football: 5 best seasons in Nittany Lions history, ranked
Orange Bowl Champion, Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy. 4. No. 2 Coaches/No. 2 AP. 1969 (11-0). player. 806. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
Penn State football wins the Orange Bowl in 1969.
The 1969 Penn State Football team continues the tradition of no losses but also no national championship. In 1969, the Nittany Lions extending their win streak to 29 wins by finishing the season 11-0, including a 10-3 win over Missouri in the Orange Bowl. Back in 1969, the national champion was decided before bowl games were played.
President Richard Nixon declared that he would consider the winner of the Texas/Arkansas game the national champion. Texas would go on to win both the game and the national title.
Now, Penn State had the option to play Texas in the Cotton Bowl at season’s end but given the time in history in the South, some players felt cautious of traveling to Texas, and while that wasn’t the only factor of them opting for the Orange Bowl, it did play a key role. Now, the FACT and Sagarin polls voted Penn State co-national champion, but the 1969 season remains as an unclaimed national title year.
A few years after Nixon had resigned as president, Joe Paterno was quoted, saying “I’d like to know how could the president know so little about Watergate in 1973 and so much about college football in 1969?”