December 31, 1972 — Penn State plays in the first Sugar Bowl held on New Year’s Eve and loses, 14-0, to secondranked Oklahoma after star running back John Cappelletti is forced to miss the game with a virus. Oklahoma is later forced to forfeit the game to Penn State after the NCAA penalizes Oklahoma for using ineligible players.
July 1, 1977 — Assistant coaches Jim O’Hora and Frank Patrick retire; O’Hora after 31 years and Patrick after 24 years of coaching and three as athletic academic counselor. September 19, 1977 — The last record crowd before another Beaver Stadium expansion — a standing room only gathering of 62,554 — turns out in the second game of the season to see Penn State beat Houston, 31-4. Junior quarterback Chuck Fusina hits 15-of-23 passes for 245 yards and a TD and All-American Randy Sidler makes 11 tackles and causes one fumble to lead the victory.
September 1973 — Defensive tackle Randy Crowder becomes the first African-American elected captain when he is chosen as a defensive co-captain along with linebacker Ed O’Neil. Tailback John Cappelletti and center Mark Markovich are elected offensive co-captains.
October 15, 1977 — Joe Paterno misses the first game of his head coaching career when his 11-year old son, David, is severely injured in a trampoline accident. Paterno spends the day in a hospital in Danville, Pa., as his team, coached by offensive coordinator Bob Phillips and defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, staves off a fourth-quarter comeback at Syracuse and wins, 31-24.
September 22, 1973 — Dave Shukri and Brad Benson become the first freshmen to play varsity football since 1951 when they play in the second half of a 39-0 win at Navy. September 19, 1973 — Women become members of the marching Blue Band as the band entertains a near record Homecoming crowd of 59,980 in the home season-opener with Iowa. The five coed pioneers include Debbie Frisbee, flag carrier; Carol Gable, alto horn; Linda Hall, clarinet; Kit Murphie, alto horn; and Susan Nowlin, drums. December 13, 1973 — John Cappelletti becomes the first Nittany Lion to win the Heisman Trophy as college football’s outstanding player and accepts the award with an emotional speech about his younger brother, stricken with leukemia, before Vice President Gerald Ford and 4,000 other dignitaries in New York.
Halfback John Cappelletti led Penn State to a 12-0 season in 1973 and won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards as the nation’s outstanding player. Cappelletti ran for 1,522 yards as a senior and is the only Nittany Lion to rush for 200 yards in three consecutive games. An emotional Cappelletti dedicated the Heisman Trophy to his younger brother, Joey, who was January 1, 1974 — Penn State beats LSU, 16-9, in the battling leukemia, during a moving acceptance speech Orange Bowl to become the first Nittany Lion team to win 12 that has become part of Penn State and college football games without a loss, but the squad is voted No. 5 by the lore. Cappelletti was inducted into the National Football Associated Press and UPI. Joe Paterno calls the team “the Foundation College Football Hall of Fame in 1993. best I’ve ever coached” and votes it No. 1 in the “Paterno Poll.”
July 1, 1974 — Penn State withdraws from the Eastern College Athletic Conference in a dispute over financial arrangements with its 214 member schools. Penn State balks at paying 1/5th of the ECAC’s total budget, plus 10 percent of television and bowl revenues. September 21, 1974 — In what might have been the biggest upset of a Joe Paterno team ever, 24-point underdog Navy, coached by former Paterno assistant George Welsh, beats the Nittany Lions, 7-6, in rain and wind at Beaver Stadium. October 12, 1974 — Tight end Randy Sidler becomes the first freshman to start since 1951 when two-year regular Dan Natale is sidelined by injury in the Homecoming game against Wake Forest. Sidler catches two passes for 41 yards, but another freshman wingback, Jimmy, Cefalo thrills the crowd by scoring touchdowns on a 57-yard pass from Tom Shuman and a 39-yard run. November 16, 1974 — Penn State wins its 500th game by beating Ohio University, 3516, at Beaver Stadium despite 85 yards in penalties and four lost fumbles as Tom Donchez scores three touchdowns. December 31, 1975 — Penn State plays in the first Sugar Bowl held at the Louisiana Superdome and loses to Alabama, 13-6. January 6, 1976 — Ridge Riley, creator of the alumni “Football Letter,” dies of a heart attack in the kitchen of head coach Joe Paterno while interviewing Paterno for the final chapter of his soon-to-be-published book, “Road to Number One.” August 1976 — John Black takes over the alumni “Football Letter” and writes the first issue analyzing the team before fall practice. September 18, 1976 — A record crowd of 62,503 and a regional TV audience watch as Ohio State visits Penn State for the first time in history and avenges four previous losses in five games at Columbus with 12-7 win. November 6, 1976 — Joe Paterno wins his 100th game as a head coach as the Nittany Lions beat North Carolina State, 41-20, before 60,462 at Beaver Stadium.
September 1, 1978 — The addition of 16,000 seats to Beaver Stadium is completed after lifting the existing stadium, constructing 20 to 40 new rows of concrete stands, eliminating the track that had encircled the field, closing the south end of the horseshoe and expanding the press box. September 11, 1978 — A Beaver Stadium record crowd of 77,154 sees Penn State beat Rutgers, 26-10, in the home season-opener. Matt Bahr ties his brother Chris’s record of four field goals and Chuck Fusina hits Scott Fitzkee for a 53yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to spark the win.
November 6, 1978 — In a watershed battle of unbeaten teams before another record crowd of 78,019 and a national TV audience, No. 2 Penn State defeated No. 5 Maryland, 27-3, limiting the Terps to minus-32 yards rushing, intercepting five passes (three by Pete Harris) and recording 10 quarterback sacks (three by Larry Kubin). Matt Bahr kicked two field goals and Chuck Fusina connected on a 63-yard TD pass to Tom Donovan. November 13, 1978 — For the first time in program history, Penn State is voted No. 1 in the polls by the Associated Press and United Press International after beating North Carolina State, 19-10, thanks to another record four field goals by Matt Bahr. November 16, 1978 — The Nittany Lion Shrine near Recreation Hall is damaged for the first time since it was dedicated in 1942, when vandals smash off the right ear. January 1, 1979 — No. 1 ranked Penn State plays for the National Championship for first time and loses to No. 2 Alabama, 14-7, in the Sugar Bowl when Mike Guman is stopped on fourth-and-inches at the goal line in the fourth quarter in what was the biggest play of the game. November 3, 1979 — Miami (Fla.) upsets Penn State, 26-10, at Beaver Stadium behind the passing of surprise starting freshman quarterback Jim Kelly. The Hurricanes’ new coach Howard Schnellenberger tells reporters, “This day will go down in the history of Miami football as the day we turned our football program around.” December 1, 1979 — The first Penn State punt to be blocked in 10 years occurs when Ralph Giacomarro’s punt is blocked by Pitt after 629 consecutive successful kicks in a 29-14 loss to the Panthers at Beaver Stadium. March 1, 1980 — Joe Paterno becomes Athletic Director succeeding Ed Czekaj, but Paterno remains head football coach. July 1, 1980 — J.T. White, the last assistant coach from the Rip Engle era except for Joe Paterno, retires after 26 years of coaching the defensive ends. September 6, 1980 — Beaver Stadium’s seating capacity increases to 83,600 with the addition of 7,000 seats. An electronic scoreboard also debuts as a record crowd of 78,926 watches Penn State whip Colgate, 54-10.
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