part of that was a lifetime achievement award for Dr. Tom. the 94 NU team was good but not the certifiable killers (figuratively speaking and almost literally with Phillips) that the was the 95 Bugeaters. PSU was pretty stout on D and had Kerry Collins and Kijana Carter in the backfield. most people i know without a horse in the race seemed to think PSU was the better team that year.
I was going to Penn State at the time and was also a big CU fan. That week in 1994 was one of the worst weeks of my life as a college football fan. I went from thinking either PSU or CU was going to win the MNC to both of them getting eliminated.
Found a great blog write-up on it:
What I would like to see from Nebraska fans is an admission that Penn State deserved a share of the '94 title, which they did.
Indeed. Thirteen years later I have yet to hear a single Nebraska fan admit Penn State deserved a share of the National Championship in 1994. And now they complain about how the media portrays the 1997 split title? Pardon me, but cry me a river! I think a history lesson of our own is in order. Let's get back into the Way Back machine and go back to 1994.
The Penn State offense that year was one of the best offenses in the history of college football. They scored over thirty points in every game and scored over 45 points in seven of their games. In most contests Penn State took a four or five touchdown lead into halftime and the starters sat the entire second half. The major argument against the Nittany Lions that year was their lack of elite competition and poor defense. The Penn State offense was so good they often drove the length of the field in four or five plays. It wasn't uncommon for the defense to spend three quarters of the game on the field as a result of the offense scoring so fast. Most opponents scored most of their points in the second half after the game was already put away.
Penn State rolled over all of their competition that year. The problem was they rolled over everyone in such convincing fashion that critics were convinced their competition wasn't as good as originally thought. They destroyed #14 USC by a score of 38-14 in week two. After a thrilling 31-24 victory over #5 Michigan in the Big House, they returned home and destroyed #21 Ohio State by a score of 63-14 on Homecoming. With an easy schedule to follow, it appeared there was nothing in the way of stopping #1 Penn State from going undefeated and playing in the Rose Bowl.
The week after the Ohio State game, Penn State once again rolled over their opponent. Penn State was up by three touchdowns over Indiana in the fourth quarter. Joe Paterno, who is notorious for not running up the score, pulled his starters in a show of class. Indiana scored two late touchdowns to make the final score of 35-29 look much closer than the game actually was. The uninformed poll voters, and there are uninformed voters out there, woke up the next day and saw the 35-29 boxscore thinking Penn State struggled over an inferior opponent. They dropped Penn State in the polls behind Nebraska, who had beaten #2 Colarado the week before.
