Penn State's 1994 Team Comes Home Again: 'They're Legends Around Here'

The 1994 Nittany Lions went 12-0 but couldn't play for the national championship. Penn State will give them another standing ovation Saturday.

Quarterback Kerry Collins led the Penn State Nittany Lions to a 12-0 record in 1994, the team's last undefeated season. / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

College football programs dream of going unbeaten, yet for Penn State’s 1994 team, there was a lingering disappointment. The Nittany Lions capped one of their greatest seasons ever with a win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl, but a “weird” feeling still permeated the locker room — a feeling that they deserved more.

The Nittany Lions never got to test their undefeated record against Nebraska, which claimed college football’s 1994 national championship. The “what if” forever remains in Penn State’s record books, with fans and players wondering what would have happened had the two teams played for the trophy.

“I had one of the Nittany Lion ‘Penn State National Champion’ Nike hats,” said Keith Conlin, an offensive lineman for the 1994 team. “... I tried to give [it as] a tip [to a parking attendant]. He looked at me and he goes, ‘Bro, I got four of those already. They don't mean s—.’”

On Saturday night, when Penn State hosts Illinois at Beaver Stadium, the program will celebrate the 30th anniversary of that 1994 team, which went 12-0 but finished No. 2 to Nebraska. Time hasn’t healed all the bitterness regarding how that season ended, particularly for the nation’s best offense that still holds school and Big Ten scoring records of the modern era. 

But what endures is that team’s dominance, its collection of NFL talent and its bond. For today’s Nittany Lions, few of whom really know the story of 1994, the reunion offers a chance to learn about and from one of the best teams in college football history. 

“Anything we can learn from a group like that, [we] always want to soak that in,” Penn State receiver Liam Clifford said. 

RELATED: Why isn't Saturday's game vs. Illinois a 'Penn State White Out'

‘Meant to be’

Joe Paterno’s 1992 team went 7-5, finishing with a loss in the Blockbuster Bowl. It was Penn State’s last independent season before joining the Big Ten in 1993, a pivotal point in the program’s history. Brandon Noble, a freshman defensive tackle on the 1992 team, recalled Paterno’s response to that underwhelming season, saying it “would never be like that again.” That sentiment rang true, as the 1993 Penn State team adjusted to Big Ten life with a 10-2 record and a Citrus Bowl victory over Tennessee.

Then came 1994, Paterno’s 29th year at the helm, and things fully clicked. Starting the season ranked ninth in the AP Poll, Penn State blasted Minnesota 56-3 in Week 1 to begin a 5-0 tear in which it outscored opponents 258-86. The national momentum shifted toward Penn State after its October 31-24 win at No. 5 Michigan, which vaulted Penn State to No. 1 in the country.

“That was a huge game,” Conlin said. “It was one of those classic college football moments. You come back and there's an impromptu pep rally, like the rip-the-goalpost-down kind of thing.”

Quarterback Kerry Collins, running back Ki-Jana Carter and tight end Kyle Brady, all top-10 NFL Draft picks in 1995, led an offense that was balanced and unstoppable. It averaged 47 points per game, still the single-season record of the Big Ten’s modern era. But there’s always a curveball. For Penn State, that arrived in Illinois in mid-November.

The story is famous. Penn State’s hotel in Champaign lost power on gameday, throwing off the players’ routines and forcing them to a pregame meal Conlin said consisted of “pizzas and hoagies.”

“Joe had always warned us, we're gonna have a day where it's not going right for you,” Conlin said, “and you’ve really got to dig down and you’ve got to win that game you weren't supposed to win.”

Illinois claimed an early 21-0 lead, leaving the Nittany Lions scrambled but still confident. Despite the start, Penn State rallied for a 35-31 win. 

“Thankfully, we had an offense on the field that everybody felt very confident in,” Noble said. “That was one of those moments where you were like, ‘Man, like, this is kind of meant to be.’”

From there, Penn State completed an unbeaten regular season at 11-0. But the team still ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll behind Nebraska, which also was undefeated. And that’s where controversy took over.

How's this for a highlight video? 🎞️

09.28.24 — The 1994 Team Recognition#WeArePennState pic.twitter.com/cpDEF37KxI

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 27, 2024

RELATED: Penn State vs. Illinois preview, predictions

Out of Penn State’s hands

Having joined the Big Ten, Penn State was contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl against the Pac-12 champion. Had it still been independent, Penn State could have matched up against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to decide the national champion. 

Instead, politics outweighed the chance to decide a true national champion on the field, pitting Nebraska against Miami in the Orange Bowl and Penn State against Oregon in the Rose Bowl. The Orange Bowl was played Jan. 1, with the Rose Bowl scheduled for Jan. 2. Penn State’s only hope for a national championship first required a Nebraska loss. 

“We were all glued to that TV pulling for Miami,” Noble said. 

The Cornhuskers, led by longtime coach Tom Osborne, rallied to a 24-17 win after the Hurricanes did some premature dancing. Penn State, undefeated but still waiting to play, had to watch as the national media crowned Nebraska champions. 

“I remember to a T when [broadcaster Bob] Costas said, ‘Congratulations to Tom Osborne and Nebraska for their national title.’ Let's just say that there was a lot of broken furniture in the hotel rooms where we were staying,” Conlin said. “The next day, we were on ABC. So, was ABC going to follow suit and tell us that we're national champions when we win the Rose Bowl?”

Penn State did its job against Oregon, winning 38-20. But from the start, the team was more focused on how it could prove its worthiness as the national champion. That mindset only deepened when Carter, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, ripped off an 83-yard score on the opening play.

“All of a sudden it was like, ‘Oh man, this is going to be easy. We're going to win by 100,’” Conlin said.

Oregon fought hard, but Paterno’s team broke away late. Players grabbed roses on the sideline. The Nittany Lions had done everything possible to prove they were champions. But reality tempered their joy. 

“It's not how the season should have ended,” Noble said. “Still an incredible experience to go win a Rose Bowl and to go undefeated, but there's just kind of that, ‘Damn, like, so close.’”

Penn State returned to State College, and sure enough, those final championship hopes were eliminated. Nebraska claimed the 1994 national championship, and a January blizzard canceled the Nittany Lions’ Rose Bowl parade. 

Former Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter will serve as honorary captain for the Nittany Lions' game against Illinois on Saturday. / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

From 1994 to 2024

The hypotheticals of a Penn State vs. Nebraska showdown still fuel debates. Both Noble and Conlin believe they would have won the legendary matchup. But they also reflect on how special that season was rather than what it could have been. 

“You appreciate what a great, amazing group of men you got to play football with, and how hard it is to do that,” Noble said. “And you also kind of understand that sometimes, even when you do everything you can, it doesn't work out the way it should.” 

Eyes are on Penn State’s 2024 team now, of which Noble and Conlin are big fans. When asked what they want the current team to know about the 1994 season, they highlighted the “ridiculous” offense that didn’t score fewer than 31 points in a game. 

“It was a very unique combination of having some of the best players in the country at every position,” Noble said. “That preseason camp, [the defense] couldn't stop them. …  It was borderline non-competitive.”

Conlin said that the offense wasn’t complex. Players simply executed basic concepts at high levels. “We had a very vanilla offense, but we ran at a very, very high speed,” he said.

Today’s Nittany Lions may not know all the details of 1994 — “I know there was some controversy at some point with that team,” quarterback Drew Allar said — but they understand and embrace the legacy.

“I get to see the impact [they] left now, so it’s super cool that the special season they had in ‘94 still lives on to this day,” Allar said. “That’s something we talk about throughout the team, trying to replicate something like that. … They’re legends around here.”

A lot has changed in college football over 30 years. In many ways, Penn State’s 1994 snub helped initiate changes to the playoff structure, first with the BCS and now the College Football Playoff. It’s fitting, then, that this weekend’s celebration comes as the 2024 Nittany Lions continue their quest for the program’s first CFP appearance — a system partially sparked by the 1994 controversy — in a matchup against Illinois nearly 30 years after that power outage was about the only thing capable of slowing them down.

“The game has changed a lot, there’s no doubt about it, but one thing that hasn’t changed is blue-collar, tough, hardhat Penn State football,” center Nick Dawkins. “That’s what I’m hoping they’re able to see when we line up against Illinois.”

More Penn State Football

How Penn State is preparing to face unbeaten Illinois

Penn State begins a season-defining stretch against Illinois

Illinois' Bret Bielema has a long, wild history at Beaver Stadium

Daniel Mader, a May 2024 graduate of Penn State, is an Editorial Intern with The Sporting News. As a student journalist with The Daily Collegian, he served as a sports editor and covered Nittany Lions women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and more. He has also covered Penn State football for NBC Sports and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with additional work in the Centre Daily Times, Lancaster Online and more. Follow him on X @DanielMader_    or Instagram @dmadersports.