Throwback Thursday: Syracuse Blows Out Penn State in 1987
The 1987 Syracuse football team is one of the best in program history. They were undefeated and in the National Championship discussion for the last half of the season. They came out of nowhere, at least according to the national landscape, after going 5-6 the year before. Syracuse was unranked to start the season, and finished fourth in the nation with an 11-0-1 final record.
During that season, there were many exciting moments. One of the most memorable games was their 48-21 blowout victory over defending national champion Penn State. The Nittany Lions came in as a hurdle Syracuse could not jump, having beaten the Orangemen 16 consecutive times. This was a statement game for Syracuse, which had climbed to 13th in the country. Penn State came in as the 10th best team in the nation.
Winning this game would show that Syracuse was past their previous stretch of nine losing seasons over the previous 15 seasons. Past not having a season with more than seven wins in 20 years.
Right from the first play, Syracuse announced their arrival that this iteration of the Orangemen would not be pushed around by Penn State. On the first play, quarterback Don McPherson faked the option, dropped back, and unloaded a bomb to wide receiver Rob Moore. Moore's route combined with McPherson's fake, caused the Penn State defensive back to fall to the ground. The result was a wide open Moore, who caught the pass and ran into the end zone untouched.
The sold out crowd of over 50,000 roared at the opening score, and Syracuse would cruise from there.
''The opening play was decided on at Thursday's practice,'' McPherson said via the New York Times. ''No matter when we got the ball the first time or where we would throw the long one. It got us out of the blocks like you wouldn't believe and with the fans yelling and the whole team up then everything just snowballed for us."
The Syracuse defense entered the game first in the nation in run defense, and held Blair Thomas, Penn State's star running back and Heisman hopeful, to just 42 yards on the ground.
Syracuse ran for over 200 yards and threw for more than 340, while Penn State was held to just 302 total yards. McPherson finished 15-20 for 336 yards.
"This puts us at another level for the season," head coach Dick MacPherson said via the New York Times. "Now the pressure is on us because before people said, 'You're 5-and-0 but look who you played.'"
After the win, Syracuse would go on to win their final five games of the regular season before a tie with Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. Just a few years after the game, the rivalry between Syracuse and Penn State, which played every year from 1922 (except for 1943) until 1990. Penn State wanted Syracuse to play two games at PSU for every one game at SU. Syracuse declined that offer.
You can watch more from the 1987 game in the video at the top of the page.
