Results tagged “history” from Nittany Nation

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting story about Penn State's strange journey to the 1923 Rose Bowl. It's a tale that includes Mary Pickford (left) and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Some sportswriting from that era:

"In place of the sweet incense of freshly brewed attar, the smoke of battle will issue from the Rose Bowl in Arroyo Seco, hewn from the rock and today dedicated to that monarch among sporting events, the annual East vs. West struggle for moleskin supremacy," wrote Harry A. Williams in the Jan. 1, 1923 edition of The Times.

The all-time series between Penn State and USC is tied, 4-4. The first meeting was a 14-3 USC victory in the 1923 Rose Bowl. The two head coaches in that game went by the nicknames Sphinx and Gloomy Gus.

The Trojans won the most recent meeting, defeating Penn State by the odd score of 29-5 in the 2000 Kickoff Classic.

Prior to Penn State's Rose Bowl battle with Oregon on Jan. 1, 1995, the Big Ten Conference was mulling its long-term connection with the Rose Bowl, according to this York Daily Record story:

PASADENA, Calif. (Dec. 30, 1994) -- Penn State athletic director Tim Curley acknowledged Thursday that the Big Ten has discussed ending its involvement with the Rose Bowl but insisted that the discussions were not active ones.

"That was just casual conversation," Curley said of the talks, which came during a meeting of conference ADs earlier this month. "At many of those meetings, we have an awful lot of discussions. We review our situations, our alignments. At this point, it is no more than a conversation, and not seriously discussed or contemplated."