Frank Ahrenhold, a former defensive tackle for Penn State, and I have been friends for a long time. We used to talk a lot about Penn State football and what it was like to play for Joe Paterno in the early years of his coaching career. It was all fascinating to me, but one game in which Ahrenhold played and starred has always stood out in my mind, and the minds of many, many long-time PSU fans, as one of the most memorable football games in all of Penn State history.
Ahrenhold played for the Nittany Lions from 1968 to 1972, and he was awarded one of only two game balls given out after one of Penn State’s most iconic victories: the 30-6 stomping of Texas in the 1972 Cotton Bowl. This was the game that showed the country how to stop the wishbone and that brought Penn State, once and for all, into the national discussion.
I recently talked to Frank about that game again, along with other things about Penn State, and I’d like to share what he had to say.
It’s a well-known story. Penn State was undefeated in 1968 and finished second in the national polls. The next season, Penn State went undefeated again and, after Richard Nixon declared Texas the best team in the country during a visit to Texas, the Nittany Lions were controversially voted second in the polls once again. Needless to say, this did not sit well with Paterno, his team, or anyone else interested in Penn State football.
“We had the ’68 and ’69 teams that ran off 22 games in a row,” Ahrenhold said, “a couple Orange Bowl victories, and we finished No.2 in the polls both years. And then we came to sort of a down year, after Mike Reid and Steve Smear and all of those guys graduated. We lost three games that season, and I think we were offered the Liberty Bowl or something like that, and we just said the heck with it and passed on it.
“So anyway, people were saying that we were just another flash in the pan. You know, another eastern school that made a little bit of noise and then at the end of the day just kind of disappeared into the background.
“But I came in with a talented recruiting class. I came in with guys like Franco Harris, Lydell Mitchell, Gary Grey, Dick Joyner, just big time Pennsylvania kids, big 33 kids, solid recruiting class. We were chaffing a little about the fact that people were dismissing us. So we saw our chance to make some noise in the 1971 season, and we came into that year with a chip on our shoulder and I think the staff did as well.
“We started off strong, too, and just kept on going. We went into Syracuse, who was supposed to be the team to beat in the east, and just crushed them. I don’t think they got a first down until the second half. We ran off the rest of them until we went to Tennessee, and I don’t know, that was one of those games where we couldn’t get out of our own way – we fumbled three punts and stuff like that – and ended up losing the game. It was just so disheartening.
“But it was our only loss, and then we were offered a shot at the Cotton Bowl. For all of us guys on that team, that meant a lot because we all felt that we got snubbed when Texas got that championship and we thought this was our chance at retribution. We saw an opportunity to shut some people up, to be honest with you. We had a good team, and we knew we did.”
“It was also Texas, so it was payback time. We had a chance to beat a big-time southern school on their own turf, and do it convincingly.”
So the stage was set in front of a national audience to face the Longhorns and their wishbone offense, which had yet to be even slowed down. The Lions, however, had a plan. “We knew we had to get them going sideways,” Ahrenhold said. “We were an eight-man front, basically a stack-eight. The only two down linemen we ever played were the two defensive tackles. So our job was just to create havoc. Get on their guards and drive them into the backfield, and have the linebackers just scrape off that. So basically, we dared their five offensive linemen to block our four, and we didn’t think there was a team in the country that could do that.
“Before the game, Joe (Paterno) was pretty quiet,” Ahrenhold added. “He just kept reminding us about the opportunity we had to put Penn State back on the map. When we went out and started the game, I’ll tell you what, after the first two series I knew we were going to win. I knew they couldn’t block us, and I knew they couldn’t run the ball against us. We got them going sideways, and with the speed of our guys like (John) Skorupan and (Bruce) Bannon, it was three-and-out, three-and-out. Those guys had a long day; they didn’t get much yardage, let me tell you.”
Texas took a 6-3 lead into the locker room at halftime, but Penn State scored 27 unanswered points in the second half and won the game going away. Mitchell led Penn State with 146 yards rushing (he has the offensive game ball) while Harris added 47 and Tom Donchez 29. Texas did manage 159 yards rushing, mostly in the first half, but did not come close to scoring after halftime. It was the first time in 80 games that Texas was held without a touchdown.
“After the game,” Ahrenhold said, laughing. “I remember going into the locker room and Joe was just beside himself. He was really excited. It was the only time I ever saw him kind of lose a little control in an after-game environment. He caught himself and then looked around to see if any of the press had walked in, but then he realized he was OK. We were all just crazy.”
Ahrenhold had a monster game. He recorded 15 tackles, stacked up the fullback and the middle of the Texas offense, and spent what seemed like the entire day in the Texas backfield. The TV network gave Bannon the defensive player of the game award, but in the locker room, Ahrenhold was awarded the defensive game ball.
“The ball has a little Cotton Bowl logo,” he said, “and it has the dates and all that. And it has the score: Penn State 30, Texas 6.
“That game, I think, took Penn State out of what was that regional funk. People said, ‘Wait a second, these guys can play with anybody on a national stage,’ and Penn State just kept building from there. It all started, though, in ’68 and 69.”
Ahrenhold, who was originally from Long Island, is now what he calls “semi-retired” and still living close to Abington, Pa. where he has lived and worked with his wife, Sue, since graduating. Like many other letter winners, he attended Joe Paterno’s funeral services last year and he has strong feelings about what happened. “I think all of us were in shock,” he said, “and although we knew he was sick, none of us expected this. We counted, and we think that there were close to a thousand lettermen who came back on that Tuesday. It was an unbelievable scene.
“It was great to see all of those people, and also unbelievably sad that this guy was to us the one constant. I played for the guy, and we had our differences. I struggled with his discipline sometimes, but as I aged, the more I began to understand. Let’s say, the older I got, the smarter he got.”
How about the new staff? “I don’t know Bill O’Brien well, but first and foremost, I wish him the best. Because at the end of the day, he is Penn State now. We, my family and I, bleed blue and white. And we want that success to go on, with the same honor that Joe did it.”
I am sure Ahrenhold also wishes, like the rest of us, for some more recruiting classes like the one he came in with. And while we are at it, maybe more defining games, like that 1972 Cotton Bowl or last season’s overtime win over Wisconsin, lurking somewhere in the near future for Bill O’Brien.
