I grew up on major college football, Eastern style–Penn St., Syracuse, Pitt, and West Virginia, among others– with great rivalries played each and every year. Now it’s gone.
I know it was a blowout—last weekend’s Pitt-Penn State match-up (51-6, PSU), that is—but the fact these two teams played … WOW!
That’s how much I miss Eastern college football.
Born in Syracuse and raised in Western New York, I grew up following the Orange. Those were the days of Jimmy Brown, Ernie Davis, and Floyd Little. Mike Ditka played at Pitt. Chuck Howley starred at West Virginia. And in State College? Well, what a cast that was! There was Franco Harris, ‘Linebacker U,’ and so many others.
Syracuse, Pitt, Penn State, and West Virginia. I cared about those four teams.
The Big Ten? Big Nothing. The Big Eight? C’mon! In my world, the ‘East Indies’ reigned supreme!
That’s right, ‘Indies,’ as in independents. These schools were independent, not affiliated with a conference. A league didn’t come along until decades later (1990) when the Big East was formed.
Back in the day, the big prize wasn’t winning a conference championship. It was winning The Lambert Trophy, emblematic of Eastern football supremacy, first awarded in 1936 (Pitt won it that year).
When I got to Morgantown as a student in 1970, one of the first things I did was mosey on down to old Mountaineer Field. The first player I saw was Jim Braxton, the bruising fullback, who later starred with the Buffalo Bills and O.J. Simpson. What a player he was!
And, later, I got an unexpected call from the Athletics Office—to help Coach Bowden with recruiting (yes, that Bobby, who got his head coaching start in Morgantown). I jumped at the chance and it’s something I’ll never forget.
The best (actually, worst) game I’ve ever witnessed was played in old Pitt Stadium on October 17, 1970. My wife and I were lucky (make that ‘unfortunate’) to be in the stands that day.
WVU stormed out to a 35-8 halftime lead. Game over? Nah!
My Mountaineers had a weakness: defensive line. After halftime, Pitt decided to run. And run they did. They ran 67 times in the second half with passes sprinkled in strategically. WVU couldn’t respond.
The Panthers came all the way back, scoring with less than a minute to play, to win, 36-35.
Fourteen years later—a game also played in October—had a different ending. A Morgantown bank gave out buttons before the game, “Enough is enough!” WVU hadn’t beaten Penn State since 1955, a 28-year drought. Would this day be different?
The Mountaineers had a 3-point lead late in the 4th when the Lions started a drive at their own four with only 2:30 left on the clock, 96 yards away. We had this one in the bag. Right?! But remember: this is Penn St. after all.
And PSU did what PSU does: the Lions drove down the field…20 yards, then 40 yards, 60 yards, and 80 yards. Here we go again!
Well, the streak wouldn’t reach 29 years. Larry Holley, a WVU defensive back, intercepted. The Mountaineers won, 17-14.
But, truth be told, 1984 wasn’t a vintage year for the Lions. Penn State started strong, but finished an uncharacteristic 6-5, losing three of the last four.
But that didn’t matter. We beat Penn State!
Those are all memories now. That’s all I have left … memories. Eastern football is no more. It crumbled. Disintegrated. Vanished.
Penn State went to the Big Ten. The Big East is gone. Pitt and Syracuse went south. WVU went west. And those rivalries went away, too—except for Pitt-Syracuse. But it’s a Pitt team that stumbles and a Syracuse team that…well…plays Wagner.
Money and TV (the two are connected) have changed everything. Colleges and conferences go along. They want (need) the money. Athletic directors hold out their hands. Coaches don’t complain. The NCAA is complicit. And fans suffer.
Maryland—an ACC charter member—left the conference for the Big Ten. No more UNC. No more Duke or UVA. These days Maryland plays Minnesota, Purdue, and Iowa. Rivals? Hardly.
WVU exchanged Pitt and Penn State for Kansas and Oklahoma State. Except for Hawaii, the Mountaineers travel more than any other team in conference play. The ACC didn’t want West Virginia, you see. The ACC took Louisville instead.
The tragic truth is that the East is unique in major college football. It’s the only populous part of the country not represented by a regional athletic conference.
Yeah, Eastern schools still play major football. But they’re like once-bustling towns that lost their post offices, had their high schools close. Lineage lost. Legacies squandered. Photos and yellowing news articles are all that’s left.
I was lucky. I got to experience ‘real’ Eastern football.
My son never did. His kids won’t either. And that’s a crying shame.
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An earlier version of this article was published in the Journal-Herald, Pocono Newspapers.
