Penn State's 1997 Football Schedule
9/6/97 Penn St. 34 Pitt 17
Mike Mcqueary's first start was a memorable one as he passed for a school record 366 yards (21-36), surpassing Todd Blackledge's old mark of 358 yards. His 370 yards of total offense also is a school record, eclipsing John Hufnagel's 363 yards. He also threw for two scores, one to Joe Jurevicius who caught seven passes for 108 yards. Curtis Enis ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns on twenty carries. Pitt scored two late touchdowns to make the score look closer than it really was.
9/13/97 Penn St. 52 Temple 10
After last week's aerial attack, the Nittany Lions returned to the running game (327 yards), after a sluggish start had put them down 7-0. Curtis Enis surpassed the 2,000 yard career mark with his 80 yard, one touchdown performance. Aaron Harris had 73 yards on 9 carries, and Chafie Fields handle the ball twice on reverses, both good for touchdowns, and 90 yards total. Cordell Mitchell added a 38 yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Mike McQueary was 10-19 for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
9/20/97 Penn St. 57 Louisville 21
Mike McQueary threw for three touchdowns to Joe Jurevicius and Curtis Enis ran for three, all in the first half, as Penn St. jumped to a 50-14 half time lead, and rested the starters in the second half. Jurevicius had four catches for 150 yards, Enis had 85 yards on 14 carries, and McQueary was 10-18 for 219 yards. McQueary has 7 touchdown passes and no interceptions in 73 attempts this year. The offense finished up with 259 rushing yards to go with 306 in the air. Aaron Collins intercepted his second pass of the year and took it 57 yards for a score. The win extended the Nittany Lions win streak to 8, longest in the nation.
10/4/97 Penn St. 41 Illinois 6
Chafie Fields had 185 all purpose yards, and scored the Lions first touchdown on a 60 yard pass play from Mike McQueary. Fields caught 6 passes for 129 yards, had 44 return yards, and ran a reverse for 12. McQueary finished the day 13-21 for 266 yards, and three first half touchdown passes. Joe Jurevicius caught the other two TD passes from 57 and 20 yards out. Curtis Enis added two TD runs in the second half, and finished the day with 108 yards on 14 carries. He also moved past Charlie Pittman for ninth place on Penn State's all-time rushing list. Penn St. outgained Illinois 548 to 292 in total yardage.
10/11/97 Penn St. 31 Ohio St. 27
Before a record crowd of 97,282, The Nittany Lions extended their winning streak to 10, and the Buckeyes' winning streak was snapped at 6. Curtis Enis dominated the game with 211 yards rushing on 23 carries in the best damn football game, that I have ever been to see. Penn St. took a quick 10-0 lead highlighted by Aaron Harris' 5 yard touchdown run to cap a 14 play, 81 yard drive. In the second quarter Joe Germaine relieved Stanley Jackson and finished the day with 378 yards passing, good for two scores. He led Ohio State to a 27-17 third quarter lead, but with 20 seconds left in the third quarter, Harris broke loose from 51 yards out for his second touchdown. Six minutes later Curtis Enis ran 26 yards for his second touchdown. Thanks to LSU, Penn St. was able to secure the top spot in both polls by a wide margin. To Penguin, Rock, and the rest of the gang, "Thanks Guys, I had a really good time. Which game next year? Oh, and before I forget, Bite me! Sorry, I had that left over from Saturday!"
10/11/97 Penn St. 16 Minnesota 15
Penn St. scored two late touchdowns to win a game, that they should have never won. Isn't that a sign of a championship team? I find it amusing that 50 voters are so willing to admit that they were completely wrong, just one short week ago. Anyway here's the facts: 6-0 this year, and 11 straight victories, anybody else out there able to say that? I'll bet Penn St. wouldn't struggle with Central Florida, or does everybody forget how badly Nebraska struggled with them? What say you, Huskers?
11/1/97 Penn St. 30 Northwestern 27
Can anybody tell me where the hell Penn St.'s fourth quarter defense is? Fellas, how about delivering a knockout blow once in awhile! Well anyway, some stats: Enis 27 carries for 153 yards and a td. McQueary 17 of 23 for 222 yards, he also ran for a td, but he also threw two picks. Penn St. led 30-13 with 5:23 left in the 4th quarter, but gave up 14 unanswered points to help them drop another place in the polls. They play like this next week, and it won't be pretty!
11/8/97 Michigan 34 Penn St. 8
It wasn't pretty, and i concede! ok, ok, maybe Penn St. isn't number 1. Anyway i thought this was more interesting than the game:
11/15/97 Penn St. 42 Purdue 17
Curtis Enis rushed 37 times for 186 yards and three touchdowns, and added a 67 yard touchdown reception, leading the Nittany Lions to an impressive win over #20 Purdue. The rushing yardage enabled Enis to move into fourth place on the school's all-time rushing leader list, passing Lydell Mitchell and Ki-Jana Carter. McQueary was 16-24 for 253 yards and two touchdowns, one of them being to Chafie Fields in the second quarter for the Lions first score, and a lead that they would never relinquish. Paterno was pleased with the defensive effort today, even though they gave up 524 yards of offense to the Boilermakers.
11/22/97 Penn St. 35 Wisconsin 10
Mike McQueary was nearly perfect in the first half, completing his first twelve passes, and finishing the half 16-19 for 219 yards. The 219 yards passing in a half is a new school record, eclipsing Kerry Collins' 216 yards against Ohio State in 1994. Curtis Enis recorded his seventh consecutive 100 yard day by gaining 138 yards on 17 carries, and moved into second place on the schools all-time rushing list.
11/29/97 Michigan St. 49 Penn St. 14
Michigan State scored 35 unanswered points after Penn St. had come back from a 14-0 deficit to tie it. Once tied the Spartans completely dominated the Nittany Lions, and ended any chance for a national championship bid. Irvin and running mate Marc Renaud had made sure of that, becoming the second pair of backs in NCAA history to each rush for 200 yards in a game. Irvin churned out 238 yards on 28 carries. Re-naud added 203 on 21 attempts. They averaged nearly nine yards every time they touched the ball. And Michigan State set a new record for a Penn State opponent with 452 rushing yards. Enis managed to have another 100 yard game, but that was the only bright spot of the day.
Florida Citrus Bowl
1/1/98 Florida 21 Penn St. 6
Florida used the running of Fred Taylor and a stifling defense to earn a 21-6 win over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. Taylor pounded the Nittany Lions for a bowl-record and career-high 234 on 43 carries, and Jacquez Green caught two touchdown passes from different quarterbacks in a 21-6 victory Thursday. The Gators (10-2) had no trouble stopping Penn State (9-3), which finished with only 139 total yards, its worst performance of the year. Florida's defense made a pair of goal-line stands late in the first half, stopping the Nittany Lions twice on fourth and one. Penn State could not find a way to get into the end zone, as they played without Enis and Jurevicius.
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