Spring Break
The Daily OrangeA Rivalry Renewed
Syracuse-Penn State was once one of the nation's biggest rivalries
By Matt Gelb
Posted: 9/10/08, 11:40 PM EST Section: Sports
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When it was all but over, Dick MacPherson sent for Ben Schwartzwalder, who watched from his seat in the Carrier Dome press box.
Syracuse led the defending national champions Penn State, 41-0, in the third quarter. It was 1987, and the Orangemen were about to secure the school's most important victory since the days of Schwartzwalder, who guided Syracuse to its only national title in 1959.
MacPherson, the coach of the 1987 Orangemen, planned a celebration for the ages. When the final whistle sounded and Syracuse was victorious, 48-21, it snapped a 16-game losing streak to hated Penn State.
"I always told him," MacPherson said, "'If we ever get them, Ben, you gotta come down. You deserve it.'"
The players carried the 78-year-old former coach on their shoulders, across the sidelines, to shake hands with Joe Paterno.
"(Schwartzwalder) said there will never be another present like that for him in his life," MacPherson said.
MacPherson remembers that day with precision, even now. His voice quivers when he talks about the jubilation of finally beating Penn State, Syracuse's greatest rival.
But after 68 meetings in 69 seasons beginning in 1922, Syracuse and Penn State haven't played since 1990. (There was no game in 1943. Syracuse canceled football because of World War II.) Penn State left Eastern football for the Big Ten. Syracuse moved into the Big East. Paterno and former Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel squabbled publicly about who was more selfish.
The rivalry was dead.
On Saturday, the two schools will meet on the Dome turf. The rivalry is still dead. Penn State doesn't play the Eastern foes it once did - Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Boston College. It's no surprise the Nittany Lions remain a force under the guise of the 81-year-old Paterno. Syracuse, meanwhile, is experiencing perhaps the worst stretch in its 119-year football history.
This is one game, a blip on the non-conference schedule for mighty Penn State; a day to celebrate the past for beleaguered Syracuse.
This is not how it always was.
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