Editor’s note: Throughout the season, we’re looking at Penn State’s most memorable teams from the past 40 years. This week, we spotlight the 2008 squad that won the Big Ten and played in the Rose Bowl for the third time in program history.

In an alternative universe, the 2009 Rose Bowl could’ve doubled as the national championship for the 2008 season, with Penn State and USC battling for the crown.

For the second time in four seasons, a single play knocked the Nittany Lions out of contention for the national title, as a last-second field goal at Kinnick Stadium downed Penn State by one against Iowa. The Trojans, meanwhile, somehow lost to a middling Oregon State team that Penn State dominated earlier in the season.

It was a somewhat unexplainable blemish for USC, which otherwise steamrolled its competition 450-93, as noted by editor John Black ’62 in the Rose Bowl edition of The Football Letter.

So, while Florida and Oklahoma — each of whom also lost a game in the regular season — played for the title in Miami, Florida, the Nittany Lions and Trojans clashed in Pasadena, where Joe Paterno coached for the second of his two appearances in the Rose Bowl.

USC earned a 38-24 victory, thanks largely to a second quarter when they outscored Penn State 24-0, and afterward, Paterno said, “It would take a heckuva football team to beat Southern Cal the way they played today.”

The same could also be said for Penn State, which easily dispatched non-conference opponents Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse and Temple by a combined score of 211-40. The conference record mostly featured more convincing wins, including a 46-17 home victory over Michigan, followed by an epic road victory in Columbus.

Paterno was coaching from the coaches’ box during the season, and ABC played a memorable pregame feature on the legendary coach. Penn State left The Horseshoe with a 13-6 victory, thanks to a late turnover and quarterback sneak by backup quarterback Pat Devlin, who subbed for injured starter Daryll Clark in the fourth quarter.

The road victory snapped a seven-game losing streak in Columbus and raised Penn State’s record to 9-0 and also showed off the versatility of that year’s group. Normally employing a spread HD offense, the team grinded out the one-possession victory by forcing a fumble from Pennsylvania recruit Terrelle Pryor, who chose to head out of state and compete for the Buckeyes.

As Black wrote:

“There were plenty of heroes in Saturday’s contest, starting with senior strong safety Mark Rubin and sophomore outside linebacker Navorro Bowman. Rubin had a career-high 11 tackles, as the Lions held Heisman Trophy candidate Beanie Wells to less than half his 123.8-yard pre game rushing average (10th highest in the nation), and thwarted the running of dual-threat quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

Pryor was attempting to convert a third-and-one situation at midfield on a quarterback sneak, but the Lions’ defensive line plugged every gap. Pryor bounced outside, but Rubin met him at the corner and punched the pigskin from the grasp.”

The Football Letter photographer Steve Manuel ’82, ’92g captured the sequence, which led to the touchdown drive captained by Devlin.

Following the upset loss to Iowa, Penn State finished the regular season by easily dismissing Indiana (34-7) and Michigan State (49-18), leading to the third Big Ten title in program history (1994, 2005).

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Editor’s note: Throughout the season, we’re looking at Penn State’s most memorable teams from the past 40 years. This week, we spotlight the 2005 squad that won 11 games and ended the season with an Orange Bowl victory. In the video below, defensive back Calvin Lowry discussed the mindset of that team, his interception in the White Out game against Ohio State, and much more.

A lot can change in a year. Don’t believe that? Just ask the players and coaches on the 2005 Penn State football team.

After enduring an uncharacteristic down stretch, Penn State won 10-plus games in a season for the fifth straight decade under Joe Paterno, signaling a return to the top of the polls and coming within a whisper of playing for the national title.

The Nittany Lions closed out their 10-1 regular season with a 31-22 win at Michigan State, where defensive co-captain Alan Zemaitis picked of three passes — twice turning around the Spartans near the goal-line — and returning a third to set up a Penn State touchdown.

The Football Letter editor John Black was on the scene and included Zemaitis’ apt summary of what the 2005 season meant for he and his teammates.

“If you were a player on this team, you would understand that we went through hell,” Zemaitis said, as chronicled in that game’s edition of The Football Letter. “When we’d lose, people would point fingers, saying we brought Penn State down. Well, these same players brought Penn State black.”

You can hear more from Zemaitis this week, as he’s scheduled to appear on Thursday’s episode of The Football Letter Live. The show will air Thursday night at 8, and alumni and fans can register online or tune in on Facebook.

Zemaitis earned All-Big Ten honors three times and was a second-team All-American during his senior season of 2005. He also broke the Big Ten and Penn State single-season record with 207 interception yards in 2003. He’s currently coaching at Susquehanna, where even though the team’s season has been canceled because of COVID-19, he’s staying busy by spearheading a community service project. You can read more about his efforts on the blog.

The victory over the Spartans sent the Nittany Lions to the Orange Bowl, where they outlasted Florida State 26-23 in three overtimes. Penn State nearly played for the national title, though a controversial finish in Ann Arbor, where time was added to allow Michigan to run one more play, resulting in a walk-off touchdown for the Wolverines.

Black succinctly summed up the emotions after winning the Big Ten title, noting Penn State’s impressive ascent back into the national picture.

Here are the two lead paragraphs of The Football Letter following Penn State’s win in East Lansing to win the 2005 Big Ten title:

“Zipping from the ground floor to the penthouse in one season, the Nittany Lion gridironers finally got off their express elevator at the top of the Big Ten standings Saturday with a 31-22 triumph at Michigan State, completing the most dramatic win-loss turnaround in Penn State history.

A team doubted by so many believed in itself and came within a Michigan second of perfection in the regular season, while claiming Penn State’s second Big Ten title in 13 years, winnings its first Bowl Championship Series bid and climbing to No. 4 in the national polls.”

In addition to Zemaitis appearing on this week’s show, fellow defensive back Calvin Lowry also spoke with us recently to talk about the 2005 championship squad. Lowry is currently coaching at Tulsa, and you can check out the video at the top of this story for that interview.

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Each week, we’ll tell you what to expect, what to keep an eye, and where and when you can catch the Nittany Lions this football season.

Game details: vs. Maryland, 3:30 p.m. kickoff, broadcast on BTN.

Venue: Beaver Stadium, where Penn State enjoys a 23-1 advantage over Maryland in the all-time series.

Weather forecast (via Accuweather): High of 71 degrees and sunny.

All-time series: Penn State leads 40-2-1.

Last meeting (2019): The Nittany Lions bulldozed the Terrapins 59-0 in College Park, where the school closed classes leading up to the Friday night game.

Throwback classic (2015): Penn State outlasted Maryland 31-30 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. We looked back at the victory this week on the blog.

The lead: It’s fairly easy to imagine Penn State winning its six remaining games and qualifying for another attractive bowl. That journey begins Saturday against the Terrapins, who the Nittany Lions have outscored 163-6 over the last three years. Maryland upset Minnesota last week in College Park, though struggled mightily in losing 43-3 to Northwestern in the season opener.

Penn State wins if: the Nittany Lions avoid mistakes that flip the field. It’s difficult to see Maryland keeping pace Saturday, so as long as Penn State forces the Terps to work for all their points, there’s a good chance this one will be locked up going into the fourth quarter.

Maryland wins if: the Terps’ quarterback, Taulia Tagovailoa, can find gaps in the Penn State secondary. Both Indiana and Ohio State scored 30-plus points against the Nittany Lions, though those are two ranked teams with explosive offenses. That doesn’t describe Maryland, though if the Terps can find way to gain chunk plays down the field, that gives them a shot.

Count on: Penn State running the ball plenty. Maryland is last in the Big Ten and is one of the worst teams nationally in rush defense, allowing nearly 300 yards per game. The Nittany Lions’ backfield is without some of its stars, though there’s still plenty of talent thanks to the impressive job that the staff has done in recruiting.

Keep an eye on: Jahan Dotson. The junior wide receiver has elevated his play early on, establishing himself as Sean Clifford’s top target for wideouts (both Dotson with 929 and standout tight end Pat Freiermuth with 981 are within reach of 1,000 career receiving yards). Through the season’s first two games, Dotson has tallied 238 receiving yards, the best two-game start for a Penn State receiver in six years. 

Trivia tidbit: Clifford is tied for the Big Ten lead with six passing touchdowns.