There are not too many iconic moments in the history of the Penn State-Rutgers series, which dates back to 1918. With Penn State owning an all-time record of 29-2 against the Scarlet Knights entering their Week 12 matchup in 2021 and winning 14 consecutive meetings starting in 1989, it has been perfectly clear where the two programs have stood against one another over the years.
So when Penn State let its offense throw a late touchdown pass in a 1995 meeting in Giants Stadium, with Mike McQueary completing a deep pass to Chris Campbell to extend Penn State’s lead on the Scarlet Knights to 59-34 late in the fourth quarter, a routine postgame handshake quickly became the most interesting moment in the history of Penn State and Rutgers.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno and Rutgers head coach Doug Graber came together at midfield and, rather than exchange pleasantries, the two were caught on camera having a foul-mouthed shouting match at each other as they went their separate ways.
Graber was rightfully perturbed by Penn State tacking on a late touchdown in the way it did, knowing full well the result of the game was all but certain at that point. Graber accused Paterno of running up the score on his program, with many believing Penn State may have been attempting to attract votes in the polls, but Paterno said his young quarterback saw an open receiver instead of checking for his tight end for the first down and let it fly.
“I did not want to run up the score against Rutgers,” Paterno said after the game, according to The Daily Collegian. “Obviously, some people won’t believe that… our team and our former players and coaches know how I feel about embarrassing anybody. I’ve made that statement too many times.”
Paterno would go on to apologize for his words of anger caught on camera.
“The four-letter word was really inexcusable and I’d like to apologize to everybody who had to hear it,” Paterno said. “The people watching television in their homes should not have to put up with that stuff and especially their children. I really feel bad about that. I have no excuses. I was wrong. I’m dead wrong about it.”
Years later, when Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014, Graber was asked about this iconic moment in series history. Graber told NJ.com in an interview that that infamous moment was water under the bridge and that he has a good laugh about it to this day.
“As a matter of fact, I did two games at Penn State (as an announcer) after that when Joe was still there and he and I laughed about it,” said Graber. “Just a couple of competitive coaches — that’s all.”
The play that led to the unpleasantries after the game came back into the realm of discussion decades later. McQueary, who completed the long touchdown pass rather than look to convert for a first down to a tight end, was reportedly involved with some gambling debts into the thousands, according to an old report from ESPN. It is alleged McQueary may have gambled on Penn State games, which brought this specific moment back into the limelight. Penn State was a 20-point favorite against Rutgers in that 1995 game. The late touchdown covered the spread.
Regardless of the sequence of events that led to the postgame handshake blowing up in front of the national cameras, the fire shown between the two coaches in the heat of the moment is certainly one that will last forever in the series between the Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights.
Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.