November 6th, 1999: I was 23 years old, and a couple of months into my career working at WCCO Radio and sitting in what we then called "Master Control". One of my first jobs was working those Saturday afternoon games, producing Gopher football games with Ray Christensen, Dave Mona and Darrell Thompson. It was an exciting time to be a part of Gopher football, as they finally looked like they were on the upswing. This Saturday, however, they took on the legendary Joe Paterno and Penn State in Happy Valley. It would become a memorable day for all of us.
By that time, Ray Christensen was beyond a hero. Ray was iconic. He was literally the sound of Gopher sports. This was Ray's second-to-last season doing Gopher Football (he finished at the Micron PC.com Bowl the following December and who could forget that classic bowl game).
Penn St. was in the middle of an unbelieveable run of success. 9-0, ranked #2 in the AP poll. They'd already beaten four Top 25 teams. They were coming off back-to-back 9-3 seasons. They had played in six straight New Year's Day bowl games. They had the eventual winner of the Bednarik, Butkus and Lambert Awards, LaVar Arrington, who was the most dominant defensive player in the country. And they had Joe Paterno.
Talking to the Daily Gopher, former Gopher Derek Burns remembered that game and said, "What sets Beaver Stadium apart in my opinion is the vertical nature of the stands. You truly have a sense that the fans are on top of you, especially in the closed horseshoe end. It's almost as if fans could leap from their upper deck seats and land on the field. By game time I was amazed by the fact that every single seat in the stadium was filled. It's hard to describe being down on the field in front of a full stadium like that. You feel like you're in a fishbowl with all of these bodies in chairs pointed towards you."
As the game started, the Gophers knew they had the fight of their lives against that Penn St. defense. It was big, fast, strong and very good. The margin for error was small. "What might work against a lesser opponent didn't work against Penn St.," Burns said. The Gophers had to be at their best. This day, they'd not only have to play their best, they'd need some luck.
On the first play, Cockerham fired a deep pass down the right sideline to star receiver Ron Johnson. 46 yards down to the Penn St. 34-yard line. The Gophers were set up for a long field goal attempt at worst. Then Arrington blasted through for one of his game-high 15 tackles, sacking Cockerham for a big loss.
Two incomplete passes, and the Gophers were down to their last chance. 4th and 16, 1:22 left in the game and well outside field goal range. Penn St. brought the house, blitzing Cockerham and forcing a quick throw.
Another thing to consider was Arrington and the Penn St. special teams, which were phenomenal. Arrington was one of the best athletes ever to play linebacker at a school labled "Linebacker U". He had a massive vertical leap to go along with a 6'3" frame. He had already blocked two kicks that season. Nystrom had actually been practicing for Arrington on the sidelines by kicking over a ladder that was six yards in front of him.
"I felt like I was prepared", Nystrom said at the time.
As the players lined up, the great Ray Christensen said it best:
That 1999 Gopher team went on to win at home against Indiana and then at Iowa (the last time they won in Iowas City by the way). They went to the Sun Bowl, where they fell to a very good Oregon team 24-20 in a terrific game.
Looking back now, this was easily one of the biggest wins for the Gophers in the last 50 years (along with 1977 and 1986 against Michigan, and the 2000 win at Ohio State).
They'd go to a bowl game in 8 of the next 10 seasons. That win over Penn St. jump-started the program to the best period of sustained success the Gophers had since the Rose Bowl teams of the early 60's. They never quite got over the hump, you could say, under Mason (who was fired after the 2006 season). The Tim Brewster era was a disaster. There were ups (Citrus Bowl) and downs (health) under Jerry Kill. There was one and a half years of Tracy Claeys that ended with a player revolt and another firing.
Now there's P.J. Fleck. They stand here today, November 6th, twenty years to the day after that win over Penn St. at 8-0, facing the Nittany Lions at home, and trying to get to 9-0 for the first time in 115 years. You read that right....1904 folks...they also allowed 12 points that year. All year. And all of those 12 came in a 16-12 win over Nebraska. Nobody else scored a point.
