Top Five Maryland Terps VS Penn State Football Games

2.) 1989 – Maryland 13 Penn State – 13

"You hate to tie a team like Maryland. We were looking for a big bowl game. – linebacker Andre Collins, Penn State"

Penn State entered the game having won five of their last six games after a disappointing loss to Virginia to open the season and a less upsetting one against Alabama. For the Lions, this was a quintessential trap game; a 24-game winning streak against your opponent before facing top-ranked Notre Dame and challenging Pitt the next two weeks. Forgive JoePa for being distracted and thinking he could ride future NFL first rounder Blair Thomas to an easy victory.

Maryland, meanwhile, was planted firmly in that era after Claiborne and Ross left but before Ralph Friedgen showed up: the Joe Krivak era. The Terrapins limped into the game with a 3-6 record (including a loss to Steve Spurrier and the Duke Blue Devils) and didn’t have a ton of talent outside of their two future NFL QBs Neil O’Donnell and Scott Zolack (the latter of which didn’t play).

Everything went wrong for Penn State. They came out dead, allowed Maryland to pick up an early lead, and created classic mistakes. Their starting quarterback Tony Sacca was yanked after he slipped at the Maryland 1-yard line on a 4th-and-1, and the Lions couldn’t get out of their own way all game despite dominating the Terps. Maryland eventually tied it up on a last-second field goal and ruined Penn State’s season.