Penn State Football: Ranking the top 20 wins in program history
By Brad Weiss
18. 1997 (2) Penn State football 31, (7) Ohio State 27
In a top-10 matchup inside Beaver Stadium, the No. 2-ranked Nittany Lions played host to Big Ten rival, and No. 7 Ohio State. Battling it out in front of over 97,000 fans, Penn State was taking on a team that had won the Rose Bowl the year before, but the Nittany Lions were 4-0 and had really dismantled everyone in their path up until this one.
What ensued was a back-and-forth battle between two elite teams, and for a while, it looked like the Ohio State Buckeyes were going to run away with the victory. Penn State got out to a 10-0 lead, but the Buckeyes fought all the way back, and actually held a 17-13 halftime lead.
A strong touchdown run by Aaron Harris pulled the Nittany Lions within three, and it would be a Harris block on Ohio State star Andy Katzenmoyer that would free the uber-talented Curtis Enis for what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown. Beaver Stadium erupted after the Enis score, and Ohio State never had another opportunity to take the lead.
Penn State would lose three of their last five games in 1997, but the victory against the Buckeyes catapulted them to a No. 1 ranking in the country.