Big Ten title finally on line with MSU-Penn State

by Steve Grinczel
Thursday November 20, 2008, 12:10 AM

AP PhotoPenn State coach Joe Paterno worked with former Michigan State coach George Perles to begin the year-end tradition.

EAST LANSING -- George Perles and Joe Paterno were visionaries. They just didn't think it would take 15 years to see the season finale between Michigan State and Penn State achieve the perennial importance of Michigan-Ohio State.

However, four coaching changes -- all by MSU -- and 14 generally inconsequential regular season finishes later, the Spartans and Nittany Lions are finally playing for a lot more than a bid from a second-tier bowl or self-respect.

A whole lot more.

The winner of Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game in State College, Pa., will come away with at least a share of the Big Ten championship.

A victory will put Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

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A Spartans win, coupled with an Ohio State loss to Michigan in a game that has been relegated to JV status because of the Wolverines' woeful season, will send MSU to Pasadena.

"Finally, it's a bonanza," said Perles, who left as the Spartans coach in 1994 and is now a member of the Michigan State Board of Trustees. "You would have liked to have seen this come together sooner and it's been a long haul.

"Year after year after year after year, you'd hear how Ohio State-Michigan means everything and it's the most important game on the schedule. That's changed now."

In the early '90s, Perles felt Michigan State needed an attractive finishing game that could compete with deer-hunting season and give fans a reason to show up even in bad weather.

Numerous teams play their biggest rival at the end of the season, but MSU had no chance of creating that scenario with U-M because the hated Wolverines and Ohio State have reservations for the season's last Saturday.

So when Penn State agreed to join the Big Ten and start competing in football in '93, Perles, who also was the MSU athletic director at the time, seized the opportunity to set up something special against a nationally prominent opponent.

Penn State had no natural rivals in the conference. Although Pennsylvania and Ohio are border states, the Paterno-coached Lions played the Buckeyes in just three regular-season games from 1966-92.

Meantime, MSU and Penn State are kindred spirits as the nation's two oldest land grant colleges and legendary Spartans coach Duffy Daugherty hailed from Emeigh, Pa.

Paterno also knew Perles from his days as a Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach.

"He called me up and said, 'Hey, the Big Ten has one game that everybody has locked in at the end of the season, why don't we lock our game in?' " Paterno said. "And I said, 'George, I think that would be great,' because Michigan State has a great Pennsylvania background.

"I think it's nice, and we've had some good football games."

Perles and Paterno agreed to make it a trophy game, but the Land Grant Trophy had been about the only thing up for grabs because it has had championship implications only one other time.

In 2005, Penn State needed a 31-22 victory at MSU to finish 7-1 and tie Ohio State for the title, but the Spartans were only a 5-6 team.

The closest Michigan State came to making the game relevant to the championship race was 1999, when it beat the Lions 35-28. However, the Spartans ended up tied for second at 6-2 because Wisconsin beat Iowa to finish 7-1.

One team or the other came out of the game with a losing record 10 times, and MSU and Penn State were both sub-.500 in 2000 and '04.

The game meant more to the Spartans last season because they needed the 35-31 victory to clinch their first bowl bid in four years.

Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said former MSU quarterback and current running backs coach Dan Enos filled him in on Perles' hopes and dreams for this game.

"He said at one point, coach Perles referenced this football game by saying some day, some time, it would be played for the Big Ten championship," Dantonio said. "To do that in 2008 is exciting for all Spartans, and it puts a little more emphasis and credibility on the rivalry."

It may take 115 more years for MSU-Penn State to catch up in stature to Michigan-Ohio State, but for this season, at least, it's on center stage.

"It's a big deal right now, and that's what matters," Perles said. "Ohio State and Michigan just have to lick their wounds like we did for so many years. I'm just proud of our team and school that we've got ourself in this position.

"Is it gratifying it's happening now? Absolutely, and you feel good that you had a vision that this could be a possibility."

The MSU players Perles will travel with to the game this weekend were babies and toddlers when he pushed his agenda forward, but they're grateful beneficiaries of his foresight.

"It's great that it's a big deal," senior defensive end Brandon Long said. "The Big Ten championship is on the line, and if they don't win they don't get it, and if we don't win we don't get it.

"So this is going to be a high-intensity, high-stakes game. It's about time somebody else has stepped up, and I'm glad we can be that team."

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