Hard as it may seem to believe today, there was a time when Penn State versus Syracuse was the battle for bragging rights in the East.
"Some of the best games we've ever been involved in at Penn State since I've been here were Syracuse-Penn State games," Nittany Lion coach Joe Paterno said.
But the history of the Penn State-Syracuse rivalry extends prior to the 82-year-old Hall-of-Famer's taking of the Lions' head coaching job in 1966.
Before the Lions joined the Big Ten and before the Orange joined the Big East, the two teams met every year from 1922-1990, save for 1943.
At the height of the rivalry, the intensity between former Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder and former Penn State coach Rip Engle ran as deep as that of Ohio
State's Woody Hayes and Michigan's Bo Schembechler, according to Penn State football historian Lou Prato.
"There's been nothing like that," Prato said. "They had fights -- literally fights on the sidelines, penalties, controversies, complaints."
Such chaos included a bench-clearing brawl during Penn State's 20-14 win in 1953. Despite the bad blood, however, Prato said Schwartzwalder went over to Penn State's locker room to congratulate the Lions after the Orange's 20-18 win in 1959 -- Syracuse's lone undefeated and national championship season.
That matchup was also a personal favorite of Paterno, who was an assistant coach with Penn State at the time. Paterno was also fond of the 1955 contest, in which his team came out on top.
"I think Jimmy Brown carried the ball 14 times for 140 yards, and Lenny [Moore] carried it 12 times for about 130 yards," Paterno recalled. "In those days they didn't carry the ball 20, 25 times. They were two of the greatest running backs to ever play the game on that field.
"It was a great football game. Ended up 21-20. We won it."
In Paterno's first year as a head coach, his wife, Sue, painted the Lion Shrine orange to get students fired up for the contest.
Years later, Syracuse students painted the shrine themselves, and to this day, Penn State students guard it before the Lions' Homecoming game each season.
In 1969, Penn State came back from a 14-0 deficit to top Syracuse, 15-14.
Prato said Schwartzwalder met with writers and NCAA officials the next day to voice his displeasure because of a holding penalty that wasn't called on Penn State's Tom Jackson.
The Lions went on to win their next six games en route to their second undefeated season under Paterno, who went out of his way this past week to credit Syracuse for its class during its 1977 bout with Penn State.
A day before that game, Paterno's son, David, then 11, fractured his skull after falling off a trampoline. Paterno missed the contest to be with his son, who ended up recovering.
Penn State won the game, 31-24.
"[Syracuse coach Frank Maloney] went in there and before he even talked to his squad, he said, 'Let's all kneel down and say a prayer for Coach Paterno's son,' " Paterno said. "And I've never forgotten that."
It is widely believed that Paterno is the reason for the rivalry not resuming until last season, the first of a home-and-home series between the schools.
Paterno tried to start an eastern all-sports league in the 1980s that never materialized.
From there, the rivalry died, Penn State leading it 40-23 with five ties at the time.
"Why do people hate the Yankees? Because they're good," Prato remarked.
"Joe gets a bad rep. It probably is a lot of politics."
Today, Paterno, in his 44th season at the head of the program, will take the field for what may very well be his final game against Syracuse.
On the opposite sidelines will be a first-year head coach looking to take his now downtrodden program back to where it was at the height of its rivalry with Penn State.
"To be on the same field with someone like Coach Paterno," Syracuse coach Doug Marrone said, "what he's done for this game of football and how much respect I have for him and that program and everyone that's been through it, it's a privilege really to go out there and play."
