Q 01/05

Before joining the Big Ten in 1993, Penn State football had spent a century as what?

A) A Big East member

B) An independent

C) An Ivy League member

D) An ACC member

Answer · why

B) An independent

An independent: Penn State answered to no conference for a hundred years, then needed only two seasons in its new league to win the title, going 12–0 ...

Q 02/05

Penn State sealed its 1986 national title by upsetting which top-ranked team in the Fiesta Bowl?

A) Oklahoma

B) Miami

C) Nebraska

D) Alabama

Answer · why

B) Miami

Miami: the Hurricanes outgained Penn State 445 yards to 162, but Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde threw five interceptions and the Lions won 14–10.

Q 03/05

Penn State's first recorded game, in 1881, was against which school?

A) Dickinson

B) Lafayette

C) Lehigh

D) Bucknell

Answer · why

D) Bucknell

Bucknell: the 1881 match in Lewisburg was scored 9–0 in goals, not points, and Penn State then went five years without fielding a team at all.

Q 04/05

George Hoskins, Penn State's first head coach, left in 1896 to coach which future arch-rival?

A) Pittsburgh

B) Syracuse

C) Navy

D) West Virginia

Answer · why

A) Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh: Hoskins took charge in 1892 after Penn State had played its first seasons with no coach at all, then crossed the state to lead its future ...

Q 05/05

What were Penn State's original school colors before blue and white?

A) Green and gold

B) Pink and black

C) Orange and black

D) Red and gray

Answer · why

B) Pink and black

Pink and black: the story goes that sun and laundering bleached the pink to white, and in 1890 the Athletic Association switched to dark blue and whit...