Any old timers remember Dick Anderson
- Thread starter PSUPride1
- Start date
I was at the PSU game in 1988. Pride can correct me but IIRC when the drum major leads the band on the field marching left to right in front of the home stands he does a back flip on the 50. If he sticks it they win. He stumbled at our game and I remember an audible gasp from many in the stands.
It was a great game in a great atmosphere!
It was a great game in a great atmosphere!
Burns was a brilliant coach who made bricks without any straw. His close loss to Alabama was a classic screw job by the refs who refused to give us the turnover.
His name should be on the stadium.
Yeah, I was at that game too. You are correct relative to the drum major flip and the kind of lucky charm associated with that flip and what it means to the outcome of the game. Hasn't really worked out the past two weeks. :thumbsdown::smiley:
to echo a few others:
When Anderson was at PU, he was regarded as a decent recruiter, but he basically walked recruits around using a monotone low key approach....the program sold itself and he got his share.
he tried a bit of the same here, but that would not work because what he was showing was
not up to par.... so recruiting suffered.
he had a number of impressive wins and we would then have a WTF game....
He would NOT be a good coach for RU if he
was coaching in todays time period, based on the lack of recruiting energy
When Anderson was at PU, he was regarded as a decent recruiter, but he basically walked recruits around using a monotone low key approach....the program sold itself and he got his share.
he tried a bit of the same here, but that would not work because what he was showing was
not up to par.... so recruiting suffered.
he had a number of impressive wins and we would then have a WTF game....
He would NOT be a good coach for RU if he
was coaching in todays time period, based on the lack of recruiting energy
-----
as I recall:
FLA was rated as one of the top teams in the country at the time, but I think they were under
sanctions and would not be officially rated or in a bowl...
RU was getting beat pretty bad in the game, down by about 3 td's.....Fla brought in their back up qb for some work, and the announcers thought it was a good idea also.
the backup threw a sideline pass that was picked off by a lineman, I think, but it was a big guy, not a defensive back, and he took it to the house in a lumbering fashion.
the backup remained in the game, and he promptly threw another interception....RU scored again...
very late in the game, with the score tied, we had to kick off, but on the play before there was a penalty against FLA, so we got to kick off from the 50 or so....we recovered an on sides kick
RU moved the ball down into the red zone and should have won the game with a short pass over the middle to a wide open receiver, the throw a bit off, still catchable...unfortunate
...I think we then lost the ball some how on the next play or two, and the game remained a tie.
Along with the win over Penn State, that was one of the games that stood out in Anderson's tenure. Florida was undefeated that year but barred from post season play because of NCAA violations, if memory serves. I believe that they also beat a ranked Michigan State team that was without Tony Mandarich.
I was a huge
I was a huge Dick Anderson fan, he had some really good wins, but
turn around the next week and he would get totally blown out by a weak
team. But I always remember him fondly, until he went to court and fully
supported Sandusky. Now he is dead in my mind.
Seemed like Anderson was really going to take us to the next level in 88...…..beating Penn State, Michigan State,...……...then the ultimate head scratcher losing to a poor to mediocre Army team at Giants Stadium. Kind of like many of the other disappointments...…...UNH, a poor Colgate team in 78 (just after being invited to the Garden State Bowl to play Arizona State), William and Mary (after a close game with Alabama), etc.
I think someone got it right (on another thread)………..we just seem to let our guard down too many times with passive complacency (usually after a modicum of success) rather than constantly staying hungry with aggressive play (whether we are good or not). Better teams always appear hungry even when the chips are down.
I think someone got it right (on another thread)………..we just seem to let our guard down too many times with passive complacency (usually after a modicum of success) rather than constantly staying hungry with aggressive play (whether we are good or not). Better teams always appear hungry even when the chips are down.
With our season tickets for the 1989 season we received a refrigerator magnet with a photo of the scoreboard showing the 21-16 upset.
Anderson did well with Frank Burn's kids. Not successful recruiting NJ .He was not the answer.The real question is,"Is there an answer"?
From what I remember, Anderson's downfall was his lack of recruiting. I do remember a story of how he pissed off one of South Jersey's major coaches. Coach's son wanted to go to RU, Anderson told him he wasn't interested, kid ended up going to I believe Tennessee. From then on Anderson pretty much got no one from S Jersey.
We need @BigDaddyLane to chime in here. Believe he played under Anderson and Graber if I'm not mistaken.
Pride, you still live in Scranton? Curious because that's where I work.
Anderson got fired for one reason: 2-7-2 in Year 6.
His teams did very well in the first half of the season. Those .500 years you see matched up with my years there. He would start 4-2, 5-2-1 and wind up 5-6, 6-5, 5-5-1. Depth, obviously. But he did have WTF games early, too. Beating Michigan State (without Tony Mandarich, but still ...) and Penn State (their worst team in forever, but still ...) was sandwiched around losing to Vandy at Giants Stadium.
Anderson was a pretty solid guy, but two things about him pissed me off. First, trailing Army 24-0, first play of the second half is a run up the middle. You could hear Giants Stadium sigh. I could hear Anderson saying, "We like to have a good mix."
Second thing was bigger -- after that drunk-driving crash that killed Bob Lowther and injured Bob Speidel and Paul Garea (sp?), he was asked about Speidel's status on NJN. He could have given coach-speak. He could have lied. He could have told the truth, that it was a university matter. But no, he just walked off the camera. At a university that had a fraternity pledge die in February, you won't answer a question about a player who was driving drunk and killed a teammate? As if there wouldn't be some kind of punishment after more than a dozen frat brothers got hit hard?
His "he's a solid guy" image disappeared to me that day. The 2-7-2 made it easy. But he was competent, which we don't have now.
His teams did very well in the first half of the season. Those .500 years you see matched up with my years there. He would start 4-2, 5-2-1 and wind up 5-6, 6-5, 5-5-1. Depth, obviously. But he did have WTF games early, too. Beating Michigan State (without Tony Mandarich, but still ...) and Penn State (their worst team in forever, but still ...) was sandwiched around losing to Vandy at Giants Stadium.
Anderson was a pretty solid guy, but two things about him pissed me off. First, trailing Army 24-0, first play of the second half is a run up the middle. You could hear Giants Stadium sigh. I could hear Anderson saying, "We like to have a good mix."
Second thing was bigger -- after that drunk-driving crash that killed Bob Lowther and injured Bob Speidel and Paul Garea (sp?), he was asked about Speidel's status on NJN. He could have given coach-speak. He could have lied. He could have told the truth, that it was a university matter. But no, he just walked off the camera. At a university that had a fraternity pledge die in February, you won't answer a question about a player who was driving drunk and killed a teammate? As if there wouldn't be some kind of punishment after more than a dozen frat brothers got hit hard?
His "he's a solid guy" image disappeared to me that day. The 2-7-2 made it easy. But he was competent, which we don't have now.
It should be on the field as he coached and played on it.
"Frank Burns Field" IMO is a no brainer.
We really do.
Don't be a stranger. ;)
I love to walk there. Beautiful cemetery and I still have a home in West Scranton.
and the coach of Florida was.......?
Galen Hall was Dick Andersons teammate (might have been his roomate) in the early 60's at Penn State.
That game nearly cost him his job.
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To me that is really a big problem here. Guys are great recruiters til they come here.
That says it all. You have to be a special person to coach here and be successful.
If you get it right the Skys the limit.If not you are going to flounder for a few years and then ,next man up. Right or wrong. My opinion, big risk/reward.
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He did get the Hale center and (I think the bubble).
Big push after Jon Williams from Somerville made a comment about the facilities compared to....Penn State.
General impression of what Anderson was like or any funny stories? The OP was asking if we remembered the Dick Anderson years and I remembered if anyone would know about him on this board, it had to be you as you played for him.
That's my sister in-laws, best friends husband. And yes she was at that fateful ski trip.
Good recap. I’m pretty sure the Interception was by McIver; he was a DE, I believe. And as far as the onside kick, we recovered it around the 35 yard line. On 3rd down, we were setting up a FG with a run up the middle by FB Curtis Stephans and he fumbled. We intercepted the next play at around the 45 of Florida, with less than 10 seconds to go. I believe we threw a deep pass, but a quick out pass could have put us back in FG range.
The tie in '85 was against Florida down in the Swamp. RU would have Won that game except for a fumble while trying to get position,around the 25-30 yd line. The kick was very makeable. Tom Angstadt was practicing into the cage, right where I was seated. When the fumble and accompanying roar from the UF fans occurred,he looked up and his chin came very close to hitting his chest as his jaw dropped.He KNEW that he was going to make that kick .
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