The 1969 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented
Pennsylvania State University in the
1969 NCAA University Division football season.
Despite posting its second consecutive undefeated, untied season, the Nittany Lions did not have a shot at the national championship. President
Richard Nixon said that he would consider the winner of the December 6 matchup between the
Texas Longhorns and the
Arkansas Razorbacks, then ranked at the top of the polls, and the real voters do not seem to have differed. Paterno, at the 1973 commencement, was quoted saying, "I'd like to know how could the president know so little about Watergate in 1973 and so much about college football in 1969?"[1] Then Pennsylvania Governor
Raymond P. Shafer got the White House's attention with Penn State's two-season undefeated streak. A White House assistant called Paterno to invite him and the team to the White House to receive a trophy for their accomplishment. Paterno has stated many times that he responded with, "You can tell the president to take that trophy and shove it."[2]
Penn State declined an invitation to play the Texas/Arkansas winner in the
Cotton Bowl Classic,[citation needed] instead playing sixth-ranked
Missouri in the
Orange Bowl. Penn State beat Missouri 10–3, while Texas beat Notre Dame 21–17 and was recognized as the consensus
national champion.[3]: 120 Penn State was selected co-national champion by
FACT and
Sagarin, both NCAA-designated major selectors.[3]: 111