45 days until Penn State football 2021 season opener
45 days. That is one day closer to Penn State football!
Yesterday we spent some time talking about the players that have repped the number 46 in Penn State football. Today, we will take a look at the 1945 Penn State football team and perhaps one of the most successful coaches in Nittany Lions history, Bob Higgins.
Higgins spent 19 years at Penn State, and was even a former Nittany Lion himself. He held a 91-47-11 record as a their head coach. Higgins was a part of the 1947 Penn State football team, which went down as one of the most successful teams in Nittany Lions history.
As a player, Higgins was a three-time All-American who went on to play professionally for the Canton Bulldogs. During his time with the Canton Bulldogs, Higgins played in 12 games during his two-year NFL career. Of those games, he recorded a receiving touchdown in his final year with the Bulldogs.
Higgins also served in World War I before returning to Penn State as a captain.
The year Higgins took Penn State to the Cotton Bowl against Southern Methodist went down as just the second time Penn State had made a bowl appearance in program history.
Bob Higgins is still honored at State College today. He took a struggling Penn State from a team that was crushed by Colgate 40-0 during his first year to an undefeated 9-0-1 record in 1947. He had certainly come a long way with the Nittany Lions from where he had started as their head coach. Higgins left a legacy with the Nittany Lions football program that will never be forgotten.
Current head coach James Franklin becomes the 16th head coach in Penn State football history who looks to capitalize after a disappointing 2020 season.
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Every Penn State Olympian athlete taking part in the Tokyo Olympics
