Was 1995 Penn State – Rutgers Game Fixed in Light of McQueary Claims?

ESPN The Magazine broke the shocking details that former Penn State Football Assistant Coach and one time backup quarterback Mike McQueary claims to have been a victim of sexual abuse as a child in addition to being a degenerate gambling.  Now one has to wonder if McQueary’s betting on games translated into throwing one specific showdown, that wasn't much of a showdown when all was said and done.

From Deadspin.com:

In 1995, Mike McQueary threw a touchdown late in garbage time of a Penn State blowout over Rutgers. Then-Rutgers coach Doug Graber and Joe Paterno got into a shouting match after the game because Graber thought Paterno was running up the score. The touchdown put the 20-point-favorite Nittany Lions up 59-34. None of this is interesting at all but for a tiny anecdote about McQueary's gambling habit while enrolled at Penn State, buried in ESPN’s profile on the Penn State whistleblower.

One only needs to do the math.  59 – 34 does equals 25.  Without that garbage time touchdown, Penn State wins by 18 points and fails to cover.

McQueary was a backup quarterback in this game.  Head coach Joe Paterno claimed his backup had to throw to a guy because ‘he was so wide open”.

Deadspin’s response:

This is more than your typical crazy-play-allows-team-to-cover-late story. This is a guy with an alleged gambling problem—including betting on his own team—coming in for mop-up duty and immediately covering the spread with a 42-yard touchdown pass in a game that was over.

Then there’s this from ESPN The Magazine:

One former teammate specifically recalls that Big Red bet and lost on his own team in a November 1996 game against Michigan State at Beaver Stadium. With McQueary serving as a backup on the sideline, favorite PSU won on a late field goal 32-29 but didn't cover the eight-point spread.

McQueary blew the whistle on long time Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky as part of an explosive child sex abuse scandal that landed Sandusky a life time prison sentence.

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com