The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 33

i iffifgfrff ft ijjfc' mw lilr- i rtefr0fm MONDAY JANUARY 2 1995 CH THE HERALD OU ROSE BOWL SP A -V- 1 OREGON OFFENSE SHU PEKH STATE Aa DEFENSE FEMil STATE GrFEKSE OREGON DEFENSE SE 10 Bobby 1 Engram 53 Kslh Conlin 50 Jeff Hartirics wC CB 4 Herman O'Berry 24 Tony Pittman OLB 38 Paul Jensen OLB DE 43 Phil 58 Todd Yeboah-Kodia Atkins MLB 48 Rich Ruhl 0 i jriifniii ft i inj- 52 Bob Baldwin tet SL TB 14 Ricky TB 32 Ki'Jana DE 54 Mark FS Whittle Carter Schmidt 32 Jeff Sherman FS 19 Brian King Q3 12 Kerry Collin dpi 16 Danny My O'Neil 69 Mark Qp Gregg RG 71 Eric Reid RT 77 Steve Hardin QB ILB 1 5 Brian Gelarhetser ILB 44 Jeremy Asher FB 38 Jon Witman FB 34 Dwayne Jones DT t51 Ghris Mazyck aA 1 54 Mateo Rivera 68 Andre Johnson TE 81 Kyle Brady S3 7 Chad Cota SS 8 Jason Collins OLB 58 Derrick Barnes DE 56 Troy Bailey TE 90 Josh Wilcox CE 82 Jeff Perry OLB 52 Willie Smith CB 1 Alex Molden C3 34 Brian Miller rC FL 1 Cristin McLemore FL 31 Freddie tefc Scott 20 Brett Conway 25 Matt Belden 83 Joe Jurevictus 25 Matt Belden The Miami Herald a in to it 1- in lo a er id ix ay cic ds nt to ve ka he an ho ng vo Penn State gets respect tat not the popular vote Will victory lessen -the meaning of the Rose Bowl? our motivation is to go Penn State guard Jeff Hartings said Saturday we go 1 1-1 everybody will forget about us It will be like Miami in All anyone remembers about that team is that Penn State beat them in the Fiesta Poor Penn State which could have had more control over its destiny and none of this perennial second-guessing if not for the whims of poll voters if not for two meaningless touchdowns by Indiana late a 35-29 victory over the Hoosiers Penn State was ranked No 1 in one poll going into the game but after Indiana scored two touchdowns in the final 1:49 including a Hail Mary pass Penn State was dropped to No 2 who watched that game I think would agree that we beat them better than what the score Penn State defensive end Todd Atkins said The Indiana irony lengthens a list of other cruel If Onlys the Lions have suffered and sometimes whined about in the past This year Penn State is locked into the Rose Bowl In 1968 undefeated Penn State was locked out enabling No 1 Ohio State to hold onto its ranking by beating Southern Cal (despite an 80-yard run by OJ Simpson) In 1969 undefeated Penn State made the mistake of choosing to play in the Orange Bowl while Texas beat Arkansas in its last game and Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl to take the national title Poor Penn State So much success yet still searching for PASADENA Calif Pity Penn State? hard to feel much of anything for Penn State a team perennially solid perennially smug perennially as Searslike as the wardrobe of its players and coach Once again Penn State is undefeated untied and of course unsullied with Saint Joe Paterno leading the path to righ teousnessi VM a re i pnrrcjpfm ated too say Penn State adherents The Nittany Lions did not win the national title on three other occasions when they finished with a perfect record So this season Penn State subdues the Big 10 makes it to the Rose Bowl employs an exciting offense with Heisman Trophy contenders running back Ki-Jana Carter and quarterback Kerry Collins racking up 48 points and 520 yards per game and w'hat happens? Everyone is quacking about the Oregon Ducks Steve Hellyer sports information director lists his home number as 503-MUD-DUCK The Ducks are lovable and daffy with their defense and clever tattoos Paterno frowns on tattoos just as he does earrings and facial hair Penn State is not lovable Penn State is not daffy Penn State is conservative old-fashioned Penn State is located in State College Pa At least the University of Miami the team fans outside of Miami love to hate inspires hisses with its gangsta rap image Nebraska is the warm-hearted underdog Florida Florida State and Colorado have charismatic coaches and flashy players Poor Penn State perfect again but almost certainly playing for nothing today in the Rose Bowl (4:50 pm) The No 2 Nittany Lions climb any higher now that No 1 Nebraska has defeated Miami on its home field in the FedEx Orange Bowl Penn State was prevented from playing Nebraska because of the bowl allegiances of the Big Eight and Big 10 Frustration begin to capture the feeling Penn State usually has a shot at winning the electoral college but never the popular vote a program that gets respect not affection Even former players including Miami sportscaster Jimmy Cefalo would rather salutes him than hug him They "can still hear him screaming at them in that high-pitched New York accent Paterno is amazing This is his seventh undefeated regular season He has won two national titles A 16th bowl victory today would be one more than Bear Bryant outspoken on favoring a playoff stipends for players freshman ineligibility higher academic standards At 68 got that Ronald Reagan hair and says he feels 58 Still Bobby Bowden makes you smile Tom Osborne makes you cry Paterno leaves you cold Poor Penn State like a wellmuscled weightlifter this season -pumped up to cap an 11-0 record and for the final lift handed a feather The Lions ached to play Nebraska and they might have if they were still independent Instead in their second year in the Big 10 shipped to the Rose Bowl to play a 17-point underdog Osborne gets his first title Seniors end careers with UM frustrated by FL ind nly ant nth nt ses ical nal ime alty iska lere vith ven it aor for thet ngej ress gest gen- He iska was-: rely aten orth- cor-- in ohn this by -on at r'-ag- he said: ified mis-" cted give ickly 1 their ugh play- kson -fter ne if-play--rick-r wfr Little who will be back next year sat by his locker with his chin on knuckles the second time we lost at said Little staring at no one in particular Little suffered a mild concussion on a punt return early in the second half and was taken out of the game The score at the time -17-9 Miami In the fourth quarter Little went from hurt to brief hero intercepting Brook pass in the end zone to give Miami hope Thing is because of the concussion Little even remember the biggest play of his career remember running on the field and all the guys surrounding said Little whose only memories of the 1995 Orange Bowl are painful ones second and 20 from its four Nebraska defensive tackle Dwayne Harris followed that up by running around tackle Zev Lumelski and hauling Costa down in the back of the end zone for the safety With 11:35 remaining in the third quarter lead was cut to 17-9 A fumble by Nebraska quarterback Brook Berringer halted what had been a promising drive just before the end of the third quarter The ball was recovered by UM linebacker James Burgess on 36 stopping a drive that featured three completions of 13 yards or better Miami took a 10-7 lead at halftime after a dominating first quarter and a mistake-filled second The first-half keys for Miami were Sapp who made three drive-stopping plays and quarterback Frank Costa who completed nine of 17 passes for 153 yards and one touchdown Berringer who replaced starter Frazier after Miami took a 10-0 lead represented the turning point for Nebraska even though Berringer completed just three of six passes for 19 first-half yards first-half touchdown followed an interception by Carlos Jones of a Frazier pass Sapp clobbered Frazier as he released the bail and interception gave the Hurricanes possession at the UM three Costa has never looked tetter than he did leading Miami on the four (The full explanation: Miami was assessed a four-yard penalty with a loss of down and a rushing of 35 yards) A surprising call followed Nebraska the leading rushing offense (340 yards per game) tried to pass Safety Earl Little made a leaping interception of a Brook Berringer pass in the end zone preserving 17-9 lead Miami scored just over a minute into the second half By this time offensive game plan was clear: the Hurricanes wanted quick blitz-beating completions to their speedy receivers After that it was up to the receiver to outmaneuver secondary After a 13-yard run by James Stewart and a 14-yard pass to Jermaine Chambers Costa hit Jonathan Harris in stride at 35 Harris cut inside faking out cornerback Kareem Moss and safety Tony Veland Harris outran everyone else 44 yards to the end zone Prewitt added the extra point giving Miami a 17-7 lead Miami however was penalized for excessive celebration The Hurricanes were hurt by excessive penalties they had seven for 63 yards in the first half and a third-quarter penalty led to a safety for Nebraska Two penalties on a rush by Stewart an illegal block and a personal foul gave Miami a ORANGE BOWL FROM ID fourth quarter Schlesinger ran right past Warren Sapp who thought the hand-off was going to 1-back Lawrence Phillips Schlesinger reached the end zone almost untouched The run completed a seven-play 58-yard drive that took 3:42 It also completed a remarkable comeback by Nebraska Just when it looked like Miami had the game wrapped up the Huskers scored in stunning fashion A 15-yard touchdown run by Schlesinger followed a 25-yard run by Phillips Those runs represented entire scoring drive It took just 33 seconds And when quarterback Tommie Frazier who was njmed Most Valuable Plaver hit tight end Eric Alford in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion the score was suddenly tied 17-all with 7:38 remaining The game took a turn for the bizarre early in the fourth quarter After an unsuccessful Miami drive a high snap from Jeff Taylor on a punt attempt sent punter Dane Prewitt scurrying after the ball toward the end zone Rather than allowing Nebraska to pick up the loose ball Prewitt soccer-kicked the ball out of the end zone He was charged with an illegal kick and Nebraska was awarded a first and goal from By MER1-JO BORZILLERI Herald Sports Writer The green and orange canvas tunnel from field to locker room could not mute the frustration following their 24-17 loss to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl Earl Little the safety whose late-game interception briefly gave Miami hope it could salvage a victory on its home field let his emotions explode in the tunnel The sophomore from North Miami Beach High slammed his helmet to the concrete sending foam inserts flying Teammates yelled beat their fists against the canvas Frank Costa spent minutes in a tearful post-game clinch with his high school coach Receiver Chris Jones who caught six passes for 63 yards and was named MVP ended his Hurricane career flat on his stomach face to the Orange Bowl turf Earlier this season following the 38-20 loss in the Orange Bowl to Washington he said the defeat would haunt him Now with two losses at home sullying a previously clean slate Jones a senior was thinking about the future got to live with this the rest of my said Jones says the gone with this football team I was try ing to prove them linniUHiinnvirii'ilTM DAVID BERGMAN Herald Staff SNEAKING UP: Frank Costa makes a quarterback sneak to get UM into field-goal range in the first quarter 97-yard touchdown drive that followed to end the first quarter Going into the game the Hurricanes said they wanted to run to open up the pass Instead Miami passed to open up the run After a two-yard run by Stewart Costa took a three-step drop and threw a quick pass to Trent Jones who was lined up in the slot Nebraska linebacker Ed Stewart tried so hard to com? up and make a play he ran right by Jones who breezed to the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown Miami had its 10-0 lead with :04 remaining in the quarter 1994: Charlie Ward Florida State Tommie Frazier Nebraska 1993: Charlie Ward Florida State Corey Dixon Nebraska 1992: Larry Jones Miami Tyrone Legette Nebraska 1991: Charles Thompson Colorado Chris Zorich Notre Dame 1930: Raghib Ismail Ndtre Dame Darian Hagan Colorado -1989: Steve Walsh Miami Charles Fryar Nebraska.