Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 60

D-0 PITTSBURGI I POST-GAZETTE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1999 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Pitt, Perm State riding the wave of increased attendance CROWDED HOUSES Attendance leaders in 1999: Rk. Team Avg. 1. Michigan 111,008 1 2. Tennessee 1 06.839 3.

Penn State 96,500 Ohio State' 93,456 5. Georgia 86,117 ,6,, Florida 85,493 7. Alabama 83,223 8. Texas 82,673 9. Auburn 80,905 10.

Notre Damo 80,012 and I think that increases interest." Tranghese has a couple other theories about the increase in attendance. "I've given a lot of thought to it," he said. "I think part of it is people's attitude toward the pro game. The pro game has really gone so high-tech. What I caD the human element is almost gone.

Everything is so programmed." He thinks the college and pro football games have taken divergent paths in other areas, too, and that fans are responding. For instance, Tranghese said, while the NFL is still wrestling with what to do about on-field antics such as the controversial throat-slash gesture the NCAA has regulated excessive celebrations out of its game. "WeVe cleaned up our act on the field," he said. "I'm not sure the fans want the histrionics. "I just think our product is good." The spikes in attendance aren't limited to Division I-A football.

Division I-AA attendance jumped by 393,381, to 5,949,345, its second-highest total in the past two decades. Division II went up to 2,504,118, its best since 1996. Division III went to 1,996,221, its best since 1992. Youngstown State, which lost in the I-AA title game, was 16th in its division with an average home attendance of 16,006. IUP was 22nd among Division II teams, drawing an average of 5,800.

Washington and Jefferson was 10th in Division III with an average of 3,860, with Grove City 15th at 3,615. soon will be playing in bigger stadiums. After one season in Three Rivers next year, the Panthers will move into a new football-only facility on the North Shore in 2001. It is expected to hold about 65,000 seats, about 9,000 more than Pitt Stadium held. Like the national average, the Panthers' attendance has risen each of the past six seasons, from 31,565 in 1994 to 41,138 this year.

They did not quite make the top 50 this year. "I think what's happening with the major programs, they have a growing fan base and they're playing in big stadiums," Pederson said. "I want to be playing in one of the big, great stadiums also." Penn State already has one of those monsters. The Nittany Lions averaged 96,590 at Beaver Stadium in 1999. That was third-best behind Michigan (111,008) and Tennessee two schools that have recently increased the capacity of their stadiums.

Still, Curley said, the Nittany Lions could not accommodate all the requests they had for season tickets and had to turn down requests from about 3,200 students. That problem will be softened when Penn State completes its latest expansion in 2001. That will bring Beaver Stadium's capacity to about 105,300, Curley said. "A number of universities are making investments in their facilities, adding more seats and amenities," Curley said. The Big Ten is a hotbed for that type of construction.

Besides Michigan and Penn "As our programs improve, we are going to increase those numbers," Pederson said. Big East Commissioner Michael Trangh-ese agreed and cited Pitt's new venue and Virginia Tech's proposed stadium expansion as a reason to be optimistic. Pederson, Curley and Tranghese were all impressed with college football's attendance growth despite the large number of games that are televised, even home games in local markets. "There is always concern about oversat-uration," Curley said, "but it appears that the attendance at the gate has not been hurt by that." Pederson thinks the proliferation of televised games has helped. "I remember people saying, 'Oh, my gosh, this is going to destroy college he said.

"It's worked just the opposite probably the exposure through television has helped grow the fan base." ABC, CBS and ESPN all reported increased ratings for college football this year. On Saturdays in the fall, fans could easily watch games for 12 hours or more. "I think the only people who do that are the really hard-core fans," Tranghese said. "For the most part, TV exposure has drawn people in." So has the latest postseason setup for the top teams, the Bowl Championship Series, Pederson said. "It has added intrigue to what's going on and what games mean during the season, By Shelly Anderson Post-Gazette Sports Writer Times have never been better for college football.

Around the nation, attendance is going up. Television ratings are going up. Stadium additions or, as in Pitt's case, whole new stadiums are going up. "You don't want to miss the run," Pitt Athletic Director Steve Pederson said. The NCAA reported last week that attendance at its football games around the nation grew by nearly 2 million to an all-time high of 39,482,657 across all divisions in 1999.

It is the sixth consecutive year that attendance has risen. In Division I-A, games drew an average of 43,595 for a record total of 29,032,973. The NCAA attributes the increase to better marketing, expanded stadiums and general fan interest. Pederson and his Penn State counterpart, Tim Curley, agree. "College football continues to see an increase when so many sports are decreasing," Pederson said.

"I think the health of the sport is good." "Even in the face of increasing television coverage, you're seeing a lot of people who want to attend the games, so you're seeing a real strong interest," Curley said. "Obviously, it bodes well for the future." Pitt and Penn State are among the many schools that are ready to ride that tide. They State, Ohio State is upgrading its stadium and will have close to 100,000 seats by 2001. The Buckeyes were fourth this year in attendance with an average of 93,456. Wisconsin and Michigan State also were in the top 20, but the Big Ten came in second among conferences with an average attendance of 67,159.

The Southeastern Conference was the leader at 70,521, an SEC record. Besides Tennessee, four other SEC teams were in the top 10. The Big East, which includes Pitt, was last among the six major conferences, with an average crowd of 39,945, a drop of 50 from 1998. RESULTS. SCHEDULE SATURDAY'S SUMMARIES Blue-Gray Classic Blue 22, Gray 22 Bill.

BLUE-GRAY GAME Missed FG leads to tie ..7 7 2 622 ..7 0 1522 ALOHA BOWL ASU sick over loss to Wake Food poisoning hits 10 Ixjforc 23-3 blowout if V7 ujm aw 7 Elaine ThompsonAssociated Press Wake Forest defensive back Adrian Duncan upends Arizona State wide receiver Todd Heap yesterday. SATURDAY, DEC. 25 Blue-Gray Classic At Montgomery, Ala. Gray 22 Blue 22 Aloha Bowl At Honolulu Wake Forest 23 Arizona State 3 Oahu Bowl At Honolulu Oregon State (7-4) vs. Hawaii (8-4) MONDAY, DEC.

27 Motor City Bowl At Pontlac, Mich. Marshall (12-0) vs. Brigham Young (8-3). 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) TUESDAY, DEC.

28 Alamo Bowl At San Antonio Texas (8-3) vs. Penn State (9-3), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) WEDNESDAY, DEC. 29 Music City Bowl At Nashville, Tenn. Kentucky (6-5) vs.

Syracuse (6-5), 4 p.m. (ESPN) Holiday Bowl At San Diego Kansas State (10-1) vs. Washington (7-4), 8 p.m. (ESPN) THURSDAY, DEC. 30 Humanitarian Bowl At Boise, Idaho Boise State (9-3) vs.

Louisville (7-4), 3 p.m. (ESPN 2) Mlcronpc.com Bowl At Miami Virginia (7-4) vs. Illinois (7-4), 7 p.m. (TBS) Peach Bowl At Atlanta Mississippi St. (9-2) vs.

Clemson (6-5), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) FRIDAY, DEC. 31 lnslght.com Bowl At Tucson, Ariz. Boston College (8-3) vs. Colorado (6-5), 1:30 p.m.

(ESPN) Sun Bowl At El Paso, Texas Oregon (8-3) vs. Minnesota (8-3), 2:15 p.m. (CBS) Liberty Bowl At Memphis, Tenn. Colorado State (8-3) vs. Southern Mississippi (8-3), 5 p.m.

(ESPN) Independence Bowl At Shreveport, La. Mississippi (7-4) vs. Oklahoma (7-4). 8:30 p.m. (ESPN) SATURDAY, JAN.

1 Outback Bowl At Tampa, Fla. Georgia (7-4) vs Purdue (7-4), 11 am. (ESPN) Cotton Bowl At Dallas Texas (9-4) vs. Arkansas (7-4), 1 1 a.m. (FOX) Gator Bowl At Jacksonville, Fla.

Georgia Tech (8-3) vs. Miami (84), 12:30 p.m. (NBC) Citrus Bowl At Orlando, Fla. Rorida (9-3) vs. Michigan a (9-2), 1 p.m.

(ABC) Rose Bowl At Pasadena, Calif. Stanford (83) vs. Wisconsin (9-2), 4:30 p.m. (ABC) Orange Bowl At Miami Michigan (9-2) vs. Alabama (10-2), 8:30 p.m.

(ABC) SUNDAY, JAN. 2 Fiesta Bowl At Tempo Ariz. Nebraska (1 1-1) vs. Tennessee (9-2), 8 p.m. (ABC) TUESDAY, JAN.

4 Sugar Bowl At New Orleans Florida State (1 1 -0) vs. Virginia Tech (1 1-0), 8 p.m. (ABC) SATURDAY, JAN. 15 East-West Shrine Classic At Stanford, Calif. 4 p.m.

(ESPN) SATURDAY, JAN. 22 Senior Bowl At Mobile, Ala. 2:30 p.m. (TBS) Hula Bowl At Kahulul, Hawaii 4 p.m. (ESPN) SATURDAY, JAN.

29 Gridiron Classic At Orlando, Fla. 2 p.m. (ESPN2) By Jenna Halvatgis Fryer The Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. Disap- B)inting seasons at Auburn, Notre ame, Ohio State and UCLA meant a lot of big-time names played in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic. But it was the little players from the small schools who made the biggest difference yesterday, accounting for five of the six touchdowns in the 22-22 tie.

Kareem Larrimore of West Texas returned a kickoff 99 yards for a Demario Brown of Utah State and Curtis Keaton of James Madison combined for three touchdowns and quarterbacks from Lehigh and Northern Arizona both threw touchdown passes. Jake Arians of UAB missed a 22-yard field goal as time expired, and the game ended in a tie. The attempt was way wide to the right, the last of a number of botched kicks by both teams. The Blue had tied it, 22-22, with 4:09 to play on a 2-yard touchdown run by Brown, his second score of the game. But Travis Brawner of Southwest Missouri State missed the point after, which would have given the Blue the lead.

The Gray moved for what it hoped would be the winning score with time winding down. Justin Fuente of Murray State threw passes of 14 and 24 yards to JaJuan Dawson of Tulane. Keaton then gained 11 yards on two runs and Fuentes threw an 8-yard pass to Dawson. The Gray, representing the South, then tried to run it in for the touchdown, but Keaton was pushed out of bounds at the 5 with five seconds to play. That set up the chance for Arians, who earlier missed from 58 yards.

By Gordon Sakamoto The Associated Press HONOLULU It's a good thing Jim Caldwell didn't give in to Ben Sankey's frequent requests for a position change. During his four year career at Wake Forest, Sankey, a backup quarterback until this season, asked for a switch so he could get more playing time. Caldwell told Sankey to sit tight and good things would happen. It did in the Aloha Bowl yesterday, when Sankey ended his collegiate career by guiding the Demon Deacons (7-5) to a 23-3 victory over Arizona State. Voted the game's outstanding player, Sankey passed for one touchdown and put his team in position for another touchdown and Matthew Burdick's three field goals.

Arizona State was dealt a setback before the kickoff when 10 players, three of them starters, came down with food poisoning. "Not to make any excuses, but we woke up this morning with eight to 12 guys sick," ASU Coach Bruce Snyder said. "But that's not to take away from Wake Forest. They're strong, physical and I have a lot of admiration for them. They took us out of what we wanted to do." Ten Arizona State players, including three starters quarterback John Leonard, defensive tackle Jawell SamUton and safety Alfred Williams saw only limited action as a result of the outbreak.

Prior to the game, the Sun Devils lost quarterback Ryan Kealy with a knee injury- Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, with Burdick and First Quarter Blue Price 10 run (Brawner kick), 9:59 Gray Larnmore 99 kickoff return (Arians kick). 9:41 Second Quarter Blue Brown 4 pass from Stambaugh (Brawner kick). :04 Third Quarter Blue Safely, Zimmerman tackled Fuente in end zone, 6:02 Fourth Quarter Gray Montgomery 20 pass from Brown (Arians kick), 14:00 Gray Keaton 6 run (Dawson pass from Brown), 10:52 Blue Brown 2 run (Brawner kick), 4:09 A 15,531. TEAM STATISTICS Blue Gray 23 First downs 13 37-174 Rushes-yards 34-138 297 Passing 132 29-47-1 Comp-Att-Int 13-22-0 57 Return Yards 41 Punts-Avg 0- 0 Fumbtes-lost 0-0 1- 5 Penalties-Yards 1-15 35:16 Time of Possession 24:44 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Blue, Davis 13-116, Brown 12-39, Price 4-28, Goodspeed 3-5, Lester 2-(minus 6), Stambaugh 3-(minus 8). Gray, Keaton 14-101, Mealey 10-23, Smith 2-12, Philyaw 1-2, Green 3-2, Brown 1-1, Montgomery 1-0, Fuente 2-(minus 3).

PASSING Blue, Lester 17-30-1-215, Stambaugh 12-17-0-82. Gray, Fuente 8-11-0-71, Brown 5-11-0-61. RECEIVING Blue, Hayes 9-153, Farmer 5-49, Brown 4-20, Montgomery 3-29. Davis 3-8, Mc-Mullen 2-23, Price 2-3, Goodspeed 1-12. Gray, Dawson 4-57, Green 2-19, Moore 2-18.

Osborne 2- 10, Montgomery 1-20, Mealey 1-4, Smith 1-4. Aloha Bowl Waka Forest 23, Arizona State 3 Wake Forest 3 0 10 1023 Arizona 3 0 03 First Quarter WFFG Burdick 22. 8:18. Second Quarter ASU FG Barth 46. 11:22.

Third Quarter WF FG Burdick 24. 9:18. WF Caldwell 56 pass from Sankey (Burdick kick), 4:18. Fourth Quarter WF Kane 1 run (Burdick kick), 11:11. WF FG Burdick 43, 5:39.

TEAM STATISTICS Waka Forest Arizona State 15 First downs 1 1 48-162 Rushes-yards 36-94 188 Passing 70 13-22-1 Comp-Att-Int 15-26-0 15 Return Yards 3 6-36 Punts-Avg 9-35 0- 0 Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1- 15 Penalties-Yards 3-21 34:14 Time of Possession 25 46 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Wake Forest. Kane 20-83, Sankey 15-56, Mughelli 3-8. Williams 2-5. Stone 2-4. McCoy 2-4, Ivey 1-3, Scott 2-1, Leak 1 -(minus 2) Arizona St.

Redmond 17-89, Green 7-28, Leonard 2-8, Flowers 2-7, Jackson 1-1, Smith 1-(minus 1), Goodman 6-(minus 38). PASSING Wake Forest. Sankey 13-22-1-188 Arizona St. Goodman 10-16-0-42, Leonard 5-10- 0- 28. RECEIVING Wake Forest, Deese 3-38, Kane 3- 20, Merritt 2-27, Lik 2-18, Caldwell 1-56, Davis 1- 15, McCoy 1-14.

Arizona Heap 5-39. Redmond 3-3, Williams 2-8, Smith 2-7, Jennings 1 -11, McDonald 1-1, Green 1-1. SATURDAY, DEC. 18 Las Vegas Bowl At Las Vegas Utah 17 Fresno Slate 16 Heritage Bowl At Atlanta Hampton 24 Southern U. 3 WEDNESDAY, DEC.

22 Mobile Alabama Bowl Texas Christian 28 East Carolina 14 Mike Barth exchanging field goals. In the third quarter, a partially blocked punt by Marvin Chalmers led to a 24-yard field goal by Burdick, and Sankey connected with Jimmy Caldwell the coach's son on a 56-yard scoring pass. Caldwell caught the ball on a slant pattern, dodged two defenders and raced untouched into the end zone. "I saw the safety cheating up," Sankey said. "Jimmy ran a great route.

I just look for his uniform. He did the rest. It was a momentum-builder." Snyder said, "We had a double-robber called. It was to take away that play. Once again, we didn't make the play.

But it was the right call." The final points came after Nick Murphy's punt went out at the Wake Forest 49. On the ninth play of the drive, Morgan Kane dived over for the score. A fumble recovery also led to Burdick's 43-yard field goal. "It was one of our better-played games offensively. -And we shut down a team with a lot of weapons," Jim Caldwell said.

"Our special teams also did well. "We're a pretty! good football team, but it takes us awhile to get on track." Sankey completed 13 of 22 passes for 188 yards. Kane rushed for 83 yards on 21 attempts. For the Sun Devils (6-6), J.R. Redmond rushed for 89 yards.

But Arizona State, which had only 94 yards rushing overall, advanced beyond the 50 only twice. The first resulted in the Sun Devils' only points, and the second, to the Demon Deacons 24, ended with a missed field goal. "They're a good rushing defense team," Snyder said. "And everything we do is off the running game." Paterno doesn't consider season a total loss Get tomorrow's headlines tonight. Ui4- wi'U think it has to be done," he said.

"In all fairness, obviously I am hoping I will be here a few more years. I can handle all that stuff, but I think it would be very unfair to have somebody come in here with the idea that in four or five more years that you can expect every year to be a national championship football team in a conference as tough as this one. I think you have to be realistic." Paterno began that process by maintaining that the decisive, season-opening victory over Arizona probably raised expectations too "I very frankly told you people that Arizona didn't play very well," he said. "I tried to tell you that I think they made a mistake coming in here. They came in late across the country.

I know I made that statement several times. I told the squad that. We fooled them and did a lot of things they weren't ready for." But in his news conference before the Arizona game, Paterno was asked whether making a crosscountry trip would present problems for the Wildcats. He scoffed at the question. "If the team is a good team and mature, I don't think the traveling bothers you that much," he said Aug.

24. "If you are traveling with a lot of kids who have not been involved in big games and are a little bit in awe of some things that hap- LIONS FROM PAGE D-l to anyone's expectations, including their own. Their defense, which included three first-team Ail-Americans, failed to protect a late lead in each of the losses. Their offense sputtered far too often inside the 20, settling for field goals instead of touchdowns. Still, Paterno insisted that three losses don't mean the entire season was a loss.

"I consider this season successful whether we win or lose the next game," he said. "We have played a lot of good football teams. We played competitively, and that is all you can ask. If we don't play hard against Texas it will be a disappointment. "If we go out and play the way we have played all year and we don't come out with enough points to win the game, I still would consider it a successful season." That's a minority position.

Players, fans and probably even Paterno judging from his appearance and demeanor on media day still can't quite believe that the Nittany Lions let such a golden opportunity slip away. Publicly, however, Paterno has taken the opposite approach. He thinks fans will simply have to lower their standards. "I don't know how you do it, but I Thompson had said the same thing before the regular-season finale against Michigan State that the Nittany Lions had lost two games and didn't want to lose three. But they lost anyway.

"I'm not going to get into an argument here," Thompson said. "That's already done. The fourth loss hasn't happened. I'm not going to speak of a fourth loss. We're going out and working hard, and when we get to the game, we'll see how it turns out" Although they are not in a top-tier bowl, the Nittany Lions haven't exactly drawn a pushover opponent.

The No. 18 Aggies, playing on an emotional high after 12 people were killed when the pile of bonfire logs collapsed, beat Texas in their final regular-season game. Their defense is ranked among the top 25 in four categories total, rushing, pass efficiency and scoring. Their offense was led by quarterback Randy McCown, a fifth-year senior who threw for 2,513 yards and 14 touchdowns. "It is going to be a very emotional Texas football team, obviously, with some momentum," Paterno said.

"We have to restore some confidence in our ability to play in tough games, and we are going to have to play in a very difficult environment. It is going to be a tough job, but I don't think our guys are going to back away from it." pen, maybe the traveling is a distraction. I don't think that is going to be a problem with Arizona." Building off that 41-7 victory over the Wildcats, the Nittany Lions won their next eight games, including three that were decided in the final minutes. But then they lost their final three, all in the final minutes. They hadn't had a three-game losing streak since they lost the final two games of the 1988 season and the 1989 opener.

"This year, I felt we were in a position to win every football game, and I felt the coaching staff did a good job," Paterno said. "I think the kids made every effort and did come from behind. It is frustrating to see kids give you that much, kids you like so much you really hope they would end up on a higher note. "Sometimes that is just what happens to people. It just doesn't work out as hard as you work." Now Penn State faces the possibility of losing four consecutive games for the first time in Paterno's career.

And to keep Paterno's undefeated record after three-game losing streaks intact, they have to get excited about playing in this game. The players say they won't have any trouble getting motivated. 'The reason is obvious," quarterback Kevin Thompson said. "You lose three, you don't want to lose four." A reporter pointed out that 1 Witch for "First Look" on KDKA-TV News at Eleven. Every night, KDKA-TV2 and the Post-Gazette bring you an exclusive preview of what's running in the next day's PG.

It's a quick read of what's happening around the city and around your hometown. So tune in tonight at 11:00 p.m. for your "First Look" at tomorrow's news. 2KDKA-TU.