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By JERRY KELLAR; Times Leader Sports Writer
Sunday, January 02, 1994 Page: 1C QUICK WORDS: NITTANY LIONS SILENCE
CRITICS
ORLANDO, Fla. — Volunteers this.
Volunteers that.
Volunteers — splat!
After a week of hearing, reading and dreaming about Tennessee explosive
offensive machine and star quarterback Heath Shuler, Penn State’s football
team had reached its collective boiling point by the time Saturday’s Florida
Citrus Bowl rolled around.
“I got tired of hearing about Heath Shuler; about how Tennessee was blowing
people out,” quarterback Kerry Collins said. “A lot of people were
underestimating us.
“But we kept our mouths shut and went out there and played.”
And by whipping sixth-ranked Tennessee 31-13 in front of a record crowd at
the Citrus Bowl, the Nittany Lions more than earned the right to say, I TOLD
YOU SO!
“All week they were talking trash, telling us how they were going to beat
us by 20 points, whatever,” defensive tackle Tyoka Jackson said. “I just
laughed.”
Even the oddsmakers served to aggravate the Lions.
“I really felt annoyed that we would come down here and be a 9 -point
underdog,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. “We’re not that bad a football
team. I never felt we were an underdog and it rankled me and some of our kids.
“We never thought Tennessee was better than us.”
So they went out and proved it.
The 10-2 Lions, in a scene reminiscent of their 1992 Fiesta Bowl victory
over the Vols, spotted UT an early 10-point lead before hitting the Vols with
a lethal combination of big-play offense and tenacious defense.
Collins, wide receiver Bobby Engram and tailback Ki-Jana Carter powered a
balanced offense that accumulated 371 total yards, while an aroused Lions
defense battered All-American QB Shuler for three sacks and an afternoon’s
worth of frustration.
Staggered and dazed, the Vols never recovered.
“We got our butts kicked,” UT defensive end Horace Morris said. “I’ve never
been hit so hard in my life. I don’t know what it was — it was like they had
every one of our plays.
“Coach Paterno really prepared these guys.”
On both sides of the ball. Defensively, State had the challenge of
containing a Vol offense that came into the game with a garish 42-points per
game scoring average.
The Lions, however, not only contained UT’s high-octane attack, they
practically snuffed it out.
Shuler still completed his share of passes (he finished 22 of 42 for 205
yards), but he never did find the magic that produced 25 touchdowns and tied
or set 25 more UT offensive records in 1993.
“He seemed real upset when things weren’t going his way,” said Lion senior
safety Lee Rubin, whose first-quarter interception of a Shuler pass thwarted a
Volunteer threat. “He’s a competitor; he wants to win. I wouldn’t say he was
rattled, just emotional.”
In fairness, Shuler had several of his passes dropped by receivers, just
one of many facets of UT’s game that suffered a breakdown on Saturday.
“Credit Penn State for that,” a solemn Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said
afterwards. “They did a great job of giving us enough rope to hang ourselves
… and we did.”
Meanwhile, the 15,000 or so Penn State fans in attendance (Tennessee had
nearly twice that many, though many of them left well before the game was
over) were hanging on every play Bobby Engram touched the ball.
Who could blame them. Engram, the graceful wide receiver from Camden, S.C.,
concluded the 1993 season the way he began it — with a spectacular
performance.
A red-shirt sophomore, he caught seven passes for 107 yards and a
touchdown, a 15-yarder early in the fourth quarter which increased State’s
lead to 31-13 and essentially ended any hopes the Vols had of a comeback.
“Not in my wildest imagination did I ever think I’d have a season like
this,” said Engram, who added to his school record for TD catches in a season
with his 14 and earned offensive MVP honors.
Actually, that recognition could have easily been awarded to either Collins
or Carter.
The much-maligned at quarterback, ended an up-and-down season on a definite
high, completing 15 of 24 passes for 162 yards. Included in Collins’ sharp
display were that TD to Engram as well as one more to Kyle Brady, and just one
harmless interception.
“Penn State’s quarterback is very underrated,” Fulmer said.
Paterno agreed.
“Sometimes, (Kerry’s) a little awkward, but he’s a good competitor and
he’ll get better.”
As for Carter, well, he marked his return to the lineup after missing two
games with a knee injury by running for a game-high 93 yards and two TDs,
including a brilliant 14-yard dash off a misdirection play with three seconds
left in the first half.
It was a backbreaker for the Vols.
“Ki-Jana did a great job of running,” Paterno said of the play. “It
wouldn’t have been such a great call if he hadn’t broken a tackle.”
Several of the Vols admitted they were surprised by the call.
“It stunned the hell out of me,” Morris said.
Leading 17-13 at the break, the Lions opened the second half with a
powerful 11-play, 60-yard drive that culminated with Collins’ 7-yard scoring
strike to Kyle Brady on a drag pattern which left the big tight end standing
all alone in the end zone.
Ironically, the Lions had used the same play against Tennessee in the
Fiesta Bowl.
“Amazing,” Brady said. “I didn’t think they’d fall for it again.”
Neither, though, did Penn State think that it would find itself in yet
another game of catch-up with Tennessee.
But, sure enough, following All-SEC placekicker John Becksvoort’s 46-yard
field goal on the game’s first series, and Shuler’s 19-yard strike to Cory
Fleming on the second, it was 10-0 Vols.
“I thought we were on our way then,” Fleming said. “Guess I should have
known better.”