O F F - S E A S O N R E P O R T
the defense intercepted two
passes, recovered three of ;ve
forced fumbles and sacked
Alabama quarterback Mike
Shula ;ve times for minus-32
yards. That led to a touch-
down and two ;eld goals in a
surprising 23-3 ;nal, with Bauer being
named ABC's Player of the Game for his
nine tackles and one pass
de. Penn State used up four
minutes on a long drive for a ;eld goal, but
Henning brought Maryland back for a
touchdown with 14 seconds le>. Then
came the biggest play of the game. Soph-
omore Keith Karpinski, a backup line-
backer who was subbing for the injured
Conlan, tipped Hennings' pass into the
end zone, and senior cornerback Du=y
Cobbs grabbed it to seal the 17-15 victory.
Next, another 4-4 team appeared on
the obstacle course toward a possible un-
defeated season. Lou Holtz, who had
coached North Carolina State to a pair of
surprise victories over Penn State a
decade earlier, was in his ;rst season as
coach at Notre Dame, and he had the Irish
primed for an upset. Graham sparked the
defensive charge by sacking quarterback
Steve Beuerlein three times for 17 yards in
losses. But the biggest defensive plays
came with less than two minutes le> in
the game and the Irish facing ;rst-and-
goal at the Lions' 6-yard line, trailing 24-
19. On ;rst down, Isom slammed
Beuerlein for a 3-yard loss. On second
down, redshirt senior defensive end Bob
White sacked the Notre Dame quarter-
back for a 9-yard loss. On third down,
Beuerlein threw into the end zone, but
sophomore defensive back Gary Wilker-
son blasted the receiver as he touched the
ball and it fell harmlessly to the ground.
On fourth down, Beuerlein had to scram-
ble with all his receivers covered. He
