P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >>
wasn't as close as the score indicated. The
Lions were penalized eight times for 77
yards and the Panthers six times for 46
yards. Bauer again led Penn State in tack-
les with 10, but the Defensive Player of
the Game was Gi>opoulos with an inter-
ception that set up a touchdown, four
tackles and two deed
o=ensive team that I'd seen in college
football in a long, long time," Ham said.
"What that entire Penn State defense ac-
complished was amazing."
There's no need to go into detail here
about Penn State's shocking 14-10 vic-
tory over a Hurricanes team that had been
favored by 6½ points. Despite being hob-
bled by a le> knee injury in the ;rst quar-
ter and an ankle injury in the third,
Conlan had two interceptions and eight
tackles and was named Defensive Player
of the Game. The hard hitting by Bauer
and the secondary intimidated Miami's
NFL-bound receivers most of the game,
as the defense sacked Heisman Trophy
winner Vinny Testaverde ;ve times and
intercepted ;ve passes. No play in Penn
State history is bigger than the goal line
interception by Gi>opoulos in the game's
closing seconds.
As Ham said, "If you make big plays in
the biggest games, that sets you apart."
Obviously, Conlan was the leader of his
linebacker group, while Bauer, Graham
and Gi>opoulos epitomized the other tal-
ented linebackers who are an integral part
of every group. They're like sharpshoot-
ing wingmen for the triple ace ;ghter
pilot. Bauer and Graham were aces, even
as Conlan's wingmen. Graham led the
team in sacks in 1985 with seven and in
1986 with nine, and he and Conlan are
still among Penn State's all-time career
sack leaders. Conlan is tied with Michael
Haynes for third with 25.5, while Graham
and teammate Bob White are tied for 14th
with 18 apiece.
Bauer knew when to turn up the intensity
T
rey Bauer is regarded as one of the
nastiest and most irascible line-
backers in Penn State history. Yet,
away from football, he's one of the
nicest people you could meet – soft-
spoken, cordial and laid-back.
If you didn't know he was one of the
Nittany Lions' outstanding lineback-
ers on the 1986 national champi-
onship team, you would not believe
he had a tempestuous game persona
and was frequently in coach Joe
Paterno's famous doghouse.
Bauer was so rowdy and reck-
less at times that Paterno
would yank him instantly off
the field and sternly lecture
him nose-to-nose. In one
game played on national
television, the camera
zoomed in on the sideline
as the coach grabbed the
linebacker by the neck of
his jersey and shook him an-
grily.
"That happened on more than one
occasion but not always in front of the
TV cameras," said Bauer, laughing
about it a few years ago.
In the national championship game
against Miami, Bauer made his intim-
idating presence known in the
pregame warmups. He picked up an
overthrown football and zipped it past
the helmet of the Miami receiver who
had been running a pass pattern, then
glared at his opponent to make sure
the entire Hurricane team knew who
had thrown the ball.
"People used to be shocked when
they would see me off the field," said
Bauer, whose father was the head
coach of his high school team in Para-
mus, N.J. "The press would say, 'Wow,
he's really a nice guy. He's not this
maniac we see on the field.' That's the
way I've always been. I'm very laid-
back, and my parents did a great job of
raising me. But when it was time in
football to compete, I competed hard."
Bauer also competed hard on Wall
Street as a senior manager at an in-
vestment banking firm after earning a
business degree from Penn State. For
several years, he has been living in
State College and is the co-founder
and principal of a financial services
company. –L.P.
TREY
BAUER
Penn State
Athletics
