Blue White Illustrated

QUARTERBACKS CONTINUED FROM 44 center to take the his historic initial snap as Penn State's first T-formation quarterback. Senior center Ken Bunn jammed the ball into O'Bara's hands, and O'Bara quickly stepped back and threw toward midfield. Georgetown's Bob Versperille intercepted at the Hoyas' 47-yard line and wasn't tackled until he reached the Penn State 27. Five plays later, Art Gulla ran 10 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 Georgetown lead. Most of the 16,617 fans in the grandstands must have wondered if the wrong quarterback had won the job. For a moment, that same thought surely crossed the mind of Paterno, too. But after the ensuing kickoff, O'Bara guided the Nittany Lions to the Georgetown 16-yard line before they lost the ball on downs. The defense forced a punt, and when Penn State's offense trotted onto the field at its own 42yard line, O'Bara led a 58-yard, sevenplay drive that produced the tying score. A few minutes later, a fumble recovery at the Georgetown 24-yard line set up a short touchdown pass by Koerber. Less than three minutes later, the Nittany Lions scored again for a 20-7 lead, and the rout was on. The Lions added another seven points before the half on a 29-yard touchdown pass by O'Bara off a fake field goal. Koerber threw a 7-yard touchdown pass after the intermission, and Penn State coasted to a 34-14 victory. The quarterbacks' final passing statistics were lumped together in the Collegian, Centre Daily Times and the Football Letter, and additional research is needed to break down their individual efforts that day. As a duo, O'Bara and Koerber completed 11 of 21 passes for 146 yards with four interceptions. The euphoria that followed the satisfying victory over Georgetown quickly gave way to futility as Penn State's offense faltered. The Lions lost successive games at Army (41-7), Syracuse (27-7) and Nebraska (19-0), and O'Bara's passing was horrendous. He threw four interceptions at Army and Syracuse and combined with Koreber for three more against Nebraska. A 7-7 tie with Temple on Homecoming ended the losing streak, and the next week at Boston College, O'Bara turned around the season with a crucial 72-yard touchdown pass – the longest of his career – in a 20-13 victory. O'Bara salvaged a winning season by leading the Lions to a 27-0 victory over West Virginia and rallying them to comefrom-behind wins over Rutgers (18-14) and Pitt (21-20). It was his three extra points in the mud at Forbes Field that provided the thin margin of victory over the team's biggest rival and allowed the Lions to finish with a 5-4 record. O'Bara's performance was good enough to earn him honorable mention recognition on the International News Service All-Pennsylvania team. Engle was so pleased with what O'Bara accomplished that he took him to the prestigious Blue-Grey All-Star game in Montgomery, Ala., on Dec. 30, where Engle shared the Blue team's head coaching duties with George Munger of Penn and Ray Eliot of Illinois. The 1950 final statistics show O'Bara completed 38 of 103 pass attempts for 640 yards and three touchdowns. He also set a school record that has not been broken – the record for most interceptions in one season by a quarterback (15). After graduation, O'Bara became a teacher and coach and was in school administration for the rest of his career. At last report, he was still living in his hometown of Sinking Spring, Pa. Koerber earned a letter that season but what happened after that is not known, except that he never played in another Penn State game. However, in 1951 the controversy over the quarterback resumed anew, and it has never stopped. This time it was between a pair of sophomores with T-formation experience, and before Paterno was through with them, one of them – Tony Rados – would become the best quarterback in the East. JOHNSON CONTINUED FROM 29 make him a major factor along the Lions' defensive line this season. "He's shown spurts of being one of the good players," Barnes said. "Sometimes he'll go in the backfield and force fumbles, things like that. He'll show spurts of it, but he just needs to be more consistent and he'll be able to take off this year. See what you do well and just try to keep repeating it. Work on your craft and you'll be able to do that every play." them up and getting them ready." All of which makes the coming months extremely important for Johnson and, by extension, the rest of Penn State's defense. Butler said the plan of attack in the preseason is already well-defined. "Our best players are the guys who are the most consistent, and that's what we've gotta get them to be," he said. "Talent only takes you so far. There are a lot of guys in that boat who are very, very talented who just need to get more reps. We have 29 more practices with them, and they're going to get a lot better." If Johnson wants advice on how to realize his potential, he need look no further than his teammate two spots to the left. Coming off a breakout redshirt freshman season, defensive end Deion Barnes has worked on developing his consistency throughout the offseason, aiming to become an everyday player without a glaring weakness. With that in mind, Barnes said Johnson has already shown flashes of playmaking ability that, with consistency, could

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