Blue White Illustrated

When Penn State complained that it was still an independent and should be included as Notre Dame had been, Coalition leaders said the Nittany Lions would qualify if they went undefeated and finished No. 1. However, the organizers admitted that if the Lions were not No. 1, they would be left out of the other New Year's Day games. Penn State might have pulled it off. But two disparate major events and a series of disruptive player encounters with the law intervened. Paterno was rebuilding for another national championship run after a disastrous 5-6 finish in 1988, the Lions' first losing season in 50 years. They went 8-3-1 in 1989, 9-3 in 1990 and 11-2 in '91 after coming from 14 points down in the third quarter to thrash Tennessee, 42-17, in the Fiesta Bowl. Paterno knew he had the makings of an outstanding offense with a mix of underclassman playmakers like redshirt sophomores Kyle Brady at tight end and Bobby Engram at wide receiver to go along with veterans such as tailback Richie Anderson, wide receiver O.J. McDuffie and tight end Troy Drayton. He also had a potentially fine offensive line with a mix of veterans such as cocaptains John Gerek and Mike Malinoski and tackle Greg Huntington and youngsters like Jeff Hartings, Marco Rivera and Keith Conlin. His defense featured proven players like linebackers Rich McKenzie and Reggie Givens, tackles Lou Benfatti and Tyoka Jackson, and Lee Rubin and Derek Bochna in the secondary. All Paterno needed was a quarterback. Tony Sacca, the starter for nearly every game since 1988, had just graduated. After spring practice, Paterno knew that redshirt sophomore Kerry Collins was the man. Sacca's younger brother John, also a redshirt sophomore, almost transferred, but Paterno talked him out of it, telling him prophetically that he would get his chance. On May 20, 1992, a few weeks after the end of spring practice, officials from Penn State and the Blockbuster Bowl announced that the Nittany Lions would be the host team for the threeyear-old postseason game in Fort Laud- erdale. Penn State had played in the first Blockbuster Bowl in 1990, losing to Florida State, 24-17. That game in the Miami Dolphins' stadium had been a sellout and had attracted an unusually large television audience in a syndicated network of 150 stations covering 90 percent of the country. To get Penn State to return, Blockbuster officials moved their game to New Year's Day and convinced CBS to telecast it. They made the offer to Penn State to play against a team to be named later. Penn State athletic officials knew that if the Lions lost even one game, they might end up in a secondtier December bowl, so they went with the sure thing, accepting the Blockbuster Bowl's offer. Made months before the start of the season, the arrangement seemed ludicrous, and most of the media ridiculed it. Even many in the Penn State football family were not happy. The natural incentive for a team to compete for the national championship or play its way into an attractive matchup at another bowl game was now missing. This lack of motivation foreshadowed a potential disaster on New Year's Day. In midsummer, three players, including McDuffie and the team's third wide receiver, senior Rick Sayles, were arrested for disorderly conduct after a scuffle outside a downtown State College bar. Around the same time, a highly touted incoming freshman cornerback named Brian Miller was arrested as part of a drug ring in his hometown. All were eventually cleared. Then, 10 days before the season opener, Sayles and Engram were charged with burglary after being caught in an apartment they said they thought was Anderson's. They admitted guilt, were given probation and thrown off the team. However, the most damaging incident occurred at a summer family reunion near Reading when Kerry Collins fractured the index finger of his throwing hand during a volleyball game. Paterno kept it a secret until the first scrimmage of preseason practice when Collins showed up in street clothes. John Sacca was now the starting quarterback. Without comprehending the extent of the Lions' problems, voters in the two major preseason polls ranked them No. 8, with Sports Illustrated rating them No. 2 behind Miami, their sixth opponent that season. That game would turn out to be the beginning of the end for the 1992 team. Collins was still rehabilitating when Sacca suffered a collarbone injury in the second quarter of the season opener at Cincinnati. With true freshman Wally Richardson leading the way, the Lions won that game and the next one against Temple. Then Sacca returned to lead the team to a 5-0 record and No. 7 ranking with No. 2 Miami headed to town. The Hurricanes were leading 10-7 with about a minute left in the third quarter, and Penn State had a firstand-10 at its own 36-yard-line. A Miami blitz disrupted an intended screen pass to Anderson, and as Sacca was being hit, his pass fluttered into the hands of defensive end Darren Krien all alone in the flat who ran for an easy touchdown. The Hurricanes held on to win, 17-14. The next week, Penn State's rally from a 35-10 third-quarter deficit fell short against Boston College. Sacca went out with a shoulder injury with less than three minutes left, and Collins nearly passed for the winning touchdown in the final moments, but the Eagles held on, 35-32. Collins kept the starting position for the rest of the season but was erratic and appeared to lack confidence. Playing for pride, the Nittany Lions thrashed West Virginia and Pitt but were upset at BYU, 30-17, and lost in the last 30 seconds at No. 8 Notre Dame, 17-16. While practicing for the Blockbuster Bowl, they partied a lot in Fort Lauderdale. Players acted as if they didn't care whether they won or lost, and they played like it, too. No. 13 Stanford won with relative ease, 24-3, leaving Penn State with a 7-5 record and bringing an inglorious end to 116 years of football independence. Even worse than the defeat was the fact that Collins had banged his right hand against the helmet of a Stanford

• Cover