Blue White Illustrated

with a 5-yard touchdown pass and extra point. The Michigan players gloated afterward. "You have to pay your dues," Wheatley told the Detroit News. "We just had to show them we've been here a while." Center Mark Milia probably spoke for the entire conference when he said, "We wanted to welcome Penn State to the Big Ten." Those arrogant comments, as much as the questionable officiating, laid the foundation for today's intense rivalry with Michigan. After another bye week, the Lions received a hostile welcome in Columbus on Oct. 30, with one sign near the stadium reading, "No More Cupcakes, Joe. Welcome to the Big Ten." Never mind that Penn State had beaten the Buckeyes six of the eight times they had played, with five of those victories taking place at the Horseshoe. A late-October snow squall turned the Ohio State turf to mud, but that didn't stop Carter. The Columbus native gained 123 yards on 24 carries, and Fayak kicked two field goals, but Collins was just plain lousy. He completed 13 of 39 passes for 122 yards and threw four interceptions as No. 2 Ohio State won, 24-6. Paterno stormed into the locker room afterward and chastised the dejected players. He told them he wasn't going to tolerate a repeat of 1992, that they needed to get off their butts and take some pride in themselves. "I'm mad because I know we're better than both those teams we lost to," he yelled, according to the book "Welcome to the Big Ten" by Kip Richeal. The Nittany Lions would not lose another game, but it wasn't easy and Collins continued to struggle. The next week in a Homecoming game against a surprisingly good 7-1 Indiana team ranked No. 13, Penn State twice gave up 14-point leads but was ahead 3117 one minute into the fourth quarter. Yet it took a last-minute interception near the goal line by Tony Pittman to preserve a 38-31 win. Against Indiana, Collins completed 18 of 29 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns. However, the next Saturday against Illinois he was just 5 for 18 for 49 yards with three interceptions in a 28-14 win at Beaver Stadium. He was better a week later in a 43-21 victory at Northwestern, completing 19 of 30 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown. With Pitt no longer appearing at the end of Penn State's regular-season schedule, the Big Ten tried to contrive a rivalry between the Nittany Lions and Michigan State. Both universities were historical land grant schools, and the Lions had played more games against the Spartans – 10 – than any other conference team prior to the start of the Big Ten era. A serious rivalry never developed, but many of the games were thrilling, including the first game that Thanksgiving Saturday in East Lansing. A New Year's Day bowl berth was at stake. Michigan State still had one game left, against Wisconsin in Tokyo, the following week. With Ohio State ineligible for the Rose Bowl because of a conference rule, the No. 24 Spartans could win the Big Ten championship by beating both Penn State and Wisconsin. There was also a chance that a Penn State victory would send the Lions to the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day against the No. 2 team in the SEC, depending on the outcome of the Wisconsin-Illinois and Ohio State-Michigan games that same Saturday. From the start of the game, Penn State was out of sync and mistakeprone, while Michigan State looked like a championship-caliber team. With two minutes left in the third quarter, the Spartans had a commanding 37-17 lead and were on the move again as their fans taunted the small contingent of Nittany Lion faithful about "patty cake Eastern football." The mocking continued even after Michigan State quarterback Jim Miller threw his first interception of the day at the Penn State 42-yard line. In fact, that interception by Derek Bochna was the moment Penn State started to become the team that would go on to achieve greatness in 1994. Collins was having another of his poor days, and Engram left the game for a while after being kneed in the back. But on second down, Collins hit Engram streaking down the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown, and Fayak kicked the extra point. The suddenness of it all seemed to rattle Michigan State and its crowd. Two plays into their next possession, the Spartans lost a fumble at their 40yard line, and Penn State capitalized with a 3-yard touchdown run by fullback Brian O'Neal off right tackle. Fayak converted, and with 13 minutes to play, the Lions trailed by only six points, 37-31. Suddenly, it seemed as though a missed Michigan State extra point in the first quarter might prove decisive. And sure, it did. On Penn State's next possession, Collins found Engram wide open at the Michigan State 7yard line for a 52-yard touchdown. Fayak kicked the PAT to give Penn State the lead for the first time. Even though 11 minutes remained, Sparty was done. The Lions posted three more sacks and ran out the clock for an exhilarating 38-37 victory. In six minutes, Collins had been transformed into an elite quarterback, one who in 1994 would be named a first-team All-American and the winner of the Davy O'Brien Award. Engram's touchdowns gave him 13 for season – a school record that still stands. Two days after the game, Citrus Bowl officials invited Penn State to Orlando. The opponent was fifth-ranked Tennessee, which would have played in the Sugar Bowl if not for an early-season loss to Florida. Despite its thrilling win over Michigan State, Penn State was an early 10point underdog to Tennessee, which averaged 43 points per game behind its highly touted All-SEC quarterback Heath Shuler. A record Citrus Bowl crowd of 72,456 showed up, most of them Tennessee fans believing their team would avenge the loss to Penn State in the 1992 Fiesta Bowl. Six minutes into the game, it looked as though they would get their wish, as Tennessee led, 10-0. But the Nittany Lions rallied for a 31-13 victory behind the Collins-Engram-Carter offense and a stout second-half defense. The Big Ten had just received its second warning for 1994: Watch out, the Lion kings are coming! I

• Cover