tional championship. So they knew the
Rose Bowl was primarily about pride.
"A=er the game, we went down for
our snack at about 9 o'clock," Richardson
remembered, "and Joe came into the
room. He knew we were down and he
called for our attention and said, 'Don't
let what just happened mess up what all
of you have accomplished this year.' "
They didn't.
Carter's stunning 83-yard touchdown
run on the Nittany Lions' :rst play from
scrimmage set the tone of the 1995 Rose
Bowl. Although the explosive o;ense
didn't reappear a=er Carter's quick
touchdown, Penn State went on to post
a convincing 38-20 victory over the
Ducks. The next day, the polls gave Os-
borne his :rst national title, while Penn
State was rated No. 2.
Collins and Richardson admit the
players were disappointed at the time,
but they have never dwelled on the snub
by the pollsters. When they get together
the weekend of Sept. 5-6 to celebrate
the 20th anniversary of that magni:cent
season, they will talk more about the
camaraderie of the team and the good
times they had playing together than
anything else.
"What's done is done, and we've all
moved on," Collins said.
Penn State didn't break any NCAA
team records that season, but its total
o;ense (520.2 yards per game) and scor-
ing (47.8 points a game) were remarkable
achievements in an era before the BCS
and the high-scoring style of today.
Collins set eight school records that
season: passing yardage (2,679), touch-
down passes in consecutive games (11),
completions (176), lowest season in-
terception percentage (1.46), total of-
fense (2,660 yards), passing e