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backfield assistant to head coach Rip Engle during Moore's Nittany Lion career from 1953 to 1955. "[Lenny is] the greatest back I ever coached and the best two-way halfback in the game today," Engle told Pittsburgh Press writer Carl Hughes as Moore was getting ready to end his collegiate career against Pitt in 1955. Hughes also asked Engle's predecessor, Bob Higgins, to evaluate Moore. Higgins, a two-time All-America end at Penn State in 1915 and 1919 and the head coach from 1930 until 1949, spent three of his retire- ment years watching Moore at Beaver Field. "Moore is the best I've ever seen," Hig- gins replied. "I am truly humbled," Moore said when he learned of Paterno's supreme compli- ment. "When I'm told things like that I wonder how can that be because there have been so many great players at Penn State for over 100 years." Moore wound up at Penn State because of his high school coaches at Reading, Pennsylvania. "I wasn't even sure I want- ed to go to college," Moore said. Head coach Andy Staple convinced his parents about that, and line coach Bob Perugini, a Lions letterman in 1941-42, pointed him toward Penn State. Nittany Lions assistant coach Tor Toretti recruited him. Although Penn State had been an inte- grated team since the 1940s, there were still few African-Americans on campus, let alone playing football, and an under- current of racism was part of the atmos- phere in the State College community. Engle and his coaches wanted to change that. Moore was the linchpin of Engle's ear- ly-1950 recruiting of African-American players that included Rosey Grier, Jesse Arnelle, and Charlie Blockson – each of whom would become famous in his own right. "I loved Tor," Moore said years later. "I loved Rip Engle, too, because not only was he my coach but a great human being, and I admired him. All the coaches made me feel like a big part of the Penn State family despite some of the little negative things that were going on there." What made Moore stand out above all others was his consummate skill and ver- satility. He did everything except pass and kick, and he would have done that if asked to by Engle. Nicknamed the Reading Ram- bler after his hometown, Moore had a high-stepping running style that carried over into an illustrious pro career with the Baltimore Colts during their heyday. Moore is still one of the school's career all-purpose offensive leaders (No. 14) with his running, receiving, and kickoff and punt returns. He also was the first Lions player ever to gain over 1,000 yards in a season, in his junior year, when he was the second- leading ground gainer in the nation with 1,082 yards on 136 carries for a phenomenal 8.0 yards per carry. His 11 touchdowns, including two 80-yard runs, set a team single-season record that stood for 14 years. He is fourth in career punt-return average (15.8 yards on 24 returns for 378 yards and a touchdown) and 10th in career kickoff return average (24.3 yards on 23 returns for 560 yards). The aging generation that saw Moore play also remembers him as an outstand- ing defensive back. He remains tied with four players for sixth in career pass in- terceptions with 10 (for 136 yards and a touchdown), leading the team in inter- Lenny vs. Jim Brown No one in the standing-room sell- out crowd of 30,321 at Beaver Field, including me, knew they were watch- ing what would become one of the classic games in Penn State's football history. It was November 5, 1955, and neither team was having a good year. Penn State was 3-3 and would 7nish 5-4 while 3-2 Syracuse would wind up 5- 3. What the fans really wanted to see were the star running backs of each team, Lenny Moore and Syracuse jun- ior Jim Brown. They weren't disap- pointed. Moore and Brown were sensational on both offense and defense. Brown was almost a one-man team, scoring all of slightly favored Syracuse's 20 points. Twice Penn State had to rally from 13-point deficits in the first and second halves. With the Lions trail- ing 13–7 at halftime, the crowd came alive on the second-half kickoff when Moore's ankle tackle on Brown saved a touchdown, only to see Brown score his third touchdown a few plays later. In the end, the difference in the fi- nal 21-20 score was starting sopho- more Jack Farls' block of Brown's ex- tra-point kick attempt after Brown's second touchdown midway in the second quarter. Penn State's junior quarterback Milt Plum kicked all three of his extra point attempts, and with his passing on offense and tack- ling and interceptions on defense, Plum was the near-equal that day of the two future Pro Football Hall of Famers. Brown ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries; caught two passes, one for a six-yard TD; re- turned three kicko8s for 95 yards; and intercepted one pass. Moore rushed for 146 yards and a touch- down and was all over the 7eld on de- fense, making tackles and defending passes. "Lenny never in his life was greater," Coach Rip Engle said a9er the game. "Jimmy and I talked about the game later in the pros," Moore told me years later. "He said, 'You had a very good game, man.' And I said, 'So did you.' " Classic understatements from the players who made it a classic game. – L.P.

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