Blue White Illustrated

recruiting class who developed into an All-America defensive back in 1991, and D.J. Dozier, an All-America tailback on Penn State's 1986 national championship team. "I knew I wanted to go to a school that had a good business school and wanted me to play linebacker," Goganious said. "They had played for the national cham- pionship two years in a row, and on my official visit they were actually practicing for the national championship game against Miami. So, once they won it, everything fell in place. I felt comfortable there and wanted to be part of the line- backer tradition." Determined to start He had to wait his turn. After redshirt- ing his freshman year, Goganious earned a letter as a reserve linebacker the next season and then backed up Brian Chizmar in 1989 as one of the inside linebackers in the Lions' 3-4-4 defense. He was so de- termined to start in 1990 that at the end of spring practice he won the Jim O'Hora Award for "exemplary conduct, loyalty, interest, attitude and improvement." He started every game the next two seasons and became one of the team's leading tacklers, finishing second in total tackles in 1990 (68) and 1991 (55). That '91 team finished third in the nation after losing just two games. In the Fiesta Bowl, the Lions erased a 10-point late-third-quar- ter deficit by going on a 35-point scoring blitz on their way to a 42-17 victory over Tennessee. It's one of the three games he remembers most and his last game in a Penn State uniform. Upsetting Notre Dame, 24-21, in late November 1990 in South Bend when the Irish were No. 1 tops his list because it was a team accomplishment, but the 1991 win over Tennessee may have been his personal best. He was all over the field, making 15 tackles, 14 of them unas- sisted, to set a Fiesta Bowl record. But outside linebacker Reggie Givens made two of the biggest plays of the day in a historic eight-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters. Givens set up the third of the five touchdowns Penn State scored during that span with an in- terception 49 seconds into the fourth quarter, and he scored the fourth TD 14 seconds later when he snatched a Ten- nessee fumble in midair and rambled un- touched 23 yards. Those plays earned Givens the award for defensive player of the game. "I joked with Reggie that he won my award," Goganious said with a laugh. "I told him, 'You make one or two plays all day and I was all over the place.' I joked that he had my trophy in his house." Goganious's memory of the third game is not so pleasant, but it's one that con- tinues to shape his approach to coach- ing. Penn State was a 13-point underdog against No. 6 Southern California in the Los Angeles Coliseum in the third game of Goganious's first year as a starter but trailed by only five points, 19-14, with five minutes left to play. The Lions had the Trojans backed up inside their 20-yard line when Goganious saw a pass coming his way in the flat. He beat the receiver to the ball between the 20- and 25-yard lines with no other USC players near him and a clear path to the goal line. "I got a break on the ball," he said, "and I have real sure hands. I reached out and just knew I had it in my hands and I was going to score on the interception." But in a split second, something went awry. His concentration drifted and the ball fell to the turf. "When I dropped it I was dis- gusted. That actually would have won the game for us. That was a critical point and I should have executed and I didn't and that caused us the loss. Ever since then, I have made sure the guys I'm teaching and coaching know that you have to finish everything. I use that play as a teaching tool. If you make the play, make sure you finish the play. Don't assume you have the play, because you never know what will happen." As Joe Paterno used to tell his players, "Things either get better or get worse, they don't stay the same." Another of Pa- terno's pet phrases was "Do the little things right, and the big things will take care of themselves." Just ask Keith Goganious. ■ A Penn State football book by Lou Prato with a forward by Adam Taliaferro The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions Price: $14.95 plus shipping Published by Triumph Books (soft cover) Autographed copies available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171 Autographed copies of Lou's book We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions are still available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171. Price: $19.95 plus tax where applicable and shipping

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