Penn State Tops BYU in Wild One, 50-39

Proving the adage that there is more than one way to skin a cat, the Nittany Lions of Penn State and the Cougars of Brigham Young met in the 12th annual Holiday Bowl Friday night in a game of contrasting styles.

The Lions’ idea was to beat the Cougars with their running game and a strong defense. The Cougars’ plan against the Lions was to live and die by the pass.

The Lions’ way won out, though barely. They used the running of All-American tailback Blair Thomas and a defense that yielded a school-record 576 yards passing to BYU quarterback Ty Detmer but found a way to stop BYU when it mattered the most. The result was a 50-39 victory in front of a sellout crowd 61,113 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Thomas gained 186 yards and scored one touchdown in a Holiday Bowl-record 35 carries. That earned him a share of the offensive player of the game award with Detmer.

Detmer got his 576 yards by completing 42 of 59 passes. The attempts and completions were both bowl records. He also passed for two touchdowns.

But the difference were two bizarre plays that will go down among the wildest in Holiday Bowl, if not collegiate, history.

The first was BYU’s failed two-point conversion pass attempt with 2:34 remaining that Penn State linebacker Andre Collins intercepted and returned 102 yards to give the Lions two points. It was the first time that has happened in a bowl game under a two-year-old NCAA rule.

The second bizarre play came less than two minutes later when, with BYU driving for a shot at a go-ahead touchdown, Gary Brown stripped the ball from Detmer as he attempted to pass. Brown then raced 53 yards for a touchdown with 45 seconds that closed out the Cougars.

Those usual twists were a fitting return to form for the Holiday Bowl after Oklahoma State’s uncharacteristic 62-14 rout over Wyoming a year ago. It was the 10th time in its 12-year history the bowl came down to the final minutes.

The teams combined for 1,115 yards in total offense with the Cougars gaining 651. With those kinds of numbers, it was no wonder that the selection committee opted not to name a defensive player of the game, choosing instead to have co-offensive players. But that does not mean the Lions did have some worthy nominations.

Collins and Brown for sheer drama qualified, but free safety Sherrod Rainge made his mark with two interceptions and a break-up of a pass by Detmar that was intended for tight end Chris Smith as he streaked toward the end zone with 57 seconds left.

There also was a Holiday Bowl-record 51-yard field goal by Penn State senior Ray Tarasi.

That it came down to a final harried minute was testament to the skill of Detmer and the BYU passing attack.

Penn State appeared ready to put the game away when split end Dave Daniels and quarterback Tony Sacca completed a 52-yard touchdown pass play that gave the Lions a 41-26 lead with 9:28 left.

But BYU answered quickly with three Detmer completions for 67 yards to set up a one-yard touchdown run by fullback Fred Whittingham to cut the lead to 41-33 with 8:51 remaining.

After forcing Penn State to punt, the Cougars launched another scoring drive. This one ended with Detmer’s three-yard pass to wide receiver Brent Nyberg with 2:34 to play to draw within 41-39.

The Cougars tried a two-point conversion, but Collins stepped in front of Detmer’s pass that was intended for split end Andy Boyce and set off a dash down the left sideline that would make bowl history.

BYU still had one more chance, but that ended when a blitzing Brown jumped Detmer, wrested the ball away and dashed to the end zone with much of a celebrating Penn State bench in tow.

It was a crazy end to a game that had the promise of something different.

The school colors are the same--blue and white; the mascots are from the same animal family and the schools both sit in snowy mountain valleys, but when it comes to football these universities hail from two entirely different schools.

That was clear from their respective opening series: BYU started by passing on all nine plays in its drive; Penn State opened by running nine times in 12 plays, with Thomas carrying on eight of those.

In a near-perfect reverse image, the Cougars would end with 59 passes and 23 rushes to the Lions’ 21 passes and 54 rushes.

But not all went to form in this one. The Cougars and their coach, LaVell Edwards, are supposed to be known for offensive innovation and trickery. But it was the Lions and their coach, Joe Paterno, who pulled the biggest risk with a successful fake punt that set up the second of two touchdown runs by fullback Leroy Thompson.

And while both teams and coaches have national reputations for running clean programs manned with clean-cut, student-athletes, the game featured 20 penalties for 181 yards. Five of those were unsportsmanlike conduct or personal foul calls.

The touch of roughhouse, combined with the contrast in offensive styles, added to the impression of the game as a mirror of the Lions’ memorable 1987 Fiesta Bowl victory over Miami and its Heisman Trophy quarterback, Vinny Testaverde.

But while that game was for the national championship, this one was limited to determining if No. 18 Penn State was better than No. 19 BYU. The stakes might have been lower, but not the show.