Seminoles Dash Penn State Dream of National Title

So much for that improbable Penn State-wins-the-national-championship scenario. One of the key ingredients, a Penn State victory, failed to materialize in Friday night’s inaugural Blockbuster Bowl at Joe Robbie Stadium.

Instead, Florida State left with a 24-17 victory and the satisfaction of ending the Nittany Lions’ silly hopes of being included in the national title equation. And no, Penn State’s Joe Paterno or Florida State’s Bobby Bowden won’t be requesting game tapes for their video libraries any time soon. It was bad enough in person.

If nothing else, though, the sixth-ranked Seminoles (10-2) ended Bowden’s losing streak against his longtime friend and nemesis, Paterno. Dating back to his days at West Virginia, Bowden was 0-6 against the Penn State coach.

“My team finally won,” Bowden said. “Sixty-one years it took. I feel like when you have beaten Joe you have accomplished something.”

Bowden also found time to make a half-hearted plea to poll voters. A win is a win is a win, he reasoned.

“I hope we end up in the top three,” he said. “If the right people lost, this might be one of those years where no one deserves to win (the national championship). If nobody deserves to win it, then we don’t deserve to win as much as anyone else.”

With the victory, before 74,021, Florida State kept alive its streak of bowl successes. Friday night’s victory, while no beauty, means the Seminoles haven’t lost a postseason game in the last nine years.

Of course, Paterno could have cared less about streaks and personal rivalries. He wanted a chance at a national championship and figured, with the right mix of New Year’s Day upsets, that the Nittany Lions, ranked seventh, could earn consideration with a convincing victory.

Those hopes officially ended the moment Seminole free safety John Davis intercepted a desperation pass at the Florida State one-yard line with 2:54 to play. The Seminoles needed only one first down to run out the clock.

Until then, Penn State remained a threat, especially after Paterno replaced starting quarterback Tony Sacca with Tom Bill midway through the final quarter. It was a move made out of necessity: Sacca was 12 for 25 for 194 yards, two interceptions and one touchdown.

“We had some opportunities early, and we didn’t take advantage of them and never got close enough that we could play our football game,” Paterno said.

Despite having to abandon its game plan, Penn State came surprisingly close to winning. Trailing 24-10, Bill lofted a 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Terry Smith to cut the lead to seven points. More than six minutes remained for a comeback.

Penn State (9-3) received two more chances but botched both.

“They put a lot of pressure and we kind of got confused,” Bill said. “We tried to do the best we could.”

Thus ended a Penn State season that began with two losses and ended with one.

Still, all things considered, it’s a tossup of what was worse: the erratic Nittany Lion passing attack or the schmaltzy halftime show; the FSU “prevent” defense or the interminable pace of the game.

Brisk isn’t exactly the word for the first half. You could have rented a movie, watched it and still had time to catch Penn State and Florida State bumbling about in slow motion.

If this was supposed to be an instant classic, it had a funny way of showing it. In the first two quarters, there were three interceptions, a blocked field goal, a fumble and enough dropped passes to make you wonder how Penn State ever beat then No. 1-ranked Notre Dame or how Bowden milked nine victories out of this team.

Florida State scored first and actually looked good doing it--a rarity in the early going. The Seminoles took the opening kickoff, drove 59 yards and settled for 41-yard field goal by Richie Andrews with 10:47 left in the quarter.

A possession later, Florida State increased the lead to 10-0, thanks mainly to an adventurous punt return by Terrell Buckley. Buckley, who is known to free-lance, caught the punt at the Florida State 46-yard line, retreated to the 29 and then turned the corner. He made it to the Nittany Lion 15.

From there, the Seminoles needed only four plays to score. Halfback Amp Lee did the honors with a one-yard plunge.

Penn State’s offense was quiet for much of the first half. Only a 56-yard touchdown pass from Sacca to split end David Daniels (a fluke reception, at that) salvaged the first 30 minutes of play for the Nittany Lions.

The score, which came with 1:13 remaining in the second quarter, appeared to be intended for tight end Al Golden. Daniels, who had dropped two easy passes, didn’t seem to mind.

Either did Florida State, which promptly responded with a touchdown drive of its own. Once again, Lee scored, this time from seven yards out with 13:28 remaining in the quarter.

After that, there were those three interceptions--two thrown by Sacca, one by Florida State’s Casey Weldon--a blocked Penn State field goal and mistakes galore.