Penn State Earns Its Way West : College football: Nittany Lions in Rose Bowl after 35-31 come-from-way-behind victory over Illinois.

Penn State clinched the Big Ten Conference championship and a January trip to Pasadena on Saturday, but not before the Nittany Lions nearly pricked themselves on those Rose Bowl thorns.

Down by three touchdowns late in the first quarter, No. 2-ranked Penn State recovered just in time to defeat Illinois, 35-31, in the dreary mist and cold of Memorial Stadium. It took a 14-play, 96-yard scoring drive in the waning minutes to do it, but Nittany Lion Coach Joe Paterno didn’t seem to mind the wait.

“All’s well that ends well, I guess” said Paterno, who became only the fourth coach to take a team to the Orange, Sugar, Cotton and Rose bowls.

That’s easy for Paterno to say now. But before the end of the first period, the Nittany Lions trailed, 21-0, and had three quarters left against the No. 1 defense in the Big Ten. The Penn State offense, rated first in the country, had 19 yards and not a single first down. And the less said about the Nittany Lion defense, the better.

“We were a little disappointed,” linebacker Willie Smith said.

What he should have been was a little nervous. But Paterno wouldn’t allow it. Trailing, 28-14, after two quarters, Paterno jogged to the locker room, gathered his team around him and preached patience.

“Look, just play our game,” he told the Nittany Lions. “Everybody relax. Don’t lose your poise. Don’t try to make big plays. Let’s just go out and get five and six (yards) and stay in the game. Play our game and we’ll be all right.”

Joe Pa talks. Penn State listens.

The Nittany Lions scored 21-second half points, Illinois scored three.

“They played a 60-minute game,” said Illini star linebacker Dana Howard, “and we played almost 60 minutes.”

It was Illinois’ lapse in those crucial final minutes that cost it the game. The Illini (6-4) had Penn State pinned at the Nittany Lions’ four-yard line with 6:07 to play and a 15-m.p.h. wind in quarterback Kerry Collins’ face. Hold them and Illinois ends Penn State’s undefeated season, postpones the Nittany Lion Rose Bowl celebration and jeopardizes Paterno’s chances of another national championship.

Instead, Collins, rated first nationally in pass efficiency, led the Nittany Lions on what he later called “my most memorable drive.”

No kidding. Collins completed his seven attempts and never once appeared flustered as Simeon Rice, the nation’s leader in sacks, bore down on him. When he wasn’t picking away at a now-confused Illinois defense, he was handing the ball to running backs Ki-Jana Carter or fullback Brian Milne.

Carter, you know about. The Heisman Trophy candidate finished the day with 22 carries, 110 yards and one touchdown. But it was Milne who made the difference. Thanks to starter Jon Witman’s ankle injury, Milne got the call on nearly every short-yardage situation.

The final Penn State drive was no exception. Milne’s two-yard run on first and goal with 57 seconds remaining gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of the day. Milne had only 25 yards in seven carries, but three of those rushes ended with touchdowns.

“I just do what I’m told,” said Milne, who sat out the 1992 season after successfully overcoming Hodgkin’s disease.

After the touchdown, Milne returned to the sideline as if he were bored with the whole thing, but inside, “I wasn’t calm at all,” he said.

That’s because Illinois still had one possession and nearly a minute to cover 80 yards. It also had quarterback Johnny Johnson, who led the Illini to two fourth-quarter touchdowns in last week’s come-from-behind victory over Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Penn State’s players gathered in front of the bench and watched as the Nittany Lion defense tried to make a final stand.

“We held hands all down the sideline,” Milne said.

On the field, linebacker Brian Gelzheiser appealed to a higher authority.

“I was praying,” he said.

Illinois got as far as the Penn State 31, but then Johnson, with no time left on the clock, threw an interception to free safety Kim Herring, who was tackled immediately by his own man, cornerback Marlon Forbes.

“With our offense we knew if we just kept it close they could pull it out,” Smith said.

They did, but the Nittany Lions needed that 96-yard drive and a 99-yarder in the second quarter. They also needed lots of faith. At one point, that lone unknown coach who voted Penn State an incredible No. 6 in last week’s USA Today/CNN poll looked like a genius.

“Yeah, he voted us No. 6,” guard Marco Rivera said. “Maybe he hates us. But we’re 9-0 and we beat the best defense in the Big Ten.”

No need to mention that to Illinois defensive coordinator Denny Marcin. Marcin couldn’t bear to glance at the final numbers.

“I don’t even want to look at the stats,” he said. “They’re ugly. You’ve got to shut the water off sometime.”

Instead, Penn State dripped its way to 300 passing yards and 160 rushing.

Early on, Penn State was leaky. Every time Paterno looked up, his team was being undone by a Ty--Douthard or Washington.

It was Douthard who scored Illinois’ first touchdown, a one-yard run with 11:31 gone in the period. And it was Washington who intercepted Collins’ ill-advised pass to Bobby Engram midway through the quarter, putting the ball on the Penn State 23.

That done, it was Douthard’s turn. Douthard ran four consecutive times, got it to the one-yard line and then, on second and goal, Johnson found tight end Ken Dilger wide open in the end zone for the touchdown. Illinois added another score with 12 seconds left in the period.

In the end, it didn’t matter. The Nittany Lions left the field as Big Ten champions, but not before Carter made a detour toward Penn State’s contingent of fans. It was there that Carter said hello to his mother and then accepted a gift from a hometown friend from Westerville, Ohio.

It was a rose. Saturday, it smelled especially sweet.