COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL GAMES : Rain and Records Fall, Penn State Wins Easily

Give Joe Paterno a month to prepare, and Penn State is usually going to be successful. Give him Wally Richardson, Bobby Engram and Stephen Pitts, and he can beat the weather too.

Richardson passed for four touchdowns in the rain and 15th-ranked Penn State set Outback Bowl records for points and total offense Monday in a 43-14 rout of No. 16 Auburn at soggy Tampa Stadium.

Engram had four catches for a bowl-record 113 yards and two touchdowns, and Pitts rushed for 118 yards and scored on his only catch of the day to pace the Nittany Lions’ 487-yard attack.

“There are very few athletes [who] have ever been the deciding factor in more Penn State football games than Bobby Engram,” Paterno said.

Paterno, 69, has taken Penn State (9-3) to 12 different bowl games, more than any other coach. Beating Auburn (8-4) gave him victories in 10 locations and improved his overall bowl record to 17-8-1.

Auburn cited the weather as a major factor in its most lopsided loss in a bowl game since losing to Houston, 36-7, in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in 1969.

Paterno said veteran leadership on a team that has won three consecutive postseason games helped the Nittany Lions prepare for Auburn as well as deal with the rain and mud.

“The older guys did a great job of keeping the kids focused,” Paterno said. “You don’t let the weather bother you. It’s there, and there is is nothing you can do about it. The only thing you can do anything about is yourself.”

Richardson, whose inexperience hurt Penn State early in the season, completed 13 of 24 passes for 217 yards.

Engram, voted the game’s most valuable player, scored on catches of nine and 20 yards in the third quarter when Penn State scored 27 points to pull away from a 16-7 halftime lead.

Auburn, making its first bowl appearance in five seasons, scored on Robert Baker’s 25-yard, second-quarter reception and Kevin McLeod’s 12-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously, it was not a real good game for us,” said Terry Bowden, Auburn’s third-year coach. “Penn State handled the elements much better than we did.”