Tailback U. Might Have New Home

Somewhere in Orange County Sunday afternoon, John Cappelletti was watching television, discovering Curtis Enis with the rest of the country and smiling a lot.

Incredible as it may be, Cappelletti is the only Heisman Trophy winner from Penn State, a school that has had more stars than that sidewalk in Hollywood. And Cappelletti, now a businessman in Southern California, has often said he’d like to see his school get another one of those big fancy trophies from the New York Athletic Club.

So, while it may be only August, and while every major college football team except four has yet to play its first game, Enis certainly would be considered the leader in the clubhouse among those voting on such things.

And while the Heisman is the ultimate sports hype--how soon will Danny Sheridan be tabbing some eighth-grader for the year 2004 at 4-1 odds on CBS?--it is worth noting the kind of day that Enis had. And it can be noted in one quick comparative statistic: He fell only 15 yards short of matching Curt Warner’s school rushing record of 256 yards, set in 1981, and Coach Joe Paterno took him out early in the final quarter.

Enis is 6 feet 1, 231 pounds. He had never started a game for Penn State before Sunday. Matter of fact, he began his career as a freshman last season at outside linebacker, making two tackles against Texas Tech.

The rest of his freshman season, he came off the bench and ran with the ball--enough to lead the Nittany Lions in rushing, enough to be voted Freshman Player of the Year in the Big Ten, and enough to get the effervescent, wild-and-crazy Paterno to assure him, going into this season, that he had a chance to win the job, “If he continued to work hard and play well.”

According to press reports this week, prior to Penn State’s 24-7 victory over USC in the Kickoff Classic, Enis was told in midweek that he would be the starting tailback against the Trojans. After the game, Enis pooh-poohed that story.

“I didn’t know until we were out there warming up today,” he said.

When Enis was done with the Trojans on Sunday, he had established Kickoff Classic records for rushing attempts with 27, yards gained rushing with 241, touchdowns rushing with three, points scored with 18, touchdown scoring with three and longest play by rushing with a 57-yarder.

But to hear Enis and Paterno talk afterward, this was a nice day, but still a work in progress.

“I just kind of took the opportunities when they were there,” Enis said. “I owe it all to my linemen.”

Said Paterno: “If Enis gets himself ready mentally, he can play well. Southern Cal did a lot of blitzing . . . and because of that, Curtis was able to take advantage of some things. . . . The next team may not do that.”

Paterno also said Enis had won the tailback job only for as long as the next game, and Enis played right along with this aw-shucks approach from Penn State, to one of the better days ever by a college running back, by assuring everybody, when asked about his stint as a linebacker, that he would “play anywhere, wherever they want me.”

Paterno, not exactly a knee-slapping kind of guy in postgame interviews, did admit, in an off-hand way, that Enis had a day to remember.

“How many yards did he get, 241?” the coach asked. “That might break my record as a running back at Brown. For a career.”

Paterno is 69, so that running back career at Brown goes way back. So does Cappelletti’s Heisman in 1973.

Too far back, in fact, for Cappelletti and Nittany Lion fans, a situation a youngster named Enis just may take care of soon.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Runaway

Curtis Enis of Penn State set a record for rushing yards against USC since 1946. A look at the top 10 performances against the Trojans since then:

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PLAYER SCHOOL DATE ATT-YARDS Curtis Enis Penn St. Aug. 25, 1996 27-241 Russell White California Nov. 2, 1991 23-229 Reggie Brooks Notre Dame Nov. 28, 1992 19-227 Gaston Green UCLA Nov. 22, 1986 39-224 Marshall Faulk San Diego St. Sept. 5, 1992 27-220 Jack Morris Oregon Nov. 16, 1957 15-212 Greg Pruitt Oklahoma Oct. 2, 1971 16-205 Vagas Ferguson Notre Dame Oct. 20, 1979 25-185 George Woodward Texas A&M; Dec. 31, 1977 27-185 Marv Kendricks UCLA Nov. 21, 1970 28-182

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Select Company

Enis’ effort was the fourth-best in Penn State history. A look at the top 10 single-game rushing performances for the Nittany Lions:

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PLAYER OPPONENT YEAR ATT-YARDS Curt Warner Syracuse 1981 26-256 Shorty Miller Carnegie Tech 1912 NA-250 Bob Pollard Rutgers 1951 14-243 Curtis Enis USC 1996 27-241 Bob Campbell Syracuse 1968 24-239 Curt Warner Nebraska 1981 28-238 Ki-Jana Carter Michigan State 1994 27-227 Matt Suhey Army 1979 23-225 John Cappelletti North Carolina State 1973 41-220 Lydell Mitchell Iowa 1971 29-211

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