Manning Finishes Off Northwestern

Peyton Manning left his fans wanting more, but the Northwestern Wildcats saw enough of Tennessee’s outstanding junior quarterback Wednesday.

In what might have been his final college game, Manning passed for 408 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score in leading the ninth-ranked Volunteers to a 48-28 victory over Northwestern and their second successive Citrus Bowl title. Manning, who has until April to decide whether to make himself eligible for the NFL draft, shredded Northwestern’s secondary in the first quarter for 21 points and maintained his poise in the face of a valiant second-quarter comeback by the 11th-ranked Wildcats (9-3).

When Northwestern took advantage of a string of Tennessee penalties and mistakes to pull even with three touchdowns in a span of 5:18, Manning calmly regained the lead with a 67-yard touchdown pass to Joey Kent with 1:58 left in the half. After the Volunteers’ defense stopped the Wildcats, Manning threw for five consecutive first downs to put the Volunteers in field-goal position, and Jeff Hall made the 27-yarder for a 31-21 lead.

“I think he threw for about 4,000 yards today. Or at least it seemed like he did,” Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer said.

It must have seemed like that many to Northwestern cornerback Gerald Conoway, a first-time starter who was thrust into an unenviable position when Hudhaifa Ismaeli was suspended a few weeks ago for twice failing a drug test.

Conoway spent most of the day watching Manning launch passes over his head, as on the 43-yard pass to Peerless Price for Tennessee’s first touchdown less than two minutes into the game, or deliver precise tosses to receivers who got half a step on him, as on the 11-yard reception by Joey Kent that gave the Volunteers (10-2) a 21-0 lead with two minutes left in the quarter.

“I won’t say I failed,” Conoway said, “but I didn’t pass either, by any means.”

Oh, but Manning did pass. Thirty-nine times, with 27 completions and no interceptions. With Northwestern mounting no pass rush, he had the time to find his receivers and the skill to get the ball to them.

“Two years in a row we played a hot quarterback,” Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald said, remembering a stellar Rose Bowl performance by Brad Otton last January as USC amassed 391 passing yards in a 41-32 victory over the Wildcats. “Every time he passed, it was on the money. He’s a great competitor. My hat’s off to him and I wish him good luck.”

Volunteer fans in the crowd of 63,467 weren’t ready to say farewell, serenading Manning with chants of “One more year,” as the game ended. Manning, who has said he wouldn’t ponder his options until the Citrus Bowl was over, offered no insights into his thinking.

“It’s extremely flattering. The players were kidding me a lot,” Manning said. “But I feel most of the fans are behind me no matter what I do.

“It was a whole lot of fun, the entire game.”

Not for the Wildcats it wasn’t. They expected great things of Manning, but they didn’t anticipate their offense being so thoroughly muffled. Northwestern didn’t get past midfield until the third series of the second quarter and in the first half, Northwestern gained more yards from Tennessee penalties (106) than from its own offense (three yards rushing, 94 passing).

Running back Darnell Autry went over 100--but that was his temperature, not his rushing yardage. Hampered by a stubborn case of flu and a lingering fever, Autry--who might also turn pro and skip his senior year--carried three times in the first quarter for minus-five yards. He finished with 66 yards, his lowest this season when he wasn’t injured.

“Coming into the game we knew a big part of the game would be stopping Autry,” said Tennessee linebacker Tyrone Hines, who had 13 tackles, broke up a pass and returned an interception for a 30-yard touchdown that gave the Volunteers a 38-21 lead early in the third quarter. “We thought if we could make them pass the ball more and stop the run, we could have a good chance of stopping them.”

Said Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett: “They were obviously ready to play and we weren’t. In a game like this you’ve got to make plays. We didn’t make many plays.”

They’ve made immeasurable progress during Barnett’s tenure, going from perennial laughingstocks to consecutive bowl participants for the first time in their history. Yet, Fitzgerald, one of 18 departing seniors, knows there is still progress to be made.

“As a program, maybe we’re a notch below where we want to be nationally,” he said. “We got where we want to be in the Big Ten, but if we want to run with the big dogs, we have to move up another notch.

“It’s been a fun run. When I first got here it was bleak. There was nobody in the crowd and now we have great fans. I’m real proud to say I had an opportunity to play at Northwestern. We proved today we’re a class act.”

Citrus Bowl Notes

Tennessee’s 13 penalties tied a Citrus Bowl record for most assessed against one team and set a school record for most penalties in a bowl game. . . . Northwestern’s 28 points is the most for a losing team in the Citrus Bowl since Davidson’s 56-33 loss to Toledo in 1969. . . . The teams’ combined 52 points in the first half was a Citrus Bowl record. . . . With his 408 passing yards, Peyton Manning overtook Florida’s Danny Wuerffel (at least temporarily) as the SEC’s top passer with 3,695 yards. Wuerffel has 3,625 before tonight’s Sugar Bowl matchup against Florida State.