Rose Bowl
1995
Penn State 38
Oregon 20
PASADENA, Calif.- Even perfection isn't good enough for Joe Paterno
and Penn State. Unbeaten, untied and uncrowned, the No. 2 Nittany Lions
left the Rose Bowl feeling it was unfair not to get at least a share of
the national championship after winning every game. They knew the
problem they faced Sunday night after top-ranked Nebraska's Orange Bowl
victory over Miami. They knew it Monday afternoon in the haze of the
Rose Bowl when Ki-Jana Carter broke away for an 83-yard touchdown run on
their first play from scrimmage. And they knew it at the end, when the
38-20 victory over Oregon was likely too little and too late to change
the minds of voters in the season-ending poll, much less the majority of
the 102,247 fans packing the Rose Bowl. The final Associated Press poll
will be released early Tuesday morning, but the verdict is almost
certain that Nebraska will be No. 1.
Paterno has guided five Penn State teams to perfect records in his
29-year tenure as head coach. Four of those five times he didn't win the
national championship- 1968, '69, '73 and probably this year. His two
national titles came in 1982 and 1986. Paterno could take satisfaction
in becoming the first coach to win each of the four traditional major
New Year's games -- the Cotton, Sugar, Orange and Rose Bowls. His 16th
bowl triumph overall also broke the record he shared with the late Paul
"Bear" Bryant.
The Nittany Lions (12-0) became the first undefeated, untied Big Ten
team to win the Rose Bowl since Ohio State beat USC in 1968. The
Buckeyes won the national championship over another unbeaten that year
-- Penn State, as each finished 11-0. Oregon (9-4) hardly played the
role of an innocent and defenseless bystander against the Penn State
offensive juggernaut. The 12th-ranked Ducks, coming off a six-game
winning streak, weren't just content to be here for the first time in 37
years. They played to win and came close to it, their vaunted "Gang
Green" defense giving Penn State fits much of the game.
Ducks quarterback Danny O'Neil set Rose Bowl records for attempts
completions and yards with his 41-of-61 performance and 456 yards. He
also threw two interceptions and was sacked six times as Oregon ran up
501 total yards against the Lions, while Penn State, the best offensive
team in the nation, managed 430 against the Ducks. Carter ran for 156
yards and three touchdowns for Penn State, while Collins was 19-30 for
200 yards. Carter, the All-America and Heisman Trophy runner-up,
couldn't have given Penn State a more explosive start than he did with
his TD run up the middle the first time he touched the ball. Carter
burst through the line, took a hard shot from cornerback Herman O'Berry,
slammed Berry back and out of the way, then sprinted to the end zone
with no one even close. Carter's run was the third longest in Rose Bowl
history, the longest of his career and the longest by a Penn State
player in a bowl game.
As lame as the Ducks looked in that 13-second score, they responded with
poise and the kind of surprise attack that got them this far. It took
O'Neil only 45 seconds to tie the game 7-7 as he completed all four of
his passes in an 80-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard pass to Josh Wilcox.
The Ducks put as much pressure on Collins as he's seen all year, and had
a chance to take a 10-7 lead with 2:30 left in the period when they drove to the Lions' 6 yard line. But Matt Belden missed a 23-yard field
goal wide right. Penn State made it 14-7 with 1:26 left in the half
after its running game was virtually shut down. Collins found himself
facing third-and-12 on the Oregon 45. He heaved a pass to the 15 to Joe Jurevicius, who had caught only one other pass all season. Jurevicius
outran O'Berry down the left sideline and was knocked down at the 1. Two
plays later, Brian Milne bolted over for the TD.
Oregon failed to capitalized on another scoring opportunity when it took
the ball from its own 18 to the Penn State 9 with 11 seconds left in the
half. Rather than go for a field goal, Oregon tried to get in one more
pass. O'Neil hit Cristin McLemore on the right at the 5, but McLemore
was tackled before he could get out of bounds to stop the clock.
McLemore made up for that in the third period when he outjumped a pair
of defenders in the endzone to haul down a 17-yard floater from O'Neil
two plays after Reggie Jordan intercepted Collins and returned the ball
38 yards. It took only 61 seconds for Carter to respond with a 17-yard
TD of his own, a misdirection run that caught Oregon in a blitz after
Ambrose Fletcher's 72-yard kickoff return- the longest in Penn State
bowl history.
Chuck Penzenik, playing the strong safety spot that Penn State aptly
dubs "hero" position, made the second of his two interceptions -- the
first two of his career -- to set up another Penn State TD by Carter
less than two minutes later that made it 28-14. Brett Conway's 43-yard
field goal with 5:43 left pushed it to 31-14, then Jon Witman carried it
in from 9 yards out with 4:24 to play after O'Neil was sacked for the
sixth time on a desperation fourth down play, giving Penn State a 38-14
lead. The Ducks cut it to 38-20 when Ricky Whittle ran 3 yards with 2:44
to play.
Penn State hadn't played in the Rose Bowl since 1923, the inaugural year
of the present site, and after arriving late because of a traffic jam on
that occasion the Nittany Lions departed under moonlight with a 14-3
loss to Southern California. They left this time in the early evening
grayness, victory in hand but the national championship out of their
grasp.
Oregon's Alex Molden
Attendance- 102,247
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
PSU- Carter 83 run (Conway kick)
UO- Wilcox 1 pass from O'Neil (Belden kick)
Second Quarter
PSU- Milne 1 run (Conway kick)
Third Quarter
UO- McLemore 17 pass from O'Neil (Belden kick)
PSU- Carter 17 run (Conway kick)
PSU- Carter 3 run (Conway kick)
Fourth Quarter
PSU- FG 43 Conway
PSU- Witman 9 run (Conway kick)
UO- Whittle 3 run (pass failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
PSU- Carter 21-156, Milne 9-36, Archie 3-16, Witman 4-11
UO- Whittle 12-45 yards, Philyaw 4-14
Passing
PSU- Collins 19-30-200
UO- O'Neil 41-61-456
Receiving
PSU- Engram 5-52, Scott 4-41, Archie 3-29, Jurevicius 2-53, Brady 2-15
UO- Wilcox 11-135, McLemore 10-90, Philyaw 6-80, Ricketts 6-70, Whittle
5-46, Johnson 2-28
