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Dec. 29, 1999 By Keith Gave SportsLine Senior Writer |
SAN ANTONIO -- In the end, Jerry's kids carried him off the field.
"To get a shutout in a bowl game,'' Sandusky said after a 24-0 Alamo Bowl victory Tuesday over Texas A&M to end a 32-year career at Joe Paterno's side. "I guess it doesn't get any better than that.''
Actually, it does, and Sandusky, 55, needed little prodding to acknowledge it.
But for three plays, the No. 13 Nittany Lions might have found themselves playing Florida State for the national championship.
Three plays. And Sandusky can give you one his defense would like to have back in each of three losses that ruined a 9-0 start that vaulted Penn State to No. 2 in the rankings. They finish 10-3 as one of college football's all-time best also-rans.
"Maybe we tried too hard,'' he said wistfully. "Maybe we wanted to win too much.''
None of them hurt more than the desperation pass by Minnesota that safety Derek Fox appeared to bat down, ending a threat by the unranked Gophers on their final drive of the game. But somehow, a Minnesota receiver dove underneath it and grabbed the ball just inches off the ground for a reception that kept the drive alive. That led to a game-winning field-goal as time expired, starting Penn State's downward spiral.
Against Michigan the following week, two pass interference calls led to two Wolverines touchdowns after Penn State held a 27-17 lead late in the game. Then came Michigan State. Penn State allowed the Spartans just 253 yards of total offense -- and lost the game 35-28.
"That was very, very frustrating,'' Sandusky said. "I can remember games we've given up 400 yards -- and 10 points.''
So instead of the national championship, the Nittany Lions went to the Alamo intent on not making history of a different kind. No team coached by Joe Paterno ever had lost four consecutive games. And this senior-dominated team with three All-Americans on its defense wasn't about to let it happen now.
"This was too good a group of kids to go out with four straight losses,'' Paterno said. "If they had lost this one, it would have been an awful bad taste in their mouths. This puts things in perspective. Now they can realize that they were a pretty good football team.''
With a defense that, when it played as it did Tuesday night, can be devastating. Penn State held No. 18 Texas A&M (8-4) to just 202 total yards, forcing five turnovers -- including four interceptions. And every time the Aggies mounted any semblance of a threat, somebody made a big play. Usually, it was linebacker LaVar Arrington, the Big Ten's defensive player of the year. Twice, he knocked the arm of quarterback Randy McNown, resulting in errant passes that were intercepted. He led his team with 14 tackles, including a sack.
Defensive end Justin Kurpeikis had two sacks and four tackles for loss. Derek Fox, who thought he made the big play in the Minnesota game, tied an Alamo Bowl record with two interceptions -- including a first-quarter pick he returned 34 yards to open the scoring and give his team what proved to be the winning points.
"This defense had so many things go wrong the last three weeks of the season, that's why I'm so proud of these kids tonight,'' Sandusky said. "We made the plays when we had to make them, and that's how I'll remember the Penn State defense. They hang in there, and hang in there, and hang in there. And then they make a play.''
In the end, jubilant Penn State fans -- far outnumbered by Aggies fans in the record crowd of 65,380 -- chanted "Jerry! Jerry!" in a glorious salute to a man who has helped produce All-Americans like Arrington, Jack Ham, Matt Millen and Shane Conlan.
In the end, the players gave him an ice-water shower usually reserved for the winning coach.
In the end, Paterno told his victorious troops to do the right thing.
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| LaVar Arrington has another dominating performance in Jerry Sandusky's final game.(AP) |
"I told 'em 'Give 'im a ride,''' Paterno said. "Give 'im a Polish ride. Upside down.' I thought that was just a great way to end it out for Jerry, and I'm sure the players were thinking that way, too.''
Sandusky said he's leaving the coaching ranks to spend more time running his foundation, The Second Mile, aimed at helping disadvantaged children, and to run summer football camps "because I still love coaching.'' He isn't closing the door to returning to the sidelines, perhaps as a head coach. "But I don't see any opportunities arising that'll change things,'' he said.
On the other side of the field, A&M assistant Ray Dorr's coaching career came to a sadder end. Dorr, the Aggies' quarterback coach, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease earlier this year. The disease has progressed rapidly, coach R.C. Slocum said, adding that Dorr will be assigned to a non-coaching capacity.
Dorr, 58, has spent 33 years in coaching, with stops in Kentucky, Kent, Washington and USC. His students have included Warren Moon, Chris Chandler, Hugh Millen, Rodney Peete and Rob Johnson.
Seldom has one of his quarterbacks had a worse outing than McCown's four-interception game Tuesday. But he walked off the field with his head up, a pillar of courage and strength that he has been all season.