Sacca

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Maybe Penn State finally has found the answer for its struggling offense.Well, at least the Nittany Lions found one for a game yesterday.Senior reserve quarterback Tom Bill replaced junior starter Ton Sacca midway in the second quarter and led the Nittany Lions to three touchdowns, as Penn State defeated West Virginia, 31-19, before 66,461 at Mountaineers Stadium, the third-largest crowd in West Virginia football history.Bill, a 6-foot-2, 210-pounder, completed only seven of 12 passe for 99 yards, but inspired his team by throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass and running 5 yards for another.

Bowie State scored the first 25 points of the game on the way to beating District of Columbia, 103-38, yesterday in the semifinals of the Best Western Classic at Bowie State.The Bulldogs will play American International in today's final at 4 p.m.Beverly Winstead had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as the Bulldogs (7-2) extended their home winning streak to 32 games. Bowie State also received 18 points and 14 rebounds from Trenita Shields, and Rashida Brooks and Deidra Fields each had 15 points and combined for 22 rebounds.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Like clockwork, Rutgers showed up here last night to inspire another Penn State quarterback.A year after John Sacca shredded Rutgers' secondary, Kerry Collins carved up the Scarlet Knights' defense for a 31-7 Penn State win before 92,000 at Beaver Stadium.Not even a relentless, game-long rain could keep Collins from a four-touchdown pass performance in his first start since reclaiming the job this week.He not only revived Penn State's lethargic passing game, he quickly terminated a budding quarterback controversy.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Two officials of the Blockbuster Bowl and one from the Mazda Gator Bowl watched yesterday's Maryland-Penn State game, but it appears that No. 21 Penn State is headed to the Blockbuster to face No. 12 Florida State.CNN reported yesterday that the Nittany Lions are going to the new bowl, being played at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. The Miami Herald quoted Blockbuster chairman Bob Kuechenberg, who attended Florida State's 70-21 victory over Cincinnati yesterday, as saying he was "very optimistic" about landing Florida State and Penn State.

Tony Sacca hasn't spent a lifetime at Penn State; it only seems that way. He has played one position for the Nittany Lions -- quarterback -- but many variations of the same role. From unsteady to unhappy to merely unsung, from phenom to failure to merely frustrated.Now, three years after starting as a freshman because of injuries to others, and one year after being pulled out of three games, Sacca's level of consistency has finally matched the resiliency he has needed to endure an often difficult life in Happy Valley.

Maybe Tony Sacca was right after all. Maybe Penn State coach Joe Paterno needed to give his senior quarterback a little freedom, a chance to throw the ball more than once a millennium.Consider what happened in last night's 34-22 victory over eighth-ranked Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium. Considering what Sacca and the No. 7 Nittany Lions did, maybe Penn State's offense finally has come into the '90s.Sacca, who never had thrown more than three touchdown passes in a college game, threw five against the defenseless Yellow Jackets.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- There was an eerie feeling at Notre Dame Stadium last night. Rocket Ismail was in the dressing room, nursing a bruised thigh. Penn State was putting the pressure on freshman quarterback Rick Mirer and putting some points on the scoreboard.The circumstances were similar to those here against Stanford earlier this season, when Ismail was out with a bruised thigh and the then-top-ranked Fighting Irish suffered their only defeat to date by blowing a big lead. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, so was the ending.

-- PHILADELPHIA -- It's a good thing Penn State opted for the Big Ten before the new Big East football league was formed last year. Consider what has happened to the Nittany Lions the past two weeks, and what might happen to them Saturday in Miami.Last night's 24-7 victory over Temple at Veterans Stadium was just as unimpressive for 12th-ranked Penn State as its previous win over Boston College. Now, after struggling against the least of the Big East, the Nittany Lions will go down to the Orange Bowl for a game that will either make or break their season.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Miami Hurricanes found themselves in an environment made to order yesterday in this remote college outpost.They had a top 10 opponent, a national television audience looking on and a deafening sound system that played their favorite rap music.Not surprisingly, the No. 2 Hurricanes showed again why they've had the best program in college football the last decade. They outlasted No. 7 Penn State, 17-14, before a record crowd of 96,704 at Beaver Stadium with big-play defense and a revived running game.