Nittany Lions

A cold but jubilant crowd of Penn State football fans held a rousing pep rally as the Nittany Lions left yesterday for a national championship showdown against Miami. An estimated 1,000 fans formed a river of blue-and-white Penn State jackets and hats to show their loyalty to the Lions, who boarded a charter flight for the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. The crowd, yelling "We are Penn State!" joined Gov. Thornburgh and his wife, Ginny, in giving encouragement to coach Joe Paterno and his players at Harrisburg International Airport.

The final game in Penn State's intersectional series with Alabama was a study in futility. Neither team scored a touchdown, but freshman Craig Fayak's three field goals of 34, 50 and 34 yards proved the difference in the Nittany Lions' 9-0 victory at Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Saturday. "The way the defenses were stifling the offenses, I thought it might come down to me," Fayak said. Fayak supplied the foot and State's defense supplied the muscle as the resurgent Nittany Lions improved their record to 5-2 and edged closer to a major bowl bid. Penn State held the Tide, which had just scored a major upset over Tennessee, to just 6 yards rushing, the lowest total ever by an Alabama team.

Maryland is averaging 34 points per game. The run-and-shoot Terrapins lead the nation in passing yardage. Sophomore quarterback Scott Milanovich is first in total offense. Another soph, wideout Jermaine Lewis, is first in receiving yardage. Trouble is, the Terps (0-4) can't stop anyone. They're giving up 49 points a game, worst in the country. And they're the only thing left between No. 9 Penn State taking a 5-0 record into its Oct. 16 Big Ten collision with eighth- ranked Michigan.

STATE COLLEGE - Penn State hasn't had a Heisman Trophy winner in nearly 40 years, but the Nittany Lions have secured another Hodge Trophy, their first since 1997. Nittany Lions wrestler David Taylor, who reeled off a dominant 32-0 season, became just the third sophomore and the first Penn State wrestler to win the Dan Hodge Trophy - college wrestling's equivalent to the Heisman - since Kerry McCoy. Taylor capped his remarkable second season with an individual 165-pound championship at last week's NCAA wrestling tournament, where he pinned four opponents in a total time of 8 minutes, 46 seconds.

Deion Barnes said it was all about the "comfortability factor. " And that played in favor of Penn State, not Georgia. In an announcement Thursday morning in his school's auditorium, the hard-charging defensive end from Northeast High committed to play for the Nittany Lions. Georgia was the runner-up for his services. "I wasn't an outcast when I went down to Georgia, but I felt like I was around 'my guys' when I went to Penn State," said Barnes, a 6-foot-5, 222-pound senior. "That was a big thing for me. " Barnes, celebrating his 18th birthday, said he had "been battling all week, going back and forth" between Penn State and Georgia, which he visited last weekend.

In one week, Donna Fidler went from South America to State College, from the Pan-American Games to Penn State. The 1995 Norristown graduate and Penn State freshman concluded her summer by placing third in the 10,000-meter run at the Junior Pan-Am Games in Santiago, Chile, on Sept. 2. Three days later she arrived at State College to start her Nittany Lions career. Fidler's time of 36 minutes, 10 seconds put her behind Erika Olivera of Chile (34:43) and Casey Florida of Texas (35:21)

Early in the first quarter of Saturday's Penn State-Wisconsin game, Nittany Lions linebacker Tim Shaw stepped in front of a Badgers receiver, but the pass clanked off his hands. The Penn State sideline groaned in frustration. An interception by Shaw would have given the Nittany Lions possession inside the Wisconsin 30-yard line and perhaps the momentum that often comes with scoring first, especially on the road. Fast-forward to the start of the second half. His timing perfect, cornerback Alan Zemaitis homed in on a sideline pass intended for the Badgers' Brandon Williams at midfield.

Penn State had three players selected on the final day of the NFL draft. The San Diego Chargers drafted left guard Johnnie Troutman in the fifth round Saturday with the 149th overall pick. Jack Crawford, a defensive end, was taken nine picks later in the fifth round by Oakland. The Raiders also snagged outside linebacker Nathan Stupar with the 230th pick in the seventh. All-American defensive tackle Devon Still went to the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday in the second round.

So far during this troubled season for Penn State, opponents have approached game day with the Nittany Lions cautiously. They have looked at the record, the inept offense, the penchant for taking killer penalties, the untimely turnovers, and they have wondered, "Can Penn State really be this bad?" "When I look at the tape, I see a very, very good football team," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "We're going to have to play our best game to have a chance. " Plenty of Penn State followers would like to get hold of the tapes that Turner used to prepare the Illini for today's Big Ten Conference matchup against Penn State before a Homecoming crowd at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State quarterback Wally Richardson yanked off his helmet and quickly retreated to the only spot inside Ohio Stadium where he was safe from marauding Ohio State blitzers - the Nittany Lions' bench. One by one, several of Richardson's teammates stopped by to tap him on the shoulder, pat him on the head. They were offering their leader some comfort. But who will comfort the Nittany Lions now that they've felt the sting of a severe beating? In a Big Ten Conference game that never really was one at all, the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes yesterday flexed their muscle, imposed their size, flashed their speed and balance, and battered fourth-ranked Penn State, 38-7, before 94,241 joyous fans.