FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2000
Holy Toledo:
by Ray Parrillo
Knight-Ridder Tribune
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- On Mon
day, Penn State parachuted out of the
Associated Press top 25 for the first
time since the end of the 1992 sea
son. At least Southern Cal was kind
enough to pull the rip cord for the
Nittany Lions by not padding the
score.
On Saturday, on a sweltering after
noon before 94,296 spectators wit
nessing Penn State's home opener at
Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions
justified their disappearance from the
country's elite. They left no doubt that
they didn't belong as they got pounded
by Toledo, 24-6.
In last Sunday's 29-5 loss to USC,
the Nittany Lions stumbled and
bumbled and told themselves that
most of the damage was self-inflicted.
In this one, they were soundly beaten
by a Mid-American Conference con
tender that had its way in just about
every aspect of the game.
Frankly, the final score was deceiv
ing.
"It wasn't really close," senior line
backer Aaron Gatten said. "It was like
we were never in the game
Gatten's postgame comment hit
harder than any of his teammates on
a defense that was manhandled by the
Rockets' offensive line.
Toledo, which did just about every
thing with precision, amassed 385
yards on offense, 245 on the ground,
and averaged 4.7 yards per play.
Tailback Chester Taylor carved up the
Penn State defense for 141 yards and
two touchdowns.
The Rockets were a remarkable I I
for 19 on third-down conversions de
Behrend Scores
Soccer
Herb Lauffer Cham
Games
Men
2-0 over Hiram
Women
7-0 over Bethany
Volleyball
Behrend finishes 3rd out of 15
teams at Cortland State Tourna-
Cross Country
Women finished 9th and men fin
ished I Ith at Buffalo State Invi-
tational
Major League
Baseball
(As of WO
American League East
W L GB
Ra'ffll
New York 78 57 -
Boston 72 63 6
Toronto 71 67 8.5
Baltimore 63 75 16.5
Tampa Bay 59 79 20.5
American League Central
W L GB
82 56
Chicago
Cleveland 74 61 6.5
Detroit 70 67 11.5
Kansas City 65 73 17
Minnesota 60 78 22
American League West
W L GB
Seattle 75 63 -
Oakland 72 65 2.5
Anaheim 68 70 7
Texas 62 76 13
American League Wild Card
W L GB
Cleveland 74 61 -
Boston 72 63 2
Oakland 72 65 3
Toronto 71 67 4.5
Detroit 70 67 5
Anaheim 68 70 7.5
spite missing on their last four tries,
and they toyed with Penn State on
punishing and demoralizing TD
drives -- an 83-yarder to end the first
half and an 80-yarder to open the sec
ond.
With the defeat, the Nittany Lions
fell to 0-2 for the first time since 1990,
when they dropped their first two
games to Texas and USC. Saturday's
loss was their first in a home opener
in 10 years.
Afterward, coach Joe Paterno, who,
with seven to go, may have to wait
until next season to become the all-
time leader in victories among major
college coaches, was quite believable
when he said: "Obviously, we're not
very good."
Surveying the damage, defensive
lineman Jimmy Kennedy said: "We
have a lot to worry about, a lot that
has to be fixed."
One disgruntled player, sophomore
running hack Larry Johnson, called
the offensive system outdated and the
play-calling predictable and blamed
the offensive line for Penn State's fu
tile running game. In fact, not much
of what he said seemed likely to boost
morale.
"We have the best backfield in the
country, but we don't have the offen
sive line to go with it," said Johnson,
who scored Penn State's only TD of
the season so far on a 61-yard pass
from Rashard Casey on Saturday.
"We have coaches who have been
here 20, 30 years. It seems like things
never change. We run the same of
fense. Teams that play us know what
we're going to run. They can pull out
tapes from '92 or '93 and we run the
same offense. The same plays, same
system. Guys guess on that, and they
National League East Damon, KC
Team W L GB DeShields, BAL
Atlanta 81 57 -
New York 80 58 1
ions hi
Florida
Montreal
Philadelphia
National League Central
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Chicago
Houston
Pittsburgh
National League West
San Francisco 80 56 -
Arizona 74 62 6
Los Angeles
Colorado
San Diego
National League Wild Card
Team W L GB
New York 80 58 -
Arizona 74 62 5
League Leaders
(as of 9/4)
American League--Batting
Batting Average
Garcia parra, BOS .364
Erstad, ANA .362
Delgado, TOR .361
Stewart„ TOR .339
Segui, TEX-CLE .339
Thomas, CHI
Glaus, ANA
Delgado, TOR
Batista, TOR
Justice, CLE-NY
Runs Batted In
Martinez, SEA
Thomas, CHI
Sweney, KC,
Delgado, TOR
Williams, NY
end up guessing right.
"Everything we do is too predict
able. Everybody knows what we're
doing. Sometimes I don't even know
the play and I can stand there and
guess the play. The system's been
around too long."
In the next breath, Johnson said that
he thought the system was good
enough to succeed if the Nittany Li
ons could manage to do some catch
ing, blocking and tackling.
At the north end of Beaver Stadium,
perched atop the second level of seats,
was a gigantic new scoreboard with a
video screen that showed the action
with impressive clarity and in vivid
color.
Mostly, this is what the fans saw
on it:
Taylor and his backup, the speedy
Antwon McCray, running at will
through the heart of Penn State's de
fense behind crisp, aggressive block
ing that had the Nittany Lions' line
backers struggling just to keep their
balance.
Toledo's quarterback, Tavares
Bolden, making nearly every play he
had to with both his legs and his arm.
Bolden almost flawlessly executed
coach Gary Pinkel's ball-control pass
ing game, completing 18 of 28 passes.
On the third-quarter TD that made the
score 24-0, he kept his poise in the
face of blitzing pressure by free safety
Titicus Pettigrew and tossed a 13-yard
scoring pass to Lyle Green.
Penn State's blockers proving un
able to open running lanes or ad
equately protect Casey.
A repeat of last Sunday's exhibition
of bad hands by the Penn State receiv
ers. Sam Crenshaw dropped three
passes and Rod Perry two. On each
Stolen_B
R. Alomar, CLE 30 Helton, COL
Henderson, SEA 29 Kent, SF
67 70 13.5
56 79 23.5
56 80 24
McLemore, SEA
American League--Pitching Stolen Bases
Victories
Wells, TOR
Pettite, NY
W L GB
80 58 -
70 68 10
60 77 19.5
58 80 22
58 80 22
57 79 22
P.Martinez, BOS
Hudson, OAK
Baldwin, CHI
P.Martinez, BOS
Clemens, NY
Lopez, TB
Sirotka, CHI
Mussina, TEX
W L GB
73 65 8
71 67 10
66 72 15
Saves
Jones, DET
Koch, TOR
Rivera, NY
Lowe, BOS
Sasaki, SEA
Strikeouts
P.Martinez, BOS
Mussina, BAL
Colon, CLE
Clemens, NY
Nomo, DET
Shutouts
P. martinez, BOS
22 Players tied
National League--Batting
: .
•I . 1 - •. -
Helton, COL .387
Alou, HOU .363
Castillo, FLA .350
Hammonds, COL .350
V. Guerrero .347
Home Runs
Sosa, CHI 45
Bonds, SF 41
Bagwell, HOU 40
Sheffield, LA 40
Edmonds, StL 38
128
127
125
124
111
_.)- (2 1-)DRT
Penn State falls badly
31 Sosa, Clll
27 Griffey, CIN
Giles. PIT
Run Avera
1.66
3.53
3.62
3.79
3.85
250
175
168
158
158
Joe Paterno is not happy with Penn State's fifth consecutive regular-season loss, for the first time since
1931, as Penn State lost to Toledo 24-6, Saturday, September 2, 2000.
occasion, they were hit directly in the
hands by Casey's throw.
"Our receivers catch the hall in
practice, but then they have problems
in the games," Casey said. "But a lot
of us are having problems in the game,
including me
Paterno noticed the problems that
Crenshaw and Perry , were having and
decided to bench them in the second
half. With Eddie Drummond, his top
returning receiver, out with a knee
injury, Paterno reached down the
depth chart and used Steve Dehell, a
ns Batted In
Castillo, FLA 53
E. Young, CHI 45
Goodwin, COL-LA 44
Womack, AR I
Wilson, FLA
National League--Pitching
Victoricti
Glavinc, ATI,
Johnson, ARI
Kile, STI.
arned Run Avera
Johnson, ARI
Brown, LA
Hampton, NY
Person,Plll
Leiter, NY
Saves
Alfonseca, FLA
Benitez, NY
Hoffman, SD
Nen, SF
Aguilera, CHI
Strikeouts
Johnson, ARI
Astacio, COL
Brown, LA
Dempster, FLA
Leiter, NY
Shutouts
Johnson, ARI
5 other tied
Nascar Points
Standings
1. Bobby Labonte 3,638
2. Dale Jarrett 3,572
3. Dale Earnhardt 3,433
4. Jeff Burton 3,413
5. Rusty Wallace 3,214
sophomore walk-on. and Brian
Broreski, a converted tight end, at the
wide-receiver spots in the second half.
"Well, if von can't run the football
you've got to throw it, and if you can't
catch the football, you' ve got prob
lems," Paterno said. "They catch bet
ter in practice than they do in the
games.
"There's no douht they're trying. We
have no problems there. But we
haven't even been competitive in ei
ther one of those games. I don't want
to he critical, and I don't want to make
2000 U.S Open
(Tennis)
(as of Qi 7 )
Men's Quarterfinal Lineup
(ranking in parantheses)
Arnaud Clement Vs. Lleyton
Hcwitt (9)
Hewitt defeated Clement 6-2,
6-4, 6-3
Pete Sarnpras (4) Vs. Richard
Krajicek
sampras defeated Krajicek 4-6
7-6 (8-6). 6-4, 6-2
Marat Satin (6) Vs. Nicolas
Kiefer (14)
Todd Martin Vs. Tho►nas
Johansson
2.31
2.62
3.22
3.30
3.33
Men's Semi-final action
Sampras (4) Vs. Itewitt (9)
Match scheduled fur Saturday,
Women's Quarterfinal
Lineup
Martina Hingis (1) Vs. Monica
Seles(6)
288
191
181
179
178
excuses. hut we haven't played a de
cent offensive 2aine in two weeks."
Paterno praised the play of Toledo,
the first MAC team to heat one of his
teams in 12 tries. He said that the
Nittanv Lions hadn't been able to
handle some of the Rockets' linemen
and that Bolden had played a superb
When the subject returned to his
own team, Paterno said: "I don't know
\ h:it else to say. I wish I could tell
you. We shall see."
x
'~'s.>~ '~~s .
...: 3....... ~
I lingts defeated Seles 6-0, 7-5
Venus Wilhams (3) Vs.
Nathalie Tauziat
V. Williams defeated Tauziat
6-4, 1-6, 6-1
Helm L)cmcntieva Vs. Anka
11uher(10)
Dementieva defeated Huber 6-
I. 3-6, 6-3
Serena Williams (5) Vs.
Lindsay Davenport (2)
Davenport defeated S. Williams
6-4. 6-2
Women's Semi-final Action
Martina Fling's (1) Vs. Venus
Williams (3)
Lindsay Davenport (2) Vs
Elena Dementieva
lloth matches scheduled for