WHY NUMBER THREE?
Last Saturday, on Oct. 12, in the
second half of the game seen on nat
ional TV, the Nittany Lions virtually
overwhelmed formidable UCLA in Bruin
territory to post an impressive vic
tory of 21-6. Also, on the same day,
USC just bearly managed a 3-point
edging of a stubborn Stanford team.
This is fact.
Two days later the UPI major coll
ege football ratings were announced.
Prior to this Penn State had been rank
ed #3 and USC #2. Since top-ranked
Purdue had been upset 13-0 by a rug
ged Ohio State team, it was expected
by many that they would drop in the
ratings. Also, since USC had so much
trouble overcoming Stanford, they did
not seem likely to move anywhere but
down in the ratings. It seemed like
a race between Ohio State and Pena
State for the top two positions on
the poll.
As was stated before, the results
of the poll came out on Monday, Oct.
14. Did Purdue lose its first place
ranking?....Yes. Did USC slip from
its second place position' Yes,
if you call moving upward a slip.
It is also true that Ohio State moved
up in the polls. However, what be
came of Penn State's impressive foot
ball team? They remained in
third place despite a substantial vic6
tory.
A brief rundown now shows USC
first, Ohio State second, and Pena
State third (according to UPI). The
sports staff of the Nittany Cub
strong2y disagrees with the top three
rankings (UPI) of the major college
football teams. What we believe to be
more accurate is: Ohio State first,
Penn State second, and USC third.
This selection of Penn State in second
has nothing to do with our loyalty
to the school, for we have tried and
feel we have succeeded in being im
partial in our decisions. Unbeaten
Ohio State has shown us that they
shall be the team to beat and the race
for "NUMBERI' starts down the stretch.
Our ratings hold to the fact that
the true determinents of a football
team's superiority in a sense is not
only the ability they possess but
rather how they utilize this ability.
It is our opinion that Ohio State as
well as Penn State has shown this fact
conclusively. Nevertheless, some peo
ple may disagree with these ratings,
saying "You must look at the schedule
the team faces. Penn State has not
played any major ranked teams." True,
according to the UPI ratings, Penn
State has not, but the UPI may not
base their decisions on the same cri-
LIONS TAME BRUINS
Who: Penn State and UCLA
What: football game
When: Saturday, Oct. 12
Where:at UCLA
These are the facts that led up to
a most exciting football gape between
two highly talented teams. Both teams
knew they needed this game: Penn State,
to remain unbeaten and stay up in the
top in the race for number one; UCLA,
who had registered one loss already, to
possibly regain a high berth and also
some of its lost status. However, it
was Penn State in the end who finally
overcame to register the win by a lop
sided 21-6 margin.
In this encounter, some of the
names that stood out over all were
Steve Smear Denny Oakotz on defense
and Charlie Pittman and Tow Cherry on
offense for Penn State, not neglecting
the running of Greg Jones and Mickey
Cureton for UCLA. Nevertheless, it was
Penn State's teamwork that excelled in
the final analysis, and it is because
of this point that they succeeded as
they did. Anyone who saw this game,
which was shown on national TV, would
be able to verify this fact, but no bet
ter than the UCLA team itself who was
subject to State's fearsome attack.
Briefly, the scoring went as fol
lows. Tallies for Penn State came in
the second, third, and fourth periods.
They were Jim Kates' 36-yard return of
a punt blocked by Jack Ham, Tom Cherry's
76-yard run off, a Chuck Burkhart pass,
and Charlie Pittman's 29-yard TD on a
slant off the left side. The lone UCLA
score came in the second stanza when
quarterback Jim Nader threw 2-yards to
Mike Garratt in tl - te end zone.
PENN STATE 0 7 7 7 -- 21
UCLA 0 6 0 0 -- 6
teria as we. Our ratings are based upon
team superiority, not upon individual
superiority; on performance, not on po
tential. Also, our ratings are not es
tablish on the record each team posses
ses, but rather on how they have played
and why their record is what it is.
It is aot our intention to debase
or degrade the UPI ratings in this ed
itorial, but rather to exhibit our o
pinions on an interesting, surprising,
and exciting 1968 college football race.
Douglas A. Brower
Sports Editor
Nittany Cub
11,
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