FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1968
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• By SANDY MIME
Collegian Sports Editor (1959.60, 1960-61)
(In the Philadelphia 'inquirer)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 30 The locker
, 00m was nearly empty now. Joe Paterno finally
:iad slipped away from the reporters who had
p:nned him mercilessly against the wall outside
the dressing room beneath the Gator Bowl.
A few seconds before, Paterno patiently ex
plained "Ale play" time 'and again. "I blew it," he
said. "I should have known better. If I had it to do
,over, I wouldn't."
That was not the real Joe Paterno talking. The
real Joe (Paterno sat in
th e empty coaches'
locker room unlacing
his football shoes.
A soft drink rested
on the table. Paterno
, <•‘'. - ';',;` , ll: leaned back. He closed
IF - 1,,4 his eyes for a moment.
L„ They were tired,
weary eyes, eyes that
`a ..k, had just seen a certain
F") ,;!T:. victory turned into a
` - tie game.
Pa tern o's Penn
State football team had
built a 17-0 lead over
JOE PATERNO
... Confidence in Self Florida State in the
Gator Bowl, and the third quarter was ticking
quickly away. Penn State had just stopped Florida
State with a goal-line stand on the one-yard line.
Three plays later, Penn State had the ball on
its own 14 1 / 2 -yard, line with a fourth-down-and
inches situation. Penn State broke from the hud
dle. Guys in the press box started shouting, "Watch
for the shift." Only there was no shift.
Tom Sherman, the quarterback, took the snap
and plunged straight ahead into a wall of white
jerseys. The referee told a shocked Sherman his
plunge was short. The clock showed 4:10 remaining
in the third period.
' Florida State took over and, in three plays,
had its first seven points. Less than two minutes
after that, Florida State had another touchdown.
Then with 15-seconds left in the game, Grant
Guthrie kicked a 26-yard field goal which capped
a furious rally and gave Florida State a 17-17 tie.
The tie made Joe Paterno a very vulnerable target.
As the equipment men began cleaning up the
litter in the Penn State locker room, Paterno sat
quietly, re-explaining what will be remembered as
the most controversial play of his career.
"I believe very much in the theory 'to thy own
self be true'," Joe Paterno said. "You can go
through life playing everything safe and wind up
mediocre. If I had ordered a punt on that play
instead of a run, I wouldn't have had the courage
to be the football coach I want to be. I took the
chance. I know it turned the game around. But I
took it.
"I expect to be criticized. And I'll probably
get it. But I've always considered every knock a
boost.
"I felt field position and control was vital to
us at that point of the game. If we get the first
down and a few more, we're in control."
To understand Joe Paterno a little better, you
have to go back to Friday Evening, 8 p.m. Joe
Paterno sat in a hotel suite telling of his changes
offensively and defensively for the Florida State
game. They were radical. Switching Ted Kwalick,
the All-American tight end, to wingback. And re
aligning the defensive backfield and linebackers.
• "Our purpose is to stop their passing game,"
Paterno explained. "We won't play our customary
4-4-3. We'll also use a 5-5-1. a 3-5-3 and a 6-5 at
times. I've moved some of the kids around to give
us more speed to help us cur• - off their passing
zones.
"I don't know. Maybe this won't handle them
(Florida State). But the moves give us more flexi
bility, both offensively and defensively. I know
these things might not work and I'll fall flat on
my face. But it's my face.
"If you don't have the confidence to make
some changes, you're not a good football coach.
Besides, the kids are enjoying it (all the switches).
"Preparing for bowl games can be a boring
thing. I know, because we've been in a few. You
have all that extra time, and if you just do the
things you've done all year, the kids get bored
silly. You're going to see some weird things out
there tomorrow.
"A bowl game is a one-shot thing. You're here
to enjoy it as much as you're here to win. I think
the moves we made give us our best chance to
win."
On the other side of the Gator Bowl, Florida
State coach Bill Peterson was having his prob
lems, too.
Everyone was demanding to know why he
had called for a field goal with a fourth-and-five
situation on the Penn State eight and only 15
seconds remaining.
Down here, they take their football seriously.
You don't play for ties, you see. You play to win,
especially against a team whose campus is north
of the Potomac River Bridge.
"The reason we went for the field goal,"
Peterson said, "Is any time a team is down by
17 points at the half and comes back the way ours
did, it doesn't deserve to lose the ball game. It was
the right decision. We had been down there three
other times and were stopped."
" They say first impulses are correct. Joe Pa
terno's first impulse was to go for the first down
deep in his own territory. Bill Peterson's first im
pulse was to go for the tie.
Nobody left the Gator Bowl happy. Too bad.
It was a magnificent football game between two
of the Nation's best teams and two of the Nation's
best coaches.
- SKI JACKETS & SKI GLOVES
HAND KNIT SWEATERS
(SMALL FOR THE GIRLS)
LAMB'S WOOL SWEATERS
lliE ONE ELEVEN 9110 P ig?
111 South Pugh Street w
STATE COLLEGE, PA. 16801 `1.4
* * *
* * *
THREE FORMER Daily Collegian Sports Ediffirs were on hand in the press box to see
their alma mater battle, Florida State in the Gator Bowl. Sandy Padwe (foreground), a
1961 graduate of the University is currently a, sports columnist with The Philadelphia
Inquirer. John Lott (standing), a 1966 Penn State graduate is completing work on his
master's degree and is an assistant in 'the University's Sports Publicity Department.
Ira Miller, a 1965 graduate, is a sports writer with The Associated Press. All three were
covering the Gator Bowl and their accounts of the game appear elsewhere on this page.
State Fit To Be Tied
By IRA MILLER
Collegian Sports Editor (1963.64)
(In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
TACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 31—Penn
State gambled. Florida State didn't. And that
was about the story of their .17-17 tie in
yesterday's Gator Bowl football game.
The Nittany Lions practiced in secrecy
for two weeks developing new formations,
they worked. But the big gamble , spelled
the beginning of the end.
Florida State, faced with a win-or-tie
choice in the final seconds, chose the tie.
And at the end the record crowd of 68,019
was asking two questions.
Why did Coach Joe Paterno of Penn
State, leading 17-0, risk trying a fourth-and
inches play from his own 15-yard line and
why, after Quarterback Kim Hammond had
completed 37 of 53 passes, wouldn't Florida
State Coach Bill Peterson let him try more?
Especially since Peterson said just a couple
of days before the game that you never
should play for a tie in a bowl game.
Paterno blamed himself for the fourth
down backfire which led to the first of two
Seminole touchdowns within 69 seconds.
"It was my call," he said. "I blew it—
and if I had it to do over again I wouldn't
do it."
It was a gamble Penn State had made
before, during the season, which usually
paid off. But this time Tom Sherman couldn't
get the six inches. Or at least not after the
ball was spotted.
"I looked down and I was this far past
the line," Sherman said, holding his hands
two feet apart, "Then somebody started
pulling me by the seat of my pants. The
officials grabbed the ball and spotted it
where I ended up after they finished pulling
me back." Peterson, who is expected to be
named San Francisco 'Berg coach this week,
defended his strategy.
"Our kids had made a great comeback
and I didn't want to see them lose," he said.
But, said his All-America Flanker Ron
Sellers:
"I don't like tie games. I'm just glad
it wasn't my decision." Said Paterno:
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"THE BIG NEW GRANTS"
At the Nittany Mall, Triangle, Ri. 64 & 26(N.)
Between State College & Bellefonte
Open Mon. thru Sat. 10 a.m.,to 10 p.m.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA
Sports Editors Return
Ira Miller
"Nobody likes a tie. My Thoughts in
that last minute were that I hoped they'd
miss the field goal. I hoped they'd try• for
the touchdown, because I didn't think they'd
make it."
The Seminoles had gone for the touch- .
down on the play before Grant Guthrie's .
26-yard tying field goal (with 15 seconds
left), but Bob Capretto's last-second leap de
flected the Hammond-to-Sellers toss.
The shifting-Y formation which Penn
State had devised in 'secrecy kept Florida
State off balance fbr the first half and helped .'
the Lions grab that 17-0 lead. Sherman •
threw scoring passes to Jack Curry and Ted *
Kwalick and kicked a 27-yard field goal.
But after the Lions stopped Florida ~
State at the goal line in the third quarter,
the momentum began reversing itself when
the big gamble failed. • •
"It was the turning point," Paterno said.
"That gave them momentum when they had
to have it—particularly after our goal-line .
stand, •
"I felt I shouldn't do it, but the kids
wanted to go and 'I got caught up in the
enthusiasm."
Even though Hammond smashed a bevy
of Gator Bowl marks with his passing dis
play that netted 362 yards, the only touch
downs Florida State scored were made pos
sible by the fourth-down misfire and a
fumble.
One of the reasons was the Penn State
defense which, as usual, came up with the
big plays.
Tim Montgomery made a pair of inter
ceptions and saving plays that ruined both
a fake field goal and a fake punt. Neal Smith,
shifted to roverback, and Pete Johnson each
had interceptions.
Sellers caught 14 passes and Bill More.
man 12, but the pass defense for Penn State
played well.
"Hammond's awfully tough," Mont
gomery said.
"He's right on target all the time."
Peterson said Penn State did the best
job any team had done in rushing liammond.
"That Capretto was .one of the best to
defense me all year," Sellers said.
Winter Sports
In Full Swing
Next Weekend
Although the Nittany Lion
basketball team is at home to
morrow for a 3:30 p.m. game
with Kent State, Penn State's
winter sports schedule doesn't
get into full swing until next
weekend.
The wrestling and gymnas
tics teams will hold a day-night
doubleheader with Springfield
College next Saturday, with the
wrestlers getting the nod at 2
p.m. in Re Hall, the gymnasts
at 8 p.m. The Lion rifle team
travels to Cornell next week,
while the fencers and swim
mers play host to temple.
The basketball team will play
at Pittsburgh next Saturday.
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• ...• .v.
`A Stupid 'Game'
By JOHN LOTT
Collegian Sports Editor (1964-65)
The hotel elevator soared silently
from one floor to the next . . . 14-15-16
. . . and with each floor the slightly
inebriated Floridian weaved stightly,.near
ly oblivious of the four other persons in
the ascending cubicle.
"Both teams were stupid . . . out
there . . . this afternoon," he said to,the
wall.
One corner of the elevator responded
"What?" asked Sue Paterno. She
didn't say it sarcastically. She just wanted
to make sure.
"Stupid . . . both of 'them," the man
said. He was surprised to hear a reply.
He had been talking to walls and flash
ing elevator buttons for several hours.
"No offense, ma'am . . . just my per
sonal opinion," he said.
"No, no, that's OK. We're all en
titled to them," Sue Paterno said as the
door opened at her: floor. She got off,
keeping her opinions - to herself.
The man didn't know he had been
talking to Mrs. Joe Paterno. It had
been a trying day for her, and it was not
a nice way for' it to end. First; the ball
game. Then a banquet, where all the
speakers smiled into the spotlight and
said how nice it was that both teams
could
, win, and Sue* Paterno and many
others knew it wasn't true. And now a
man with bourbon on the brain said the
Whole thing was stupid. Sue Paterno is
married to a man whose life is devoted
to this stupid` game. •
It was nol'a nice way for fhe day fo
end.
Twenty-four hours before, a small
cluster of sportswriters had gathered in
a hotel to hear just, how much stupidity
had gone into the Penn State game plan
for the Gator Bowl. Joe Paterno had
Said there were going to be drastic
changes, ,and now; after it was too late
for the writers to get the story in their
Saturday papers, he was going to tell
them about his strategy.
"If I can help you people write a
story . . . a story you're going to have to
do in a hurry, then I'm more than will.
ing," he said. "Personally, I think the
whole thing has gotten a little bit out of
hand."
He meant that the writers had dis
played such concern about Penn State's
secret practices that they were starting
to lose their perspective about the game
itself. They felt deprived because sports
writers have an obsession about know
ing everything. They're also the worst
people around at keeping secrets.
Joe Paterno knows this. That's why
he waited until Friday night.
The Penn State coach Started speak
ing, and as his plans unfolded and the
writers scribbled furiously, not fully
understanding all they wrote. It became
obvious that Paterno and his staff had
laid the most careful plans since Nor
mandy. The 1967 Gator Bowl might have
been the most intricately planned foot
ball game in history.
He talked about defense first. About
how Florida State creates five short pass
ing zones, and that the Lions had to add
another defensive back to combat this,
and how Neal Smith was now a rover
back (not a corner back), and how Pete
Johnson was now a strong side line
backer (not a rover back), and how Jim
Kates would be a middle guard who
would come out of the line to play line
backer when the Lions went "to a six
arrangement."
He went on to say that now the
Lions were short of defensive halfbacks,
Athletes Aided by Air
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)
There have been divergent
views over the effects of high
altitude and "thin air" on the
1968 Olympic Games in Mexico
City.
But geodesists, the scientists
who deal with measuring and
mapping the earth, seem to
agree that gravity will make a
JahnLot t
so Paul Johnson was moved from wing
back to a reserve defensive back. And
that All-American Ted Kwalick -would
now be a wingback instead of a tight
end, and that Gary Williams would be
the tight end, and that Jack Curry would
be a wingback when Kwalick lined .up at
tight end.
He called it a "domino . effeat," and
like a lot of the people who defend Viet
nam policy by citing the domino theory,
he met with several protestors.
One of the demonstrators said that
Kwalick had never been a back in his
life, and demanded to know how he
would adapt to such a foreign position.
"I've seen Kwalick enough to -know
that he'd be a great college tailback if we
put him there," Paterno said, probably
wondering if the writer remembered that
Kwalick had carried the ball before on
the end-around play.
, The writers' questions came like anti
aircraft fire, and they were designed for
the same purpose. Once, one writer
screamed at another for interrupting a
question. You would have thought it was
a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
and that Joe Paterno was William West
moreland.
But then, in his own inimitable way,
Joe Paterno calmed the writers by ex•
plaining his rationale. The antidOte
worked faster than Excedrin. The writers
stooned shouting. Some even , stopped
writing.
"One thing I know about a bowl
game," Paterno said. "It can be the most
foreign thine in the world to practice gar
if you do the same things you've been
doing all year. The players simply• get
bored.
"Now," he went on, "tomorrow you're
going to see some things you haven't seen
all year in a college football game. A bow!
game is a one-shot affair. And we're going
to play like we've played all year. We're
down here to have
To have fun, or to win? someone
asked.
"To do both," Paterno said. "But the
kids are loving it. They've cooperated
right to the hilt. I'm not naive enough to
think we're Going to win by changing $.
the O's and X's. The big thing is exe- •
cution. But I do think we need better O's."
Better O's? someone asked.
"Yeah, you know, X's and O's," Pa
terno answered with a grin. The writer
smiled blankly. Maybe he thought Paterno
and his staff were playing tic-tac-toe.
"If you don't have enough confidence
in yourself to make some changes when
you think it's necessary, then you're not
a good football coach," the Lions' coach ‘.
'said. "I honestly believe that I'd be a
coward if I didn't change the character
of our defense. I'll say this: we couldn't
have beaten them the other way. •
"Look, we may stink out' the place
tomorrow. People will say Paterno's stu
pid.
That's part of football."
Twenty-four hours later, people were
saying Paterno was stupid. They were
saying it in hotel lobbies; and on the - -
streets of Jacksonville. A drunk- who
wouldn't know a rover back from - a shirt •
splint was saying it to Paterno's wife in •
a hotel elevator.
The X's and O's didn't matter. The
complex planning was irrelevant. All that
mattered was that Penn State landed
inches short of a first down try at its
own 15-yard line.
That's what sportswriters like to write
about. That gives television fans in bar
rooms a good conversation piece.
After all, it's just a game. A stupid
game. Ask Joe Paterno.
Better yet, ask Sue Paterno.
difference. It will make it
easier to break records.
As gravity on its surface
varies from point to point, geo
desists feel this should affect
the distance a person can throw
or jump.
Dr. Richard H. Rapp, asso
ciate professor of geodetic
science at Ohio State Univer
sity, believes many of these
differences are significant.
"If the distance person can
throw an object depends on
where he is located, we would
expect all competition to be
based on the same location in
order to establish world records
correctly," Dr. Rapp said.
"This is not being done, and
this fact becomes important in
considering world, records that
are being set at many different
locations for .onger and longer
throws."
Dr. Rapp rioted- that avity
variation has many causes but
the dominant one is that the
earth is somewhat flattened to-
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ward the poles.
"Thus at the equator a per
son, is at sea level, the farthest
from the center of the earth
and at a point where centrifu
gal force is strongest," Dr.
Rapp said.
"Here gravity is much less
than at the pole where a per
son would be closer to the cen
ter of the earth and also where
there is no centrifugal force."
What effect does this gravity
difference have on athletic per
formance?
Dr. Rapp said the 1968 Olym
pics next will be held at a lati
tude of 19.405 degrees. As this
is closer to the equator than the
1964 Tokyo site at 35.71 degrees
latitude, the gravity is less, and
therefore it will take less effort
to set the same marks achieved
in Tokyo.
In fact, Dr. Rapp noted, each
Olypmics since 1960 has made
new records easier because
each successive site has been
closer to the equator.
C. W. Russell
TRW
PAGE ELEVEN