Collegian Penn State-N.C. State Special 111 one year ago, John Andress stood on the sidelines. This year, e's in the center of the field, the center of the action, and some imes in the center of the criticism Dlirthd:MDuraileX 11)0°10 waterproof _ _ 4 4 Vasque, e PATILIVIIIDUt Beaver oyal 'vr.alitta6lll4 9 Andress with Photo by Eric Felack Wools Pend cloth: icrlive Sels by Jeff Young When John Andress thinks about it all,"it seems there hasn't really been a surprise in the whole thing. Aw, maybe one little one. "I thought maybe we'd be undefeated," he says, matter-of-factly enough. Interesting. A one-point win 'over Temple, a two-point win over Maryland, a close but exciting loss to the number one team in the nation, and he's thinking about being undefeated. How's that for a sur prise? Here's a kid who's on the field for the first time in two years, he's quar terbacking the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions 'of Joe Paterno and Penn State. But maybe they should be undefeated. One year ago, John Andress wore a blue jersey, but he quarterbacked the green team Penn State's second string. Tom Shuman led the big boys and he knew what he was doing. He'd had his year of, "The key to Penn State's offense is whether Tom Shuman can lead it. . ." and similar such speculation. In 1974, Tom Shuman was leading the offense and doing it well. And John Andress stood on the sidelines, near the man with the headset, and tried to keep his head in the game. "You're there in case something happens, somebody gets hurt." That "in case" never happened, and this season John Andress found himself with the blue jersey AND the blue team. But he was still green. Getting to throw eight passes in 12 games behind Tom Shuman doesn't exactly label one a veteran. North - lace t Sievca,De#silns down C,05-t5 4 vest' And this year they wrote about him; "The key to Penn State's offense is whether John Andress...." They wrote that he was squaring off with John Carroll, another junior, for the job. Carroll was the unfortunate victim of an injury, and Andress was the one. Joe Paterno is a man who goes with one quarterback, and he'd decided who that would be. Andress stuffs of that 'battle' now; "Everyone talked about a battle between me and John. It's unfortunate that he . got hurt. It wasn't a battle." Andress stuffs off - ether things too. He admits he doesn't like to think of pressure. "I guess it was pretty shaky, starting right off at Temple . . . I was pretty excited for some games. I don't know how much that helped me." It couldn't have helped him at all. But he rolled with it, he accepted the ups and downs. "The thing about quarterback is that everyone sees your mistakes," he says with a chuckle. "But you're still part of a team. I'm only one part of it, and I'm going to make mistakes." He's made mistakes, certainly. Penn State's offense has often been tagged inconsistent, and Chris Bahr, along with the Lion defense, has played the hero role all season long. Meanwhile, John Andress has completed 49.6 per cent of his passes, with two touchdowns and four in terceptions. Not Heisman stats by any stretch of the imagination, but one has to Grows into tton.
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