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Sporting News, The, Dec 19, 1994 by Bruce Hooley

Oregon Coach Rich Brooks has two words for all the whiners who wish Penn State could skip the Rose Bowl and play Nebraska for the national championship in the Orange Bowl:

"Me, too."

It's not that Brooks is ashamed of his Ducks, who arose from a preseason ninth-place Pacific 10 Conference pick to their first Pasadena postseason bid in 37 years.

Not on your webbed feet.

It's just that after 18 seasons on the sideline in Eugene, after surviving countless outcries for his firing, the latest as recently as October, Brooks sees plenty of thorns amid his roses.

"I would like to see Joe Paterno's offense go against Nebraska's defense, so I wouldn't have to do it," says Brooks, whose 9-3 Ducks will try to shut down the high-powered and undefeated Nittany Lions on January 2. "I got kind of an upset stomach watching his offense go up and down the field against Michigan State."

Two things jumped out at Brooks as he watched Penn State close with a 59-31 victory and put the wraps on Paterno's seventh unbeaten, untied regular season and 16th 10-victory campaign in 29 years as head coach.

The Lions scored fast and often.

Not only did Penn State lead the nation in scoring at 47.8 points per game, its fans led the nation in touchdowns missed while blinking. Of the Nittany Lions' 78 scoring drives, 55 took less than three minutes, 39 less than two minutes and 21 less than one. Penn State averaged just 2:14 possession time on drives that resulted in scores.

Such gaudy numbers and the Heisman Trophy-worthy statistics of quarterback Kerry Collins and Ki-Jana Carter make Penn State a prohibitive favorite in Pasadena and give Paterno license to lobby for his third national championship.

"I'm not willing to get into any of that kind of stuff," Paterno says. "Everyone ought to just relax and enjoy it, enjoy the contest, enjoy the climate that comes from people competing and see what happens.

"I have said from day one, and I've tried to get this across to my squad, we're having fun, enjoying the season and playing well, so let's enjoy it. Let's see if we can beat Oregon by one point, then go from there and see what happens."

That's easy for Paterno to say. He's not the one charged with stopping an offense that operates like a well-oiled machine.

"We obviously have our hands full," Brooks says. "Penn State, offensively, is without question one of the best teams ever in college football. Ki-Jana Carter is the best running back we've seen. Collins is the best quarterback we've seen. Our defense really has its hands full."

But for all of Penn State's firepower, Oregon won't meagerly become a roast duckling for Collins, Carter and Co.

Gang Green, a defense that ranked 12th nationally against the run (112.4 yards per game) and 19th in scoring defense (17.7) points), allowed only two backs to top 100 yards and nobody to gain more than 117. The Ducks also grabbed a Pac-10-high 19 interceptions.

"We can't do anything about what people say," Brooks says, referring to the Ducks' underdog status. "We can only play. We're a good team. You don't get here by not having a good team."