BRACKET #9
Click HERE for first round results.
Click HERE for second round results.
Click HERE for third round results.
BRACKET SEMI-FINALS
(9) 1986 Penn State - 27
(265) 1990 Florida State - 20
The two headed quarterback monster of Casey Weldon and Brad Johnson didn't work out for the Seminoles, and Amp Lee went woefully underutilized in the loss.
(137) 1989 Auburn - 17
(393) 2002 Kansas State - 21
Quarterback Reggie Slack couldn't pull any miracles out of his hat today as Auburn fell to the underdog Wildcats.
BRACKET FINAL
(9) 1986 Penn State - 27
(393) 2002 Kansas State - 26 (OT)
This game was supposed to be a cake walk for Joe Paterno's heavily favored Nittany Lions. Not only are they the #9 overall seed in this tournament, they happened to be facing one of the lowest seeded teams still alive. But Kansas State would not go quietly into that dark night.
The Wildcat defense made it clear early on that they were ganging up to stop D.J. Dozier and Blair Thomas in the running game. Linebackers Terry Pierce and Josh Buhl were shooting the gaps and daring John Shaffer to beat them with his arm.
On the other side of the ball, Penn State linebacker Shane Conlan was doing the same against the K-State running game. But in the early going Darren Sproles and Ell Roberson had the upper hand because of their speed. Sproles had a nifty 22-yard touchdown jaunt for the first score of the game, and the Wildcats actually took a 14-7 lead into halftime.
But Joe Paterno made adjustments - he always does - bringing safety Ray Isom up into the box to spy Roberson and the Kansas State option game struggled for the rest of the game. On Penn State's second possession of the third quarter, quarterback John Shaffer managed to find tight end Brian Silverling streaking down the middle of the field for a 45-yard touchdown that tied the game up and finally shifted the momentum over to the side of the favorites.
Kansas State kept battling, though. Trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Terence Newman returned a punt 63 yards down to the 10, setting up a Joe Rheem field goal that would tie the game and send it into overtime.
Penn State had the ball first in overtime where Dozier (just 43 yards rushing in regulation) finally got a little running room. The All American carried the ball all five plays and punched it in the end zone for a 27-20 lead. Darren Sproles answered with a lightning strike, spinning and juking his way 25 yards on the first play of the K-State possession to give the Wildcats all the momentum and an excellent shot at the huge upset. But then disaster struck. Joe Rheem, who missed six extra points during the 2002 season, picked the worst time imaginable to miss another one. He pulled the kick wide left and the chance at miraculously claiming a berth in the Bracket of Champions disappeared just like that.
The Wildcat defense made it clear early on that they were ganging up to stop D.J. Dozier and Blair Thomas in the running game. Linebackers Terry Pierce and Josh Buhl were shooting the gaps and daring John Shaffer to beat them with his arm.
On the other side of the ball, Penn State linebacker Shane Conlan was doing the same against the K-State running game. But in the early going Darren Sproles and Ell Roberson had the upper hand because of their speed. Sproles had a nifty 22-yard touchdown jaunt for the first score of the game, and the Wildcats actually took a 14-7 lead into halftime.
But Joe Paterno made adjustments - he always does - bringing safety Ray Isom up into the box to spy Roberson and the Kansas State option game struggled for the rest of the game. On Penn State's second possession of the third quarter, quarterback John Shaffer managed to find tight end Brian Silverling streaking down the middle of the field for a 45-yard touchdown that tied the game up and finally shifted the momentum over to the side of the favorites.
Kansas State kept battling, though. Trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Terence Newman returned a punt 63 yards down to the 10, setting up a Joe Rheem field goal that would tie the game and send it into overtime.
Penn State had the ball first in overtime where Dozier (just 43 yards rushing in regulation) finally got a little running room. The All American carried the ball all five plays and punched it in the end zone for a 27-20 lead. Darren Sproles answered with a lightning strike, spinning and juking his way 25 yards on the first play of the K-State possession to give the Wildcats all the momentum and an excellent shot at the huge upset. But then disaster struck. Joe Rheem, who missed six extra points during the 2002 season, picked the worst time imaginable to miss another one. He pulled the kick wide left and the chance at miraculously claiming a berth in the Bracket of Champions disappeared just like that.
1986 Penn State (#9 overall seed) advances to the Bracket of Champions. The Nittany Lions will face the winner of Bracket 56 in the first round.
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