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| Brian Milne lunges for what would be the game-winning touchdown in Penn State's win over Illinois in 1994. |
When football fans think of "The Drive", most think of John Elway leading the Broncos on an epic 15-play, 98-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter of the 1986 AFC Championship Game which helped Denver advance to the Super Bowl.
However, when Penn State fans think of "The Drive" they think of a 14-play, 96-yard drive in the fourth quarter of the Nittany Lions' game against Illinois towards the end of the 1994 regular season.
Penn State was ranked #2 in the country with a 9-0 record under legendary head coach Joe Paeterno, who was in his 29th season as head coach of the Nittany Lions.
While Paterno had led Penn State to two national championships before 1994, many felt the '94 version of the Nittany Lions was the best in school history thanks in large part to high-powered offense which featured quarterback Kerry Collins, running back Ki-Jana Carter, and wide receiver Bobby Engram.
Though their first eight games of the season, the Lions had averaged 48.4 points per game, with their lowest single game input being 31 in a 31-24 win over Michigan(To read about that game, click on the link highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/college-football-old-school-game-of_18.html) while complying an average of 533.5 yards per game.
The Lions were on the brink of winning their first Big 10 championship as they had joined the league one year prior and a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1923, but standing in their way were the Illinois Fighting Illini and one of the stingiest defenses in the country.
The Illini were 6-3 but unranked under third-year head coach Lou Tepper, who had served as the Illinois defensive coordinator from 1988-1991 before being promoted to head coach where he continued to remain in charge of the defense where in 1994 featured one of the greatest linebacking corps in college football history.
Making up the Illinois linebacking corps was John Holocek, an All-American in 1992, Dana Howard, an All-American in 1993, Simeon Rice, who came into the Penn State game as the nation's sacks leader with 16, and Kevin Hardy, the quiet man whose best days were yet to come as he would be an All-American in 1995.
This set of linebackers would help the Illini hold their opponents to average off 11.2 points per game in the nine games, with 22 points being the most they had given up in one game, leading up to their showdown with Penn State.
So it was a case of the unstoppable force against the immovable object on a cold, blustery day in Bloomington, Illinois with a trip to the Rose Bowl and national championship implications on the line for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions got the ball to start the game but quickly gave it right back to the Illini when on the third play of the game, Carter lost the football after he was hit by defensive tackle Jason Edwards as Rice would fall on the loose ball to give Illinois possession at the Penn State 24-yard-line.
Running back Ty Douthard would carry the ball five straight times with his last carry being an one-yard touchdown to give Illinois a 7-0 lead just three-and-a-half minutes into the game.
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| Illinois running back Ty Douthard carried the ball 35 times for 172 yards and scored two TDs. |
After an exchange of punts, the Illini defense forced its second turnover of the game when defensive back Tyrone Washington intercepted a Collins pass intended for Engram, to give the Illinois offense the ball at the Penn State 23-yard-line.
Five plays later, the Illini were back in the end zone as quarterback Johnny Johnson connected with tight end Ken Dilger for an one-yard touchdown to increase the Illinois lead to 14-0 with 6:21 left in the first quarter.
The Illini would be forced to punt on their next offensive possession but a 49-yard punt by Brett Larsen pinned the Lions at their three-yard-line where the Illinois defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at the Penn State 40-yard-line.
After the first two plays of the drive picked up four yards, Johnson connected with Dilger for 22 yards and a 1st down at the Lions' 14-yard-line as the next two plays would totaled two yards to set up 3rd & 8 when Johnson scrambled around until he found Shane Fisher in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown and a shocking 21-0 lead with 12 seconds left in the first quarter.
To say that the Penn State offense was sputtering would be an understatement as the Lions failed to pick up a single 1st down on their opening six possessions as Collins completed only one of his first nine passes.
The Illini smelled blood in the water when with under ten minutes to play in the second quarter, the Lions had the ball pinned back at their one-yard-line.
That is when the Penn State offense started to click as fullback Jon Whitman picked up five yards to start the drive which was followed by a 14-yard run by Carter for the Lions' initial 1st down of the game.
From there, Collins would find his game as he connected with tight end Kyle Brady three times for 60 yards to set up an one-yard touchdown run by fullback Brian Milne to end the 11-play, 99-yard drive and put Penn State on the scoreboard with 5:26 remaining in the second quarter.
Then after linebacker Phil Yeboah-Kodie partially blocked a Larsen punt to give Penn State the ball at the Illinois 38-yard-line, Collins would fake a reverse handoff to Engram and fire a pass down the middle to a wide open Freddie Scott for a 38-yard touchdown to bring Penn State to within a touchdown at 21-14 with 3:35 left in the first half.
Illinois would start its next possession at its 20-yard-line as the Illini would drive 80 yards in six plays as back-to-back passes from Johnson to Dilger that totaled 51 yards would set up a five-yard touchdown run by Douthard to push the Illinois lead back into double digits at 28-14 as the first half came to a close.
The Illini would get the ball to start the second half but would go three-and-out, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Lions who took over at their 41-yard-line.
Collins would find Engram for 22 yards and a 1st down at the Illinois' 37-yard-line to start the drive which was followed by a 22-yard run by Carter on 3rd & 1 from the Illini 28-yard-line, and then a four-yard touchdown run by Carter to end the six-play, 59-yard drive and to bring Penn State to within a touchdown at 28-21 almost three and a half minutes into the second half.
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| Ki-Jana Carter had 22 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown. |
The Illini would respond with a 14-play, 71-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock as Douthard carried the ball nine times for 49 yards on the drive which ended with a 27-yard field goal by Richardson to increase the Illinois lead to 31-21 with 4:46 to go in the third quarter.
The Lions would strike back quickly as Collins would complete a 47-yard pass to Mike Archie to give Penn State a 1st down at the Illinois 13-yard-line.
However, the Illini defense would hold and push the Lions back three yards on the next three plays, forcing them to settle for a 33-yard field goal attempt by Brett Conway, which sailed wide right and no good to keep the score 31-21 in favor of the Illini as the game moved into the fourth quarter.
Following an Illinois punt, the Lions got the ball at their 46-yard-line as Collins would find Scott for 13 yards to start the drive which was followed by three plays netting eight yards to bring up a 4th & 2 at the Illinois 33-yard-line.
Needing two scores, Paterno decided to go for the 1st down which he got as Collins completed a 17-yard pass to Engram to give Penn State a 1st down at the Illinois 16-yard-line.
After two runs by Carter picked up 11 yards, Collins handed the ball off to Milne, who ran it in for the five-yard touchdown to bring the Lions to within a field goal at 31-28 with 7:59 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Nittany Lions seemed poised to tie or take their first lead of the game as their defense were hold Illinois to a three-and-out, forcing another Larsen punt which thanks to a stiff wind behind him, went 67 yards until it rolled dead at the Penn State four-yard-line with 6:07 left in the game.
As the offense huddled up to begin the drive, Collins came in and told his teammates "Ninety-six yards, fellas. Let's go. Let's do it".
The drive would begin with a run by Carter that only went one yard followed by a six-yard run by Milne to set up 3rd & 3 when Collins found Brady for seven yards and a 1st down at the Penn State' 18-yard-line.
Collins would go back to the air on the next play as he hit Engram for 11 yards which got 15 yards added to the catch as Illinois cornerback Rod Boykin was called for a face mask penalty to put Penn State at its 44-yard-line.
Carter would get his hands on the ball on the next two plays as he caught a five-yard screen pass from Collins on 1st down, then ran for seven yards to pick up another 1st down at the Illinois 44-yard-line.
A three-yard run by Milne on 1st down and a six-yard pass to Brady on 2nd down would set up a 3rd & 1 when Carter picked up the one yard to give Penn State a fresh set of downs at the Illini 34-yard-line with 2:25 left in the game.
Collins would go back to the air on the next play as he connected with Engram for 16 yards and a 1st down at the Illinois 18-yard-line which was followed by a Carter for no gain to bring up 2nd down where Collins found Engram for nine yards to set up 3rd & 1 when Milne took up the gut for seven yards and a 1st & goal at the Illinois two-yard-line with exactly one minute to play.
Tepper called timeout in hopes of getting his defense a few seconds of rest before preparing for a possible goal line stand.
However, it would take only one more play for the Lions to get into the end zone as Milne punched it in for the two-yard touchdown to complete the 14-play, 96-yard drive and give Penn State a 35-31 lead with 57 seconds to go.
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| Kerry Collins would complete 13 of 15 passes for 122 yards in the fourth quarter including a perfect 7-for-7 for 60 yards on "The Drive". |
Illinois would get the ball back at its 20-yard-line with one last chance at pulling off the upset as Johnson completed a 21-yard pass to Douthard to start the drive, then connected with Jasper Strong on back-to-back passes totaling 33 yards as the Illini moved to the Penn State 31-yard-line with two seconds left, enough time for one shot into the end zone.
Johnson would fire a pass toward the end zone but it was intercepted by Lions free safety Kim Herring as time expired with Penn State coming away with the 35-31 win to clinch the Big 10 championship and secure the Lions a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Following the heartbreaking loss to Penn State, the Illini would drop their regular season finale 19-13 to Wisconsin to finish the regular season at 6-5 but good enough to earn an invitation to the Liberty Bowl where they shut out East Carolina 30-0 as the Illinois defense held the Pirates to 271 yards of total offense and forced five turnovers.
Howard would be recognized as the nation's best linebacker by winning the Butkus Award for the 1994 season which was followed by Hardy winning the award in 1995 marking the first and thus far only time that the Butkus Award has been won by two players from the same university in back-to-back seasons.
As for the Nittany Lions, they would easily win their last two games of the regular season to finish 11-0 as Penn State traveled to Pasadena to take on the University of Oregon on January 2nd, 1995.
The Lions would set the tone on their offensive play of the game when Carter exploded for a 83-yard touchdown run, propelling Penn State to a 38-20 win to finish the season 12-0.
However, the Lions would finish #2 in both the AP and coaches polls behind Nebraska as the Cornhuskers were voted #1 in both polls and was awarded the national championship.
Still, the 1994 Penn State football team is remembered fondly in Happy Valley, thanks in large part to "The Drive".
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