From: COWAN@ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu (Paul L. Cowan)
Subject: Paterno vs. Testaverde (was Re: Lies, D**n Lies, etc (was PSU is Over)
Organization: Pacific-Plate Residents (Motto: 54-40 or Bust!)
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 17:50:06 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.24

In <92288.072824KRB104@psuvm.psu.edu> <KRB104@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:

-------------------------- Stuff deleted --------------------------
:  And you pennheads out there,
:  don't begin to talk about 1986, PSU's BYU National Championship, one game
:  season in which if Vinny Testerverde wasn't color blind, would have went the
:  other way (five interceptions come to mind?).

Okay, since you originally raised the issues of JoePa, PSU, consistency, 
overrated etc, I'll take some time to go over the 1987 Fiesta Bowl with you.

NBC billed that game as a match between Heisman Trophy Winner, Vinny
Testaverde, and "the Coach", Joe Paterno. At the time I thought, "Oh brother, 
PSU is in big trouble. Miami's big guy will be on the field while PSU's will 
be screaming on the sideline." This pairing WAS a mis-match, but it didn't 
turn out the way I expected.

I don't pretend to be an expert on the "chess-game" aspects of football, 
but my understanding of this particular game was greatly enhanced by two
factors. First, NBC's color announcer was Jimmy Cefelo, who was one of the
few sports announcers who was not afraid of over estimating the intelligence of
his listeners (which is probably why he's out of a job). Second, I watched the
game with my brother who at the time was coaching high-school football, and we
went through the tape of the game twice the next day. 

One of the more fascinating things I learned in that game concerned, perhaps,
the key play of the game. Several times during 3rd and long for Miami, Paterno
went to the following defensive formation:

                             S

                                        C
                 B           L   L     L              B
                              D D  D D
                 x         x  x x x x x         
                                  T                   x

                                 x x

Where D=down linemen, L=linebackers (excluding Conlan), B=corner backs, 
S=safety, T=Testaverde x= other Miami offense (no specific formation) and
C=Shane Conlan.

The apparent intention of this formation was to hide Conlan so he could blitz. 
From Testaverde's point of view it looked like a normal pro front with 4 D's 
and 3 L's. Each time Testaverde picked it up and audibled, each time Conlan 
blitzed, and each time the play Testaverde called was a dump-off to 
Highsmith in the flat (vacated by the two linebackers) which went for a big 
first down. 

As the game progressed, I couldn't believe that Joe kept going to the same
play. Conlan put on lots of pressure, but Testaverde unloaded quickly and
accurately each time. After the second or third such first down, Testaverde
got up (after being tackled by Conlan) with a big smile of recognition and
satisfaction. You could read his mind thinking, "I've got that one figured
out."

Then, in the third quarter with the same situation, Conlan faked the blitz,
dropped back quickly in front of Highsmith, picked off the pass and ran it back
to the Miami 4 to set up the decisive TD. After that play, Testaverde's face 
had a very confused expression.

I am convinced this was not and "adjustment" by Paterno but a preconceived
plan (Paterno "adjusts" much more quickly than that). Paterno was training
Testaverde like Pavlov trained his dogs (Throw to Highsmith, get a first down; 
throw to Highsmith, get a first down). Paterno gave up several first downs 
to setup a big play, yet he made the setup challenging enough that it took 
a quality quarterback like Testaverde to make it work. Since Testaverde 
audibled each time, Jimmy Johnson was out of the loop. It really was 
Paterno against Testaverde one-on-one in the head game, and it was 
Testaverde who was overmatched. 

I don't think Testaverde should shoulder the blame for his 5 interceptions. 
There were other examples where Jimmy Johnson simply looked brain-dead 
compared to Paterno.

I mentioned earlier in this thread that Paterno's teams go through cycles.
I think this is due to the complex head-game that Paterno's teams are expected
to execute. It takes extraordinarily talented players (like Conlan) to execute
Paterno's strategy, but it also takes patience, intelligence and experience.


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P. L. Cowan     Please send replies, comments etc. (no flames thank you) to 
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