Evening star., 1959-12-21
WIN, LOSE OR
DRAW B, FRANCIS srApp
Twenty Minutes of Lucas

IF THE LIBERTY BOWL suggested anything it was
threefod and follows: Cd Late December be
cold for bowl football in the East 2) Paul Bryant
be some sort of magician to have games with
his punchess Alabama team and 81 Richie Lucas one
of the most versatile college quarterbackS long time
During the approximately 20 minutes the Penn State
ace played before being forced by injury his left
hip Lucas looked like the solid performer the Redskins
desperately need in their backfeld His skill as passer
was not stressed, but Richie did four
tries for % yards
1t his ba-carrying that impressed most of all The
6-1 185pounder from GasSport Pa is accomplished
rollout specialist with instinct for finding holes
day when the cold-numbed fingers of just about every
oer ball carrier produced II umbles Lucas bobbled not
once. And he was pretty good opportunist, too.
THE WINTRY AFFAIR was still scoreless when Ala
bamas Gary O'Seen quick-kcked beautifully to Penn
States 3yard line The Sizeabe Dixie contingent
proper whoop and holer and the Crimson Tide massed
hold the Nittany Lions abectly deep in their
territory But the first play Lucas subtracted "a yards
from the massive punt by shaking off his left tackle
giving his club some breathing room.
There were two other Redskin draftees in the Penn
State line Guard Earl Kohhaas and Tackle Andy Styn
chua and if they didn't stand out individuals they
were part and of the defense that held Alabama
lO4 yards on the ground, mere 80 in the first half
And KohlhaaS made very timely tumble recovery
couple OF Senior Bowl scouts in the press box
drooing while watching Lucas, but they admitted there
was no chance of getting Richie to play in their exrava
ganza I'VE approached him. Said "but Lucas doesn't
want to turn in game Of far greater Importance
to WaShingtonianS is whether Richie wants to pro
Redskin.
COACH BRYANT of the Crimson Tide had looked at
enough movies of Penn State to fear Lucas We've got
good pass defense Bryant admitted before the game.
IN tact we built our liz record defense We've
intercepted of every thrown by the other clubs
but our defense is set up against the average passer
Lucas is no average paSser He's very quick, good
runner and doesn't throw many bad We've been able
to capitalize the Lucas may give
that opportunity"
Nor did he while he playing Neither did his sopho-
more nderstudy, Gaen Hail. who led the games only
scoring drive Hall than adequate for Substi
tue but it's conceivable that if Lucas could have played
the entire game the would have more properly
reflected the superiority of Penn State
ACTUALLY, ALABAMA wasn't much for a bowl team
chiefly because Bryants troops small and slow The
backs averaged only 169 pounds and the Marlin
DyeSS pronounced Dice the only swiftie the lot
Bryant who sort of doctor of sick football schools
and who did job at Maryland Kentucky and Texas AIM
apparently is his way to restoring Alabama to the elite
But bowl game may have come year too soon.
This was only Bryants second year his alma mater
which had been in the doldrums for quite a SPELL
The AlabamanS were doughty lot, stopping Penn
State drives to the g. and 1Oyard lines They
lot of ground too with their quick kicks putting
81 and 64 yarder back to back in the period ncongru
ouSly, the Tide puners weren't much on conventional
kicks Onethe aborve boot by Tommy White that paved
the way for the touchdown-raveled only four yards
Another by OSeen went Is yards 1t just cold and
WINDY Tor consistent kicking, balhanding spectang
II WAS AND is refreshing however, to see the East
SO prominent in the bowl picture AS the secondrankng
Eastern team behind only Syracuse, the Nttany Lions
comported themselves we'll if not spectacuarly and
January the Orange, No l team in the Nation will be
playing Texas in the Cotton Bowl, lucrative affair
Syracuse figures to win
AS for Bama the Liberty Bowl performance needed no
apology This was team that had averaged only 92 points
over the lO-game regular stretch, yet somehow
managed to Win en lose only the opener to Georgas
southeastern conference champs and tie two Others
Even IN defeat the Crimson Tide called up memories of
1922 when Alabama first venured North and surprised
powerful Penn 81, in game considered the greatest
triumph IN the schools football history the time It
launched Bama on three brilliant decades involving Rose
Sugar Cotton and Orange Bowls Liberty was the 18th
bowl and 1t was to prove unlucky but the veteran
Birmingham sports editor, Zipp Newman said, "Bama's
on the way back"