Penn St. Throttles Auburn

Outback Bowl

Give Joe Paterno a month to prepare, and Penn State is usually going to be successful. Give him Wally Richardson, Bobby Engram and Stephen Pitts and he can beat the weather, too.

Richardson threw four touchdown passes in the rain and 15th-ranked Penn State set Outback Bowl records for points and total offense Monday in a 43-14 rout of No. 16 Auburn at soggy Tampa Stadium.

Engram had four catches for a bowl-record 113 yards and two TDs, while Pitts rushed for 118 yards and scored on his only catch of the day to pace the Nittany Lions’ 487-yard attack.

“There are very few athletes that have ever been the deciding factor in more Penn State football games than Bobby Engram,” Paterno said, marveling at the senior receiver’s performance in a downpour and muddy conditions.

“Those catches - he makes that look easy. They’re not easy! Some of those catches he made take timing and strength and concentration. He’s great. Someone asked me what his chances are as an NFL player, and I told him he could be a second Jerry Rice.”

Paterno has taken Penn State (9-3) to 12 different bowl games, more than any other coach. Beating Auburn (8-4) gave him victories in 10 different locations and improved his overall bowl record to 17-8-1.

Auburn cited the weather as a major factor in its most lopsided loss in a bowl game since losing to Houston 36-7 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in 1969.

Paterno said veteran leadership on a team that’s won three straight postseason games helped the Nittany Lions prepare for Auburn as well as deal with the rain.

Richardson, whose inexperience hurt Penn State early in the season, completed 13 of 24 passes for 217 yards. The only interception he threw glanced off the hands of receiver Freddie Scott and set up one of Auburn’s two TDs.

Engram, voted the game’s most valuable player, scored on catches of 9 and 20 yards in the third quarter when Penn State scored 27 points to pull away from a 16-7 halftime lead.

Penn State 43, Auburn 14

Penn State 3 13 27 0 - 43

Auburn 0 7 0 7 - 14

PSUFG Conway 19

Aub-Baker 25 pass from Nix (Hawkins kick) PSUFG Conway 22 PSUFG Conway 38 PSUArchie 8 pass from Richardson (Conway kick) PSUEngram 9 pass from Richardson (Conway kick) PSUPitts 4 pass from Richardson (pass failed) PSUEnis 1 run (Conway kick) PSUEngram 20 pass from Richardson (Conway kick)

Aub-McLeod 12 run (Hawkins kick)

A-65,313.

PSU Aub First downs 22 19 Rushes-yards 49-266 40-220 Passing 221 94 Return Yards 53 10 Comp-Att-Int 14-29-2 8-33-2 Punts 4-36 8-39 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 5-2 Penalties-Yards 6-35 5-59 Time of Possession 32:11 27:49

RUSHINGPenn State, Pitts 15-118, Milne 12-82, Archie 5-41, Enis 12-24, Sload 2-4, Eberly 1-(minus 1), McQuery 1-( minus 1), Ostrosky 1-( minus 1). Auburn, Davis 12-119, Morrow 10-39, Craig 11-34, McLeod 2-20, Beasley 2-9, Goodson 0-4, Nix 3-(minus 5). PASSINGPenn State, Richardson 13-24-1-217, Archie 0-1-1-0, McQuery 1-4-1-4. Auburn, Nix 5-25-2-48, Craig 3-8-0-46.

RECEIVINGPenn State, Engram 4-113, Olsommer 2-21, Scott 2-17, Archie 2-14, Jurevicius 1-43, Milne 1-5, Pitts 1-4, Stephenson 1-4. Auburn, Bailey 1-32, Baker 1-25, Dillard 1-12, Hand 1-8, Goodson 1-6, Gosha 1-5, Fuller 1-4, McLeod 1-2.