Save Spot On Couch For Lions

If asked to name their favorite college football teams, it is doubtful the Miami Hurricanes would be ranked near the top of the Penn State Nittany Lions’ lists.

“But I don’t think we’ll have any trouble pulling for them against Nebraska,” Penn State guard Jeff Hartings said.

Although the Lions do not plan to gather as a team to watch tonight’s Orange Bowl game between Miami and Nebraska, most said they will be in front of their televisions to see whether the No. 3 Hurricanes can knock the No. 1 Cornhuskers out of national championship contention.

A Nebraska loss combined with a victory by No. 2 Penn State in Monday’s Rose Bowl game against Oregon likely will give the Lions the title.

But if the Cornhuskers win convincingly, will that lessen the Lions’ motivation against Oregon?

“No, our motivation is to go 12-0,” Hartings said. “If we go 11-1, everybody will forget about us. People talk about our offense being one of the best in history, but nobody will be talking about that if we lose to Oregon. It will be like Miami in ‘86. All anyone remembers about that team is that Penn State beat them in the Fiesta Bowl.”

Penn State Coach Joe Paterno has mixed emotions about the national championship race because of his admiration for Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne.

“I’ve got to be careful here because I want my players to win it,” he said. “But nobody in the country deserves a national championship more than Tom Osborne does. As for myself, I’ve had national championships. But Tom hasn’t had one. I will not be unhappy if it turns out that Nebraska and Tom Osborne win it.”

Golf has been introduced into the Rose Bowl festivities with a junior golf hole-in-one shootout scheduled today at the Brookside Golf Club, adjacent to the Rose Bowl. Chi Chi Rodriguez, grand marshal of the Tournament of Roses, will conduct a clinic after the 11 a.m. shootout among hole-in-one qualifiers.

The winner - if anyone scores an ace in the single-ball competition - will receive $100,000 from the sponsoring American Golf Association.

Look at the films

USC tackle Tony Boselli, on why he turned down invitations to play in postseason all-star games:

“I had a talk with coach (John) Robinson about it, and he felt I didn’t have anything to prove to the NFL. I’ve played against Penn State, Notre Dame. … If they want to see film on me against DeWayne Patterson (Washington State) or Tedy Bruschi (Arizona), it’s available.

“Coach felt it was more important for me to start getting in shape for those February NFL combine drills in Indianapolis.”

The Trojans face Texas Tech in Monday’s Cotton Bowl.

Looking for a fight

Florida State receiver Kez McCorvey, whose Seminoles take on Florida in the Sugar Bowl on Monday, is bored with Bourbon Street.

“I keep looking for a good fight and I can’t find one,” he said, referring to the civility of the Florida and Florida State fans thus far. “I’ve been looking for a couple of necks broke, a couple of heads chopped off, but nothing. What’s wrong with New Orleans?”

Seeing the light

Columnist Bob Hurt of The Arizona Republic wrote about all the religious talk flying around Arizona this week, with Colorado coach Bill McCartney and Notre Dame’s Lou Holtz pointing to religion frequently as part of their approach to life and to teaching.

Hurt, who took less than an enthusiastic approach to this mixture of God and gridiron, quoted something said long ago on the subject by the late Frank Leahy, longtime Irish coach.

“I always thought prayers worked better,” Leahy said, “when my players were bigger.”