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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Penn State won the Orange Bowl on a wing and a prayer.
The wing was Chuck Burkhart's arm with a desperation pass to Bob Campbell in the final seconds to set up the heart-stopping touchdown, and the prayer was whispered by Mike Reid as he knelt along the sideline during State's try for the game-winning two-point conversion.
Unbelievable is about the only way you could describe State's 15-14 victory over Kansas University here last night before 77,719 fans and millions more watching at home.
Many minutes after the game the Penn State players were walking around the dressing room still not believing what had happened. With a little over a minute to play they were losing 14-7 with Kansas in control of the ball. What happened in the next minute will go down as one of the most dramatic Orange Bowl victories in the history of the classic.
Tears in his eyes
Big Mike Reid had tears in his eyes when he described those last few seconds. "I was on my knees and looking in the stands and saying a prayer when we tried for that first extra try,'' he choked.
"I did the same thing when we tried it the second time. I never saw the play.''
It was Reid who spearheaded the last defensive effort of State in the closing seconds of play when he threw Bob Douglass for losses of 6 and 7 yards, which forced Kansas to punt with 1:16 left to play. Mike Smith broke through and partially blocked the punt, and it rolled out to the State 49.
Burkhart then found Campbell on a desperation pass, and the shifty halfback made a fantastic catch. Burkhart had to throw over a Kansas defender, which made it all the more spectacular. Campbell carried to the 3 to set up the climactic finish.
Burkhart scores
Fullback Tom Cherry was stopped cold twice, and then Burkhart called the old scissors play, but when he saw that Charlie Pittman wasn't going to get through the line, he kept the ball and rolled to his left and had clear sailing into the end zone behind the blocking of Cherry and Charlie Zapiec.
Coach Joe Paterno didn't hesitate and called for the two-point try. Burkhart failed in a pass attempt for Ted Kwalick, and the Kansas fans went wild, but the Jayhawks had 12 men on the field and the penalty gave State another chance. This time, Campbell raced around left end for the deuce and victory.
"I never had a second thought about trying for two points after the touchdown,'' Paterno said as he gulped down a Coke. "You come to bowl games to win. It sure made it a lot easier when we got that second chance.
"I wish you guys (referring to the press corps) would say something nice about Burkhart,'' he said. "His only trouble was that I didn't do a better job of play calling. He's never licked even after a couple of interceptions. He looks like the devil one quarter, but then comes back with a great performance.''
Paterno wasn't too happy with Cherry's performance, because he wasn't hitting the hole he was supposed to on the goal-line stands by Kansas.
Emotionally drained
Reid was emotionally drained and heaped praise on the entire team. "I want to say one thing. I have never been associated with a better bunch of guys than we have on this team. They never gave up. I don't care what kind of game it is, you have to put forth a 100-percent commitment. I only hope that this will shut up a lot of people about Eastern football.''
"We never have any primary receivers in our pass patterns,'' Burkhart said in talking about the big pass play to Campbell.
"I saw Campbell open for a second and just threw the ball in his direction. He just made a fantastic catch. On the touchdown run, I saw Pittman wasn't going to make it through the line, and I kept the ball and rolled to the left.''
Campbell was nursing a bruised ankle and was under the opinion that Kansas wasn't any better than any other team Penn State faced all year. "I will say they are a bunch of good guys,'' he pointed out. "They helped me up a couple of times, and it has to be one of the cleanest games I played in all year. … I told Chuck to throw the ball for the left goal post, and I would be there. That yard and a half looked like 1,000 yards.''
Smear great
Steve Smear also played a great game, and he felt that the goal-line stand of Penn State late in the game gave the team the incentive it needed. "I'm just tickled that we were able to bring the Orange Bowl trophy back to the East,'' he said, in reference to the fact that the last eight Eastern teams to play in the Orange Bowl lost. "This is a great club because they keep hustling, and that's what Coach Paterno has always preached.''
Kansas coach Pepper Rodgers had no excuses and took the blame for the 12 players violation and called himself "dumb'' for not trying for a field goal late in the game.
"I don't know what to say,'' he said as he tackled a piece of fried chicken. "The last loss is the toughest, and the last win is the greatest. We were the better team for 59 minutes and 45 seconds. On that long pass to Campbell, we had four men rushing and seven stay back, but Burkhart made a fantastic throw, and a fantastic athlete made a fantastic catch. … I wasn't surprised that Paterno went for two. I can't imagine not going for two in a situation like that. That penalty on the extra-point try took away all our morale.''
(Note: The rest of the story, a play-by-play recap of the game, is not included here.)