COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Kyle Brady, one of the two best tight ends in college football, nearly spent this season in the NFL.
Kerry Collins, the All-America passer, is only 15 months removed from a quarterback controversy.
Sophomore flanker Freddie Scott, averaging better than 20 yards a catch, doesn't look like the unsure kid who just wanted to start.
Perhaps most important of all, coach Joe Paterno showed that despite having junior running back Ki-Jana Carter, the Heisman Trophy runner-up who ran for 1,593 yards, he wasn't afraid to open up his offense more than he has in at least 14 years.
A harmonic convergence gave ground-oriented Linebacker U. -- Penn State -- one of the most dynamic offenses ever to grace college football. Oregon is delighted to be in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1958, but the flip side is that it must try to find a way to do what no else has come close to doing this season: stop a Nittany Lions' attack that's best compared to something from a higher level.
"Our balance is similar to the Cowboys," said Scott, whose emergence gave Penn State a second deep threat to complement Bobby Engram. "We've got the receivers, we've got the quarterback, we've got a great blocking fullback [Brian Milne] and we've got the running back [junior Ki-Jana Carter]. You put all those elements together, and it's tough to stop a team like that."
Oregon coach Rich Brooks would agree with Scott.
"Ki-Jana Carter is the best back we've seen," Brooks said. "Their receivers are probably the best we've seen. Collins is the best quarterback we've seen. So our defense really has its hands full."
Before the 1993 season, the only thing the Nittany Lions' offense was loaded with was questions, but it seems that every answer since has been a positive one, right up to coordinator Fran Ganter's recent decision to turn down an offer to coach Michigan State.
Engram's role in a burglary got him exiled in 1992, but he has 100 receptions the past two seasons and is a second-team All-America.
Collins' passing efficiency rating of 172.8 is the fourth-best in NCAA history, but he began the 1993 season behind John Sacca. Collins was finally secure at the helm when Penn State broke out with a a 70-7 thrashing of Maryland at Byrd Stadium, but the Nittany Lions regressed when they totaled one touchdown in losses to Michigan and Ohio State.
Penn State has since won 16 straight, and has scored at least four touchdowns in every game during the streak.
The success this fall, though, wouldn't have been possible without the hard work over the summer. Brady, the nation's top-rated draft prospect at tight end, waited until the last moment to withdraw from the 1994 draft. Along with his teammates, they spent the summer honing the passing game.
"It helps having a quarterback like Kerry, who makes all of his receivers look good, but this is not something that just came together this season," Brady said. "More guys stayed in Penn State over the summer than I can ever remember, and that's when our timing was developed."
An offensive line of All-America left guard Jeff Hartings and four other seniors allowed two legitimate sacks all season and gave Collins time to blossom.
"When you can sit back there and go to the second or third option without worrying about the end or someone coming up the middle, it's so much easier," Collins said.
Despite the talent in the passing game, Paterno would have been excused if he gave the ball 30 times a game to Carter, Penn State's most proven offensive player. Paterno, however, wasn't afraid to open it up.
"If I were going to pat myself on the back about anything as a coach, it would be taking advantage of what we have," Paterno said. "It doesn't take a genius to see what Scott, Engram and Collins can do. Everyone is saying that I just discovered the passing game, but Kenny Jackson forgets that we had a pretty good passing game when he played here, too."
Jackson, a second-year assistant coach, was the top receiver on the 1982 national championship team that also had quarterback Todd Blackledge and tailback Curt Warner. That group couldn't approach the balance of this one, however.
It's a vicious circle for opposing defenses: Carter's runs feed off Collins' passes. The Lions don't need an overly thick playbook.
"With our offensive scheme, we've put a lot of stuff on the menu, but the menu might actually be smaller than it has been in the past, because we're more sure of what we can do," Paterno said. "The menu is shorter now, but the chances of what is there working are better."