Auburn shuts down Johnson, Lions

ORLANDO, Fla. — If Penn State tailback Larry Johnson was unsure why he didn't win the Heisman Trophy, perhaps now he understands.

Wednesday in the Capital One Bowl, Johnson too often filled the role of spectator in coach Joe Paterno's offense. And when he did get the ball in clutch situations, Johnson never managed a spectacular play.

It was No. 19 Auburn, despite its roots in the pass-happy Southeastern Conference, that had the better ground game. Two touchdowns by sophomore tailback Ronnie Brown were the difference, as the Tigers upended the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions, 13-9.

"At halftime, we decided not to try to throw the ball," Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We were going to line up and run right at them, and let the best man win."

The best man• That would be Brown, the game MVP who had 37 carries and rang up 184 yards — the best effort by any back against the Nittany Lions over their past 22 games.

Brown began the season as a backup to Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, who broke his leg against Florida. Brown missed the regular-season finale against Alabama with a sore ankle, but had no troubles yesterday.

"I felt strong coming into the game," he said.

In the third quarter, the Tigers (9-4) put together a 74-yard touchdown drive with 13 straight running plays. Brown scored from 1 yard out, staying on his feet amid a pileup and stretching his arm over the goal line.

Brown scored the game-winner, a 17-yard burst around the right end, with 2:19 to go in the fourth quarter.

"It made me upset, because I had to sit there and watch it — a second-string guy ripping off 184 yards on 37 carries," Johnson said. "I'm supposed to be All-American this and Heisman that, and I'm sitting there with 20 carries and 72 yards.

"I tried to do as much as I could — as much as (the coaches) let me do."

Johnson, who finished third in the Heisman balloting, had two carries for minus-2 yards in the first quarter. He slipped three times on the soggy turf (a thunderstorm soaked Citrus Bowl Stadium on Tuesday night), but seemed to be the only player who struggled for traction on the grass surface.

"Larry had some problems," Paterno said. "He fumbled the ball, he slipped a couple of times, he dropped a screen pass."

As he spoke, Paterno was mindful that Johnson was sitting only a few feet away.

"I won't second-guess what we tried to do," Paterno said. "We just didn't do it well enough."

Johnson, however, did second-guess Paterno's plan. He said there was "panic" on the sideline when Penn State (9-4) got inside the red zone. And, even after being held to his third-lowest rushing total of the season, Johnson ripped Auburn's defense.

"They didn't know how to run straight," he said. "Going upfield, they didn't want it. They know how to defend the pass, but they don't know how to take on (isolation) blocks or how to take a pounding. I don't think we tried to exploit that."

Although they did not use eight-man fronts, the Tigers keyed on Johnson throughout the game. Their front four won more battles than it lost against the Lions' offensive line.

"It really doesn't matter what Larry Johnson says," Auburn linebacker Karlos Dansby said. "We know we did our job. We got to him so fast, he really didn't know what to do. We gave him stuff he wasn't looking for."

Quarterback Zack Mills was not caught off guard by Auburn's defensive schemes — "Pretty basic stuff. They started out in a two-deep zone and played six or seven in the box," he said — but was just as unproductive as Johnson.

Mills went 8 for 24 for 67 yards, was sacked twice and intercepted once. At the end of the third quarter, with the Lions trailing 7-6, Mills was replaced by backup Michael Robinson.

"Zack wasn't having a great day and I thought maybe a change of pace might help," Paterno said. "Michael's been practicing well and we've been thinking about playing him more. It just seemed like that was the way to do it."

Robinson directed an 11-play, 61-yard drive that was capped by Robbie Gould's third field goal of the game. The 31-yard kick gave Penn State a 9-7 lead with 10 minutes to play.

After Auburn's next drive stalled at midfield, punter Damon Duval made the game's pivotal play. He dropped a punt over the head of return-man Bryant Johnson, who watched the ball bounce and die at the 1.

The Lions coudn't generate a first down, and David Royer shanked a 36-yard punt off the side of his foot. The Tigers took over at the 40.

On first down, quarterback Jason Campbell made his 17th and final toss of the game, a 6-yard completion to tight end Robert Johnson. After that, Auburn's final nine plays were all Brown.

"That was a surprise to me," Penn State cornerback Bryan Scott said. "I expected a lot more passing and spread offense, but they just came right at us.

"They ran the ball better than we did today. They basically beat us at our own game."

On third-and-1 at the 17, Brown took a toss and rolled to his right, leaped a defender at the goal line and scored. Tuberville knew the play was golden the moment he called it.

"We have a couple misdirection plays, and (Penn State) was really overpursuing big-time," Tuberville said.

"They caught us in an unbalanced line, and we didn't make the right adjustment," Paterno said. "We knew they had it. The picked the right spot and we didn't pick it up quick enough. We were frenzied, trying to stop them so we could get the football back."

Mills, who is more experienced than Robinson with the two-minute drill, returned for Penn State's final two drives. One was snuffed by Roderick Hood's interception. The other fizzled when fullback Sean McHugh caught a dump pass and was tackled as time expired.

"The thing about a game like today's is, you hope somebody comes up and makes a big play," Paterno said. "But Larry didn't have a great day and Zack didn't have a great day."