Close not enough this time for Gophers

In 1997, undefeated Penn State was steaming toward a national championship. Minnesota came to Beaver Stadium and bullied its way to a 15-3 lead before the Nittany Lions escaped with two late touchdowns and friendly referees.

Two years later, same story - so far, at least: The Gophers visit Saturday hoping to derail the No. 2 Lions' (5-0 Big Ten, 9-0 overall) title run.

A bad omen for the Lions? Nonsense, they say. Just a coincidence.

"This is a totally different team," Mike Cerimele said. "I think we're going to rise to the occasion the next three weeks. We're not going to come out flat."

AP PHOTO Penn State remains undefeated both in Big Ten play and overall. But the Nittany Lions still have to do battle with upset-minded Minnesota tomorrow.

With three games - against Minnesota, No. 16 Michigan and No. 19 Michigan State - standing in the way of a shot at a national title, Penn State's players say they're as intense as ever this week.

Maybe this Penn State team really is different than the 1997 group - who fell from the top spot in the polls after the near-loss to the Gophers, then dropped three of their last five games.

But so is Minnesota.

Those Gophers came into the game 2-4, giving up 33 points per game. This season, Minnesota is 5-3, 2-3 in the Big Ten. They rank atop the conference in total defense and second in keeping teams out of the end zone.

And they could very easily be unbeaten - losing at home to No. 10 Wisconsin 20-17 in overtime, No. 20 Ohio State 20-17 and No. 17 Purdue 33-28.

"Every one of those games they could have won," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "They are so close to being one of the top football teams in the country."

That's why he declared them Penn State's most dangerous opponent to date, even though they've lost two straight games.

"Each week he's going to say that. He said that back to the season opener against Arizona," said Derek Fox, laughing. "But each week, it does get more dangerous. Each time you win, people are gunning for you more. The thing that scares me is the way they played Wisconsin, because Wisconsin is one of the toughest teams in the conference."

Minnesota coach Glen Mason said he felt like a broken record after the narrow loss to Purdue.

"We had an opportunity to win, but we came up a little short," he said.

Just like 1997.

Then, the Lions rallied for a 16-15 victory, turning a questionable pass interference call into a touchdown, then scoring after Minnesota fumbled with three minutes left.

"It was a steppingstone for us," said Carter, who on Saturday will probably break the Division I mark for tackles by a defensive back, 481, set by Mike Staid of Tulane from 1991-94. Carter has 475.

They may be able to stick with a Top 25 team, but they haven't been able to beat one in three years. They haven't beaten a top-5 team in 13 years, when some of these Gophers were in kindergarten.

They've been stuck on five wins since Oct. 16, and they're getting tired of trying to win their sixth - a magic number that would mean a winning season for the first time since 1987 and perhaps even a bowl bid for the first time since 1986.

11-05-99