SAN DIEGO -- Lost in the shuffle of the big, big Holiday Bowl plays were some strong performances from other Penn State players.

Fullback Leroy Thompson finally recalled some of the promise of 1988 with his biggest game of the season. The junior fullback, who split time at tailback with Gary Brown last year, brought a dimension to Penn State's offense that was lacking all season: a running fullback.

Thompson carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards, including impressive touchdown runs of 16 and 14 yards. The threat of Thompson carrying the ball in addition to tailback Blair Thomas confounded the BYU defense.

"He's worked like a dog to make himself a good fullback," Coach Joe Paterno said. "He's blocked hard all year, and it was great to see him run so well tonight."

After the game, Brown suggested that Thompson should have won the Heisman Trophy instead of of Houston's Andre Ware.

"I just laughed it off," Thompson said.

-- Somewhere in all that scoring you may remember Ray Tarasi kicking a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter that gave the Lions a 15- 13 lead. The field goal, which just cleared the low post, broke a Holiday Bowl record. Tarasi finished the game 3-for-3 in field goals (he also hit shots of 30 and 36 yards) and 3-for-4 in extra points.

-- Wide receiver Terry Smith gets both Being in the Right Place at the Right Time awards for his 24-yard touchdown catch and his first- down pass on a fake punt.

On a 2nd-and-2 play early in the second quarter, Smith lined up wide left. Trouble was, nobody lined up with him. He proceeded 10 yards straight downfield, turned around, caught a Tony Sacca pass -- thrown behind him -- and raced 14 more for a touchdown which gave the Lions a 9-3 lead.

In the third quarter, Smith lined up in the punt position on 4th- and-6 and completed a nine-yard pass to backup cornerback Tisen Thomas for a first down, Two plays -- including a BYU personal foul -- later Thompson scored his second TD of the day, giving the Lions a 29-19 lead.

"The fake punt was a real big play in the second half," BYU coach LaVell Edwards said. "We had our defensive players on the field for just that type of thing. We were yelling to our players, but Penn State got the job done."

-- And don't forget safety Sherrod Rainge, who set a Holiday Bowl record with two interceptions. Though the second was a gift, his first pickoff turned out to be a key play.

BYU quarterback Ty Detmer pretty much locked his sights on halfback Stacey Corley, who was parked at the Penn State 3-yard line. But Rainge, who led the Lions with six interceptions this season, read the play and stepped in Corley's way at the last second. He picked off the ball at the Penn State 5 and returned it to the 17. Unfortunately, Sacca was intercepted three plays later.

Rainge's fourth-quarter pickoff would not have been possible without an assist from linebacker Richard McKenzie. The freshman, making his first start, barreled around left end and leaped over a back to get to Detmer. That shook the QB, who released the ball right over the middle and into the awaiting arms of Rainge at the Penn State 13.

"(Detmer) just never saw the weak safety," Edwards explained.

-- Didn't everything about this game just reek of excess? Eighty- nine points, 1,115 yards of total offense, a game time of 4½ hours and way too many views from the Fuji blimp?

-- Tony Sacca's 60-minute performance surprised plenty of people. Paterno, who has platooned Sacca and Tom Bill since the Maryland game, had this to say about the situation:

"I thought Sacca was playing well and there was a real good tempo. I had intended to play both of them, but many times games have a way of making a liar out of you. It just did not seem appropriate to make a change."

Sacca finished 10-of-20 for 206 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He did not report to the media room after the game.

-- Seeing starting time for the first time this season were McKenzie (who replaced injured inside linebacker Mark D'Onofrio) and short guard Dave Brzenchek (who replaced the injured Sean Love and Ed Monaghan). It was the first start of Brzenchek's career.

In addition, rookie cornerback Tisen Thomas came in for Willie Thomas, who suffered a third-quarter knee injury. So, in the fourth quarter, Penn State found itself with three true freshmen on defense (Thomas, McKenzie and starter Reginald Givens).

-- And, hey, wasn't this the game of Mr. Clean Program vs. Mr. Cleaner Program? So why all the penalties -- both teams were flagged 10 times -- especially personal fouls?

On a Penn State drive midway through the second quarter three personal fouls were called in four plays. What's the deal?

"We wanted to taunt them," linebacker Andre Collins said. "If we hadn't intimidated them, they probably would've scored 70 points."