Revenge.

They may not say it, but it will certainly be on the minds of each member of the Penn State secondary come high noon Saturday.

Last year the 'Cane passing attack got the better of the Lion secondary. Miami quarterback Gino Torretta hit fleet-footed receivers' Horace Copeland and Lamar Thomas with touchdown passes of 80 and 42 yards, respectively, and those big plays ultimately proved to be the difference in Miami's 26-20 win.

"Our secondary thought we played a horrible game last year," said Lion hero Derek Bochna, who was the victim of Torretta's 42-yard hook-up with Thomas. "We're hoping to redeem ourselves this weekend."

Bochna and his mates will get their chance to turn the tables on the trio that burned them last season, as Torretta, Thomas and Copeland return to lead the Miami attack. But the secondary is wary of the trio and will make it a primary responsibility to prevent the 'Canes from making the big play.

"Miami is a deep ball-team," said Lion cornerback Shelly Hammonds. "They're going to go deep four or five times a game and we're going to have to be ready for it. The biggest thing we have to do is take the deep ball away."

Torretta agrees that Penn State, which was once bitten last year, will be twice shy on Saturday.

"I know that the big play is less apt to us than it was last year,"

Torretta said. "They'll give you the passes underneath, come up and hit you and won't let you get the big yardage."

For Hammonds, this will be his first chance to defend against Miami's vaunted passing attack. Last year he was a reluctant tailback for Coach Joe Paterno.

Switching back to his true love, defense, Hammonds has established himself as a mainstay in the secondary. He's looking forward to the challenge of facing Miami's aerial attack.

"I think games like these are the reason I came to Penn State," Hammonds said. "This is what college football is all about."

And Hammonds is confident that the secondary will be on its toes.

"I think we're going to try and put it all together this week," Hammonds said. "Hopefully the guys will give everything they have to give to beat Miami. When I leave the field, I'm going to leave everything on the football field."

So as the showdown nears, the teams make their last-minute preparations. And for Penn State, the formalities have ended. After "winning its exhibition season", the Lions face the Herculean challenge of knocking off the reigning national co-champion 'Canes.

"We've said we've been taking one game at a time," Hammonds said. "But I don't think there's anybody on the team that hasn't had Miami in the back of their mind."

And Saturday they will get their long-awaited chance for redemption.