ORLANDO, Fla. -- The orange that blanketed the CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl had grown a little pale on this overcast New Year's afternoon.

And as 40,000 Tennessee faithful exited the stadium with their overripe national championship aspirations stored firmly between their knees, a slightly annoyed Shelly Hammonds was spouting rhetoric which Penn State fans hadn't heard for a while.

"There were rumors that Tennessee fans said they should have gotten a better team to play against," the senior cornerback said after Penn State's 31-13 manhandling of the Volunteers before a Citrus Bowl record crowd of 72,456. "Maybe if they wanted a better team, they should have gotten Slippery Rock."

The only things slippery on this day were the hands of the Volunteers, which dropped quarterback Heath Shuler's passes with alarming regularity. Shuler, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, was simply outshined by Penn State quarterback Kerry Collins, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

And the Volunteers, 9-1-1 and a 11-point favorite coming into the contest, were simply humbled by Penn State's bruising ground game and line play.

"I really felt a little annoyed that we'd come down and be 9 or 10-point underdogs," Coach Joe Paterno said. "We never came here with the idea that they were a better football team."

And they grew tired of hearing it. Tennessee fans were already clamoring for national championship consideration. Penn State was a pothole on the road to prominence.

But the Lions had something to prove to themselves. A 10-win season would help restore the glory of a program still reeling from last year's lackluster Blockbuster Bowl loss to Stanford.

"There were a huge amount of Tennessee fans," tight end Kyle Brady said. "Nobody really gave us a chance."

Early on, the Lions played the part. Vol kicker John Becksvoort nailed a 46-yard field goal, and Shuler found Cory Fleming for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 9 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first quarter. The key play: a beautifully executed 38-yard reverse option to wide receiver Billy Williams.

Penn State, however, struck back with a trick play of its own. Wideout Bobby Engram's unbelievable cutback on an otherwise stacked-up reverse sprung him for 36 yards and led to a Ki-Jana Carter touchdown run.

"Bobby made a great, great play out of it," said Paterno, who tied former Alabama legend Paul "Bear" Bryant with his 15th bowl victory.

This was turning into a battle of offenses -- a battle Penn State could not win. So the Lion defense, led by its seniors, decided to turn the tide.

Senior defensive lineman Tyoka Jackson tipped a Shuler pass at the line of scrimmage, and senior safety Lee Rubin made a diving interception.

"After Lee's interception, things seemed to turn around a little bit," Jackson said.

The teams traded field goals in the second quarter, and a Penn State drive late in the first half left the Lions on the Vols' 14 with only a few seconds left. It was then that Paterno-esque football took center stage.

Carter took a counter draw and cut 14 yards down the left side for a touchdown and a 17-13 lead with just three seconds left on the clock. It seemed to seal the Vols' fate.

Tennessee came out flat in the second half, allowing the Lions to move 60 yards on their opening drive and ramble to a 24-13 lead. Collins found Brady dragging across the right side of the field --the same play which burned the Vols during a 1992 Fiesta Bowl victory.

"They fell for it again," Brady said. "I just delayed for a couple seconds, Kerry saw me, and it lit up my eyes."

Meanwhile, Shuler, feeling footsteps from Penn State's defensive line, was unable to establish a rhythm.

"They played a great game. A wonderful game," the mystified quarterback said.

And when Collins found Engram for an early fourth-quarter touchdown and a 31-13 Penn State lead, the massive contingent of Vols' fans, dressed in No. 21 jerseys and doused in bright orange, began to file out.

The Lions, meanwhile, began a long-overdue celebration.

"I feel really good about being a Penn State football player," an ecstatic Jackson said.

Notes:

-- Senior inside linebacker Brian Monaghan did not make the trip to Orlando after being charged by campus police with public drunkenness near the end of the semester. Monaghan, 23, from Wexford, started 10 of the Lions' 11 regular-season games and was Penn State's second-leading tackler.

-- During the Lions' first practice on Christmas Eve, sophomore kicker Jon Dylewski knocked a seagull from midair while attempting a field goal. After a few minutes on the ground, the stunned gull walked off the field to cheers from the squad. The gull managed to cross busy Rio Grande Avenue, and was corraled by a pair of Orlando police officers. The bird was treated and released on Christmas Day.