This Could Be Called the Runner-Up Bowl

ORLANDO —  After Florida beat Florida State, the Gators’ gabby coach, Steve Spurrier, said they were spared the indignity of playing in “some little bowl somewhere.”

Like the Citrus Bowl.

Officially it’s the CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl which, at least, gives it the most sponsors in its title. It’s actually a medium-sized bowl, with a New Year’s Day niche (even if it’s 10 a.m. on the West Coast) on an over-the-air network (ABC) and, at $3 million per school, ranks fifth in the all-important payout department behind the Fiesta ($8.6 million), Orange ($8.3 million), Sugar ($8.3 million) and Rose ($8.2 million) bowls.

This, however, is a fine year for the CompUSA Etc. Bowl since the locally beloved Gators aren’t playing until Tuesday and the beloved Seminoles aren’t on until tonight. It has been fortunate enough to match two strong also-rans, 11-1 Ohio State and 10-1 Tennessee, both a victory away from playing for a national title today.

Both are huge schools with motivated fans. All 70,200 tickets have been sold. Fans reported traffic on I-75 jammed all the way back to Atlanta, 500 miles away.

The Buckeyes were expecting to be in Pasadena today but, after trimming 10 opponents by an average of 26 points, lost at Michigan and turned into a prop for Northwestern’s happiest story of the season.

The Volunteers surrendered their illusions early after Spurrier’s Gators ran them over at Gainesville, 62-37, in the third game of the season.

The Buckeyes have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, tailback Eddie George. The Volunteers have one of the 1996 favorites, sophomore quarterback Peyton Manning, son of the immortal Archie and already a star in his own right.

As a junior, George was only honorable mention All-Big Ten and hardly mentioned with the likes of Notre Dame’s Ron Powlus, USC’s Keyshawn Johnson, Texas A&M;’s Leeland McElroy and Nebraska’s Lawrence Phillips.

All of the favorites had a game or other problems but George kept coming. He had 212 yards against Washington, 207 against Notre Dame and 314 against Illinois. He finished with 1,826, led the nation with 24 touchdowns and won the Heisman in a landslide, as well as the Walter Camp, Doak Walker and Maxwell Club awards.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s coming to an end for me,” says George, “because I’ve been here for four years and I’ve done a lot of growing up here.”

George, a Philadelphia native, was raised by a single parent, his mother, Donna, who sent him off to Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy where he seemed to benefit from marching and saluting. Ohio State Coach John Cooper calls him the hardest worker he has had in 34 years of coaching.

“I think he’s done a great job of handling all the exposure and all the attention,” Cooper said.

“He hasn’t changed. He’s the same Eddie George he’s always been.”

Manning’s adolescence could hardly have been more different. Born to affluence--the Mannings live in a Southern manor house in New Orleans’ Garden District, a few blocks from novelist Anne Rice--he attended a private school called Isidore Newman.

His dad, Archie, was one of the nicest stars who ever lived, a tousle-haired, freckle-faced kid from Ole Miss who married the Homecoming Queen and managed two Pro Bowl selections while playing for Saint teams that never had a winning record.

When Peyton chose not to follow his father’s footsteps at Ole Miss, Archie got hate mail from the state in which he’d been a legend. Peyton started deep on the Tennessee depth chart but when Nos. 1 and 2 went down his freshman year, he split the job with another frosh, Brandon Stewart. Peyton threw 11 touchdown passes and the Volunteers, who had started 1-3, finished 7-1.

As a sophomore, playing the entire game for the first time, he threw 22 touchdown passes and four interceptions. In two years, the Volunteers are 17-2 in games he has started.

The pros are already panting. In his arrival in Nashville, Houston Oiler owner Bud Adams hinted at how much he’d like to have the local hero. But Peyton says he’ll return for his junior season. Before he gets to that, he has to take the Buckeye test.