Senior Bowl : Rypien Suddenly Passes When Opportunity Arises

MOBILE, Ala. —  Mark Rypien of Washington State wasn’t even scheduled to play in the game, but injuries to three quarterbacks opened the door for him.

“I don’t think I did anything to hurt myself,” Rypien said of his potential draft status in the NFL after he threw three touchdown passes Saturday to lead the North to a 31-17 victory over the South in the 37th Senior Bowl game.

“I showed ‘em I could (put) touch (on) the ball,” Rypien said after hitting 13 of 17 attempts for 168 yards.

Rypien wasn’t on the original Senior Bowl roster. He was added when two other North quarterbacks--Robbie Bosco of Brigham Young and Jack Trudeau of Illinois--pulled out of the game with injuries.

He was thrust into Saturday’s action on the North’s first possession when starter Mike Norseth of Kansas was knocked out of the game with a mouth injury.

North Coach Dan Reeves of the Denver Broncos said Rypien “showed great poise and threw the ball extremely well.”

“They played like they’d been together all season,” Reeves said of his squad.

“To sum up the game, the North just dominated the second half,” said South Coach Leeman Bennett of Tampa Bay.

Each member of the winning team was paid $2,250 and the losing team members each got $2,000.

The game’s Most Valuable Player award, an automobile, went to Napoleon McCallum of Navy, who rushed for 91 yards in 8 carries and also caught three passes for 31 yards, including a touchdown.

Two of Rypien’s touchdown passes came in a span of 49 seconds in the fourth quarter and put the North in control.

Rypien gave the North a 21-10 lead when he threw a 36-yard touchdown to Rennie Benn of Lehigh with 9:20 left and he stretched the advantage to 28-10 with 8:31 to go on a 40-yard completion to Reggie Bynum of Oregon State.

Bynum’s score came on the first play after Joe Kelly of Washington intercepted a pass by the South’s Jeff Wickersham of Louisiana State.

Rypien entered the game on the North’s first offensive possession after Norseth had engineered a drive from the 21 to the South 36. Norseth had to have 40 stitches in his mouth after being injured on a nine-yard scramble to the 36.

Rypien then completed the 79-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to McCallum.

The North’s other touchdown came on a two-yard plunge by Darryl Clack of Arizona State in the third quarter, capping a 68-yard drive that saw Rypien complete 4 of 5 passes for 40 yards, including a 15-yarder on which McCallum made a one-handed catch.

Ken Harper of Duke kicked a 24-yard field goal for the North with 1:47 left in the game.

The victory ended the South’s two-game winning streak and cut the South’s series lead in the all-star event to 18-16-3.

The South’s scoring came on John Lee’s 53-yard field goal with four seconds left in the first half and on a pair of pass receptions by Louisville’s Ernest Givins--20 yards from Pat Washington of Auburn and 32 yards from Wickersham.

Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson of Auburn was held to 48 yards rushing, but did scamper 48 yards after taking a short pass from Washington to set up a touchdown.