TEMPE, Ariz. — There he was, before God and 96,596 people, with the defining moment of his team's season, perhaps of his own career, at hand, and his tongue was as frozen as the grass in snow-showered Beaver Stadium on the first Saturday of a Pennsylvania November.

"Uh, twins," Wally Richardson stammered a formation in the huddle. "Twins . . . twins . . . uh, twins."

Penn State has no "twins" formation. It has a "Robert" and a "Louis," and fullback Aaron Harris and receiver Joe Nastasi had seen "Louis-55" signaled from the sideline. They helped Richardson get the word out, and somehow he was able to shout "hut" to get the ball snapped from Barry Tielsch.

From there, the memory of thousands of passes in practice, hundreds of passes in games took over, and he threw to Joe Jurevicius, who used all of his 6 feet 5 inches to pull the ball in, 51 yards away, to start a 34-9 victory over Northwestern that ended the Wildcats' Big Ten winning streak at 13 games.

And to end the most frustrating period in Wally Richardson's life.

It's a good thing he didn't have to call an audible.

"Yeah," said tight end Keith Olsommer, laughing. "We'd have been in real trouble then."

Richardson had been in real trouble most of the season, struggling with each passing game, throwing interceptions, something he had never done, and becoming the poster child for Nittany Lion football futility in the eyes of people with faulty memories, who measure success a game at a time.

He had more than paid his dues: a freshman season as a hero-by-necessity, leading victories over Cincinnati and Temple because everyone else was injured; a redshirt season with the scout team; an apprenticeship under All-American Kerry Collins and a junior season as the starter, winning four games with fourth-quarter drives for a team that finished 9-3, ranked 12th in the nation.

He had thrown for 2,198 yards and 18 touchdowns, with only six interceptions, as a junior, and his senior season was going to make memories.

But many of his weapons were gone, three linemen and his best receiver, Bobby Engram, to the NFL. The offense that lined up against USC in the Kickoff Classic in August was a hybrid of veterans and newcomers, and four games of injuries into the season, the mix tended toward youth.

And then there was Richardson.