East Beats West In Shrine Bowl

January 15, 2000 / 8:17 PM EST / CBS/AP

Marcus Knight was not even the leading receiver on his team Saturday. Yet he made the most of his five catches in leading the East to victory over the West in the nation's oldest college all-star game.

Knight had scoring receptions of 10, 8, 8 and 6 yards as the East won 35-21 in the 75th edition of the East-West Shrine Bowl. Three of those TD passes came from Florida's Doug Johnson, the fourth from Michigan teammate Tom Brady.

"No, I've never, never, never had a game like that," Knight said. "I was in the right place at the right time and thank God I took advantage of it."

Knight caught six TD passes for Michigan this season to earn a place in the Shrine game, and then nearly matched that number in one game. For the Wolverines, Knight didn't get called upon that often near an opponent's goal line.

"My number was called a few times at Michigan, but mostly I was a deep threat," Knight said. "It's a new experience for me to be called in the red zone."

West Virginia's Jerry Porter added a 55-yard touchdown on a pass from Brady, who went to high school a few miles away in San Mateo and was playing before his neighbors for the first time while wearing a Michigan helmet.

Fresno State's Jeff Hanna tied a Shrine Bowl record with a 52-yard field goal and also kicked a 44-yarder for the West. Chad Morton added a 1-yard scoring run and Trevor Insley caught a 9-yard scoring pass from Keith Smith for the West.

Neither team succeeded on the ground the West had 28 rushes for 31 yards, while the East had 28 rushes for 24 yards and there were five turnovers in the game.

East coach Steve Spurrier said his team's defense helped turn the game around in the third quarter, when it outscored the West 21-0.

"The defense made life a lot easier for us in the second half," he said. "This was just a good way to end a good week."

Only about a quarter of the 85,500 seats at Stanford Stadium were filled for a game that has lost much of its luster in recent years. The Shrine game no longer attracts the nation's top players.

The East-West game, which in the past featured players such as John Elway and Brett Favre, gets rejected by a lot of top players because unlike some other all-star games it does not pay players or coaches.

Hanna opened the scoring with a 44-yard field goal midway through the first period and Morton's scoring run made it 10-0 later in that quarter.

Ohio State's Ahmed Plummer returned an interception 31 yards o the West 26 to set up Knight's first 8-yard TD reception, one play after Brady connected with Syracuse wide receiver Quinton Spotwood for an 18-yard gain, midway through the second period. Hanna kicked a 52-yarder 23 seconds before halftime.

The West took the lead for good on Knight's second 8-yard scoring reception, this one from Johnson, on a 14-yard drive set up by a blocked punt early in the third period.

An interception by LSU's Mark Roman on the first play after the touchdown set up another scoring reception by Knight, this time a 6-yard pass from Johnson to complete a 48-yard drive to make it 21-13.

Porter took a short pass from Johnson and broke two tackles on his way to the end zone to extend the West's lead to 28-13 later in the third period.

Insley caught his scoring pass, and then a 2-point conversion pass from Smith, midway through the fourth quarter to pull the West within 28-21. Following a fumble by Smith, Johnson hit Knight with a 10-yard scoring pass with 34 seconds remaining for the final margin.