After a scare, Penn State rolls

EVANSTON, Ill. - Penn State started out looking like a bunch of trick-or-treaters wearing white football uniforms, particularly when the Nittany Lions were penalized for sending in 12 men for a punt return and tried to block a field goal using 10.

The 12th-ranked Lions took a while to settle down today, but when they did, they were sudden and swift. They struck for three touchdowns in a span of 3 minutes, 40 seconds of the fourth quarter and rolled to a 34-13 victory over Northwestern at Ryan Field.

Penn State (8-1 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) made a game's worth of mistakes in the first half in front of a "Purplepalooza" crowd of 30,546. The Wildcats (5-4, 2-3), showing a fast-paced, no-huddle offense, took a 13-10 lead on Stefan Demos' 45-yard field goal with three seconds to play in the half.

It marked the first time all season that the Nittany Lions had trailed at halftime.

"It was a little frustrating, but some games you're going to have it that way," said quarterback Daryll Clark, who completed 22 of 31 passes for 274 yards and one touchdown, and ran for a score. "It was important that when we got opportunities in the second half, we took advantage of them."

"You get anxious because you know you can move the ball," offensive tackle Dennis Landolt added. "You want to score and get some of the pressure off the defense. Luckily, we were able to do that."

After tying the score at 13-13 in the third quarter on Collin Wagner's second field goal, the Lions finally started to click, beginning with Brandon Beachum's tie-breaking 2-yard run 21/2 minutes into the fourth.

The Nittany Lions needed just one play to score on each of their next two possessions.

First, Clark spotted a streaking Derek Moye up the right sideline behind the secondary and hit him with a perfect 53-yard rainbow for the touchdown.

After Northwestern ran four plays and punted, Evan Royster found a seam between the center and right guard and was gone, racing 69 yards for a score to silence the festive crowd.

Royster finished with 118 rushing yards, topping the century mark for the fourth time in five weeks.

"We got one, and then we got the long one," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "We were just trying to tell the defense to stop them and not give them an easy one, or see if we could get one more turnover."

The Penn State defense, in the top 10 in several categories nationally, had an atypical first half, with Northwestern scoring more points and gaining more passing yards and total yards than the Lions' averages for an entire game.

But the unit returned to form in the second half. The Wildcats weren't helped by the loss of quarterback Mike Kafka, who left midway through the second quarter with a leg injury.

Dan Persa, a sophomore from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pa., came on for the Wildcats, but their offense struggled.

"Kafka is a really good player," said linebacker Sean Lee, who played almost the entire game, his longest stint since coming back from a sprained left knee. "I think he's extremely underrated. Persa is a good player, and he can be very similar to him. It's just experience. Kafka did a good job looking us off. Persa, being a young player, didn't necessarily do that."

With Kafka, strange things were happening to the Lions. There was the 12-man penalty that led to Northwestern's first field goal. There was a punt snap that Demos fumbled at his feet, but he found a way to throw a two-handed, over-the-head pass to Mark Woodsum for a first down.

Then, after Jared Odrick blocked Demos' 37-yard field-goal attempt, the kicker nailed the 45-yard try to give the Wildcats confidence at the break. But Penn State held its hosts to 123 total yards and no points in the second half.

"We weren't frustrated at halftime," linebacker Navorro Bowman said. "It was just, 'Come on, guys. We know we can beat them. Let's focus and play our game.' We started playing our game in the second half."

The fourth-quarter fireworks allowed Penn State fans - and even Paterno - to look ahead to this Saturday's showdown against Ohio State at Beaver Stadium.

"As we were walking off the field, he told me this was a good win and we've got a big one next week," Clark said. "He said this game was a bit frustrating at first but we answered the call."