Penn State's Clark seeks victories - not recognition

EVANSTON, Ill. - Joe Paterno introduced the subject following the Michigan game and again talked about it during his weekly Tuesday news conference.

Paterno's issue: Why doesn't Daryll Clark get more credit for Penn State's performance through the season's first eight games?

The Nittany Lions' esteemed head coach may not want to hear the answers: Clark built up his numbers early in the season against a soft nonconference schedule and went 12 of 32 with three interceptions against Iowa in his first national television exposure in September.

However, in the last two weeks, Clark has stepped up in performance and, no doubt, attention. In victories over Minnesota and Michigan, Clark completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 517 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. He also contributed a rushing TD against the Golden Gophers.

The fifth-year senior will try to keep his hot run going today for the Lions (7-1 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) against Northwestern (5-3, 2-2) at Ryan Field.

In tying a career high last week with four touchdown throws, Clark now has 17 on the season. Only Boise State's Kellen Moore (21) and Houston's Case Keenum (20) have more.

It still may not be enough to vault Clark into the top tier of contenders for the Heisman Trophy, but that doesn't mean Paterno will stop speaking on his behalf.

"I don't think Clark's gotten anywhere near the kind of credit he should have after the season he had last year and the kind of season he's having this year," said Paterno, who also wondered why Clark was being compared with Michigan's two freshman quarterbacks prior to last weekend's game.

And what does Clark think of his coach's declarations?

"It proves to me and the rest of the football team that they definitely have our backs," Clark said. "They're going to say what they believe. But that's not what I play for. If I deserve to be mentioned, or if I don't deserve to be mentioned, it doesn't take away from the fact we have a football game to win. To help my team win the football game, that's the only reason I play."

Clark's biggest responsibility today will be to keep his team focused on the energized Wildcats and not peek ahead to next week's Beaver Stadium showdown against Ohio State.

Northwestern mounted the biggest comeback in its history last week, rallying from a 28-3 second-quarter deficit to defeat Indiana, 29-28, on a 19-yard field goal by Stefan Demos with 21 seconds to play.

Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald would like to see his team sustain the momentum but knows the Nittany Lions are a big step up.

"Penn State is going to be a big challenge for us," he said. "We're playing a team that, since its tough loss at home to Iowa, has been playing its best football of the season. They're very consistent across all three phases."

Northwestern's offense will be a challenge for a Penn State defense that ranks in the top 10 nationally in the four major defensive categories, including first in points allowed at 8.9 per game.

Senior quarterback Mike Kafka is 13th nationally in total offense at 284.1 yards per game and has a pair of reliable receivers in Zeke Markshausen and Andrew Brewer.

The biggest question mark for the Wildcats today is their secondary. Safeties Brad Phillips (shoulder), Brendan Smith (broken thumb), and Brian Peters (hand) are expected to play but cornerback Sherrick McManis (quadriceps) is questionable.

For Penn State, backup tailback Stephfon Green (ankle) is not expected to play.