Chugging along

By Jeff Rice

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Evan Royster ran wild. Daryll Clark completed just under 70 percent of his passes. The offensive linemen pulled and protected superbly. For most of Saturday, the Big Ten’s best offense looked like it has for most of the season.

Except when it came to putting points on the scoreboard.

In a venue that has seen hundreds of touchdowns in Purdue coach Joe Tiller’s 12-year tenure, the Nittany Lions’ high-powered offense found the end zone just twice. Their defense picked up the slack as No. 6 Penn State (6- 0, 2-0 Big Ten) slowly wore down the Boilermakers (2-3, 0-1) and won 20-6 before 57,215 in Ross-Ade Stadium.

“We feel we can be a lot better than that,” Penn State wide receiver Deon Butler said. “We only put up 20 points. I think the yardage was there, we just missed a couple of plays. The running backs slipped, I think we missed a couple pass plays that could have been big gainers.”

Butler caught three passes for 39 yards, including a 27-yarder with his toe just inside the sideline on a third-and- 17 midway through the third quarter. It was just the second successful third-down conversion for Penn State, which entered the game with the conference’s best third-down conversion rate (56.5) but went just 4-of-12 Saturday.

Royster, who burst into the end zone from 4 yards out on the next play to give Penn State a 17-0 lead, ran for 141 yards and caught four passes for 53 more. Clark was an efficient 18-of-26 for 220 yards and no interceptions and also ran for a score. The Nittany Lions rolled up 422 total yards against a defense that had been allowing 439 per game but failed to reach 35 points for the first time this season.

“Purdue did some things differently than they have,” Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said. “They didn’t blitz us as much as they’ve blitzed some other people, they didn’t play as much man (coverage) as they did today. I think their plan was gonna be to try and keep us from making big plays.”

That was the same tact the Nittany Lion defense took against the Boilermaker offense, with a great deal more success. Purdue scraped out just 241 yards on 60 plays and needed a 19-yard pass from Joey Elliott to Desmond Tardy on fourth-and-10 to set up its first touchdown against the Nittany Lions in 12 quarters, a 1-yard Kory Sheets touchdown with 6:28 remaining. And then usually reliable kicker Chris Summers, who had already missed a pair of field goals, shanked his first extra point in 112 attempts.

Elliott (3-of-5, 46 yards) had started the drive in relief of ineffective starter Curtis Painter, who was 13-of-22 for just 112 yards and an interception. Penn State’s defense forced him into short throws, swarmed all over Sheets (18 carries, 59 yards) and looked like it took a step forward from last week’s 38-24 win over Illinois.

“The offense was down a little bit, a little sloppy, but they’ll get it together,” said defensive end Josh Gaines. “And that’s what we do here. When some-one’s down, another person comes to pick it up. They’ve been doing it all season for us.”

Penn State’s offense didn’t look like it was going to struggle on its initial possession. Clark found Derrick Williams (five catches, 52 yards) for 15 yards, Royster ran for 16 and Clark hit Williams for nine more to the Purdue 43-yard line. But the next two plays went for a loss of a yard, forcing a punt, and the Nittany Lions couldn’t convert a second- and-1 on their next possession, either.

Purdue held the ball for all but 4:37 of the first quarter but spent only nine of their 24 plays in Penn State territory, and Summers pushed a 45-yard try wide right two plays into the second quarter.

Penn State’s offense finally found some rhythm, Royster’s 23-yard run and a 19-yard reception by Graham Zug shuttling the Nittany Lions inside the Purdue 5. But Penn State again came up empty on third down when fullback Dan Lawlor was stuffed at the 1.

As Clark shoved the ball across the plane on a fourth-and- 1 sneak, officials blew the play dead to review the Lawlor run. They confirmed he had been stopped, and Clark plunged in on fourth down for a second time, giving the Nittany Lions a 7-0 lead.

After Summers missed a 36-yard attempt wide left to end a productive Purdue drive, Clark completed six consecutive passes, a 7-yard run by Royster in between, as the Nittany Lions advanced to the Boilermaker 6 in the final minute of the half, only to hiccup once more. Two incompletions, a 5-yard false start penalty and a slip by Royster made Penn State settle for Kevin Kelly’s 25-yard field goal.

Drew Astorino’s interception of Painter helped set up Penn State’s final score. A shovel pass from Clark to Royster went for 23 yards to the 4-yard line, but Stephfon Green slipped after receiving an option pitch on third down, and Kelly came on to kick a 20-yarder.

“A little bit of frustration,” admitted Green, who ran for 54 yards on seven carries. “But we overcame it.”

Penn State, which won a conference road opener for just the second time since 2002, faces a tougher road test this week, when it visits No. 18 Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions know they won’t be able to afford similar stalling against the Badgers but won’t complain about Saturday’s result.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, and some of the other guys have, a win is a win, and especially on the road,” Butler said. “Obviously there’s going to be a lot that we can better from in this game, but all that counts is that we got a W.”