Boilermakers perfect remedy for Nittany Lions’ lingering illness

Penn State found the perfect antidote to its Ohio State hangover: Purdue. Apply directly to the forehead. Purdue. Apply directly to the forehead.

The Boilermakers did what they almost always do against the Nittany Lions, fumbling away opportunities, commiting stupid penalties, failing to sustain the momentum they gained from running the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown.

As a result, they wound up losing 26-19 on a near perfect autumn afternoon.

It’s what they do when they play Penn State. To borrow from Dennis Green, they were who we thought they were, which is why they are now 3-9-1 against the Nittany Lions.

That being written, to their credit, the Lions did what they needed to do to send their seniors off with a win. Their knees could have buckled when Dorien Bryant went coast-to-coast with the kickoff but they didn’t.

They could have caved when Purdue drove to the ball inside their 1. Instead, Sean Lee ripped the ball from Jaycen Taylor’s grasp, preventing the Boilermakers from going up 17-3.

That cleared their heads. And after that, Purdue had to settle for field goals from Chris Summers and Penn State answered with three touchdowns to boost its record to 7-3.

“That was huge after the momentum they had from the kickoff return,” said Lee of the fumble he caused and recovered. “I think the most important thing was making them kick field goals and keeping them out of the end zone.” Starting at their own 24 with a 10-3 lead, the Boilermakers marched to the Nittany Lions’ 1 when Taylor tried the middle of the line only to have Lee rip the ball away.

“You do whatever you can to take the ball out of his hands,” Lee explained. “He put the ball out there and I felt it in my grasp and pulled it out. Our coaches program us to try to pull it out. That was definitely a boost to our confidence.” According to Deon Butler, Joe Paterno addressed that topic earlier in the week, trying to shore up his team’s psyche in the aftermath of the 37-17 smackdown by the Buckeyes.

“He talked about that Sunday and Monday,” Butler said. “He said we were still in a position to get into a New Year’s Day bowl game. That was all the motivation we needed. He said we’re now in a three-game playoff. He realized people were going to want to talk about the butt-kicking we got. He knows what he’s doing; Ohio State’s a good football team. “So as soon as Purdue ran that kickoff back, I told the guys this was just like what Ohio State did in the national championship game against Florida and we were going to do what Florida did.”

It helped that it was Purdue and not Ohio State across the line of scrimmage Saturday. The Boilermakers are a little more malleable so the Lions were able to keep them under control to the point where even when they fell behind 16-13 late in the third quarter, they didn’t really feel threatened.

“We never felt like the game was getting away from us,” Butler added.

There was also the added incentive of not wanting the seniors to leave the field for the final time with their heads down. “I read somewhere that we’re something like 16-1 in our last 17 Senior Days,” said defensive back Mark Rubin. “We didn’t want to let the seniors down. We wanted to play the best we could for them.”

Whether or not they played the best they could is open to debate but there’s no doubt that they played well enough to beat the Boilermakers and that was what was important.

If the post-Ohio State hangover hadn’t dissipated Saturday, the season would be in ruins today.

“We were depressed after that game,” Butler said. “We felt we could have played better. But if you want to be a good team, you have to get over your losses.”

It also helps if the schedule serves up the perfect remedy, right on time.

Ron Bracken is sports editor at the Centre Daily Times. He can be reached at 231-4641 or rbracken@centredaily.com.