Nittany Lions put together sound performance, quickly put away overmatched Eastern Illinois

Jeff Rice

- jrice@centredaily.com

UNIVERSITY PARK — Coaches have a lot of synonyms for “game.” They might say, “We have a big fight on our hands this week,” or “That was a great battle we had today.” The word choice often reveals what the coach really thinks about the game as much as whatever else he might say to describe it.

CDT/Michelle Bixby

Penn State's Sean Stanley (90) defends against Eastern Illinois' Desmin Ward (34) during the Eastern Illinois at Penn State game Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. CDT/Michelle Bixby

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“Overall,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said, after his Nittany Lions rolled over Eastern Illinois 52-3 on Saturday, “it was a good workout for us.”

The fourth and final non-conference game of the season for No. 14 Penn State (5-1) was more lopsided than the previous three and even less competitive. The Panthers (4-2), a Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA) brought nine major-college transfers to Beaver Stadium and for the most part played sound, disciplined football but were eaten up by the Nittany Lions’ best athletes all afternoon.

The difference between this workout and the previous three home demolitions was the smooth, steady rhythm Penn State enjoyed on both sides of the ball during both halves.

“Coach Joe talked about it, all our position coaches talked about it, me and Sean (Lee) stressed it in our player squads and things,” said quarterback Daryll Clark. “But I thought with the practices that we had this week, I really didn’t see anybody going through the motions. Great mindset we had this week, and you saw it today.”

Penn State scored touchdowns on four of its first six possessions; the others ended in a 25-yard Collin Wagner field goal and Nate Nasti’s second-quarter interception of Clark, who completed 13 of his other 18 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. He also opened the scoring with his third rushing touchdown in two weeks, a 1-yard sneak eight minutes into the first quarter.

Seven of Clark’s completions went for 15 yards or more. The senior quarterback, who has accounted for six touchdowns in the last two weeks, got consistent blitz pickups from his offensive linemen and running backs and was on point with his deep and intermediate passes.

“Just by looking at the film, we knew they had a lot of aggressive attacks,” wide receiver Brett Brackett said. “So we knew there would be some plays that would come open for some downfield throws.”

Six different Nittany Lions had at least 18 yards rushing. Evan Royster had 94 yards on eight carries — all in the first half — and Stephfon Green rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown on his eight carries. Clark’s backup, true freshman Kevin Newsome, completed 4 of 5 passes for 34 yards and, though he fumbled twice, ran for 49 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown, on seven carries. The Panthers did not record a sack or a tackle for loss on Penn State’s 62 offensive plays.

“We were so balanced today,” Clark said. “We ran hard and we passed the ball well. Guys got open and got yards after the catch. When both are working, it’s kind of hard to stop an offense.”

The big plays weren’t limited to offense. Andrew Dailey blocked Kevin Cook’s second-quarter punt to set up Penn State’s fourth touchdown, a 25-yard pass from Clark to wide receiver Derek Moye, and the defense provided the fifth and final touchdown of Penn State’s 38-point first half.

The Panthers had driven the ball to the Penn State 8-yard line in the final minute of the second quarter. On a third-and-goal, quarterback Jake Christensen (13-of-25, 137 yards, one interception) scrambled to avoid pressure and was sacked by Ollie Ogbu, who knocked the ball loose. Linebacker Navorro Bowman scooped it up on the bounce and raced 91 yards to the end zone, crossing the goal line with five seconds left in the half.

The Panthers got their only points on Austin Signor’s 43-yard field goal, which capped a nine-play, 40-yard drive on their opening possession of the third quarter.

Aside from some hard running by Florida transfer Mon Williams (14 carries, 64 yards), and a couple of nice throws on the run from Christensen, the Eastern Illinois offense could get little accomplished, and Penn State’s defensive line had a lot to do with that. Defensive tackle Jared Odrick made two of Penn State’s five sacks and was pleased with his defensive teammates for avoiding the lapses that popped up against overmatched opponents earlier in the season.

“You can’t let up, or upsets happen. You can’t ever do that,” Odrick said. “It would have been a shame if we had let up and they started scoring more points than they did. We really wanted a shutout. That’s what the defense was aiming for and that’s what we were striving for, whether it was the first-team defense or the second-team defense.”

Paterno found some rare playing time in the second half for his second-and third-teamers and was able to mix a few, including true freshman defensive tackle Jordan Hill and freshman receivers Justin Brown, Curtis Drake and Devon Smith, much earlier.

Though it might have left something to be desired for the announced crowd of 104,488, the Nittany Lions came away pleased with the result.

“We’re not anywhere near as good as we have to be,” said Paterno, who won his 388th career game. “But we’re getting better.”

Penn State will play half of its final six games away from home but first will host Minnesota (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Nittany Lions will see if their mid-season workout paid off against a Big Ten opponent.

“We want to be at the top. That’s our goal, to get back to the top,” wide receiver Chaz Powell said. “We’ve got to turn the intensity up next week.”