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psu football

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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STATE COLLEGE — The driving rain. A sleepy home crowd on the heels of a painful defeat. A suddenly sluggish offense characterized by inconsistent play at quarterback.

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PSU’s Deon Butler catches a touchdown as Indiana’s Donnell Jones (10) attempts to cover during second-half action . Butler finished with 56 yards on five catches. He broke the school’s career reception mark of 167, previously held by Bobby Engram.

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While much of Beaver Stadium grumbled about all of that on a dreary afternoon against bottom-dwelling Indiana, Penn State’s defense quietly turned in one of its best performances ever in Big Ten play.

Tom Bradley’s unit allowed just six first downs – a Penn State record against a Big Ten opponent – in the 34-7 win over the Hoosiers.

Shortly afterward, sunlight finally broke through the gloom that had settled over Happy Valley.

“They just wanted to come out and get back to playing good, solid defense,” Bradley said. “(We) had talked to them about coming out and having a swagger again, feeling good about themselves and doing those things.”

For all of the troublesome signs that abruptly popped up around the No. 8 Nittany Lions in the past week, the fact now is that they are a win away from winning their second Big Ten title in four seasons and securing a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Standing in the way of all of that is No. 15 Michigan State, which will come into Beaver Stadium for what will likely be an emotional Senior Day game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

For much of the first half against Indiana, though, there wasn’t much thought given to titles or roses.

Four minutes into the second quarter, Indiana answered a Penn State touchdown when home-run hitting tailback Marcus Thigpen cut across the grain and found nothing but open space for a 57-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7.

Penn State’s defense would allow just 123 yards on Indiana’s other 52 offensive plays.

The Lions (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten) went on to score 27 consecutive points from there to pull away and turn an uncomfortable situation into a decisive win.

“I thought the defense played a very strong game except for that one play,” coach Joe Paterno said. “In all fairness to Indiana, they’re a banged-up football team right now. They’re fighting for an identity.”

Battered Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis threw for just 57 yards on 9-of-21 passing and added 34 yards on the ground while fighting through an ankle injury.

Unlike last week against Iowa, the Lions’ front four was able to break through and pressure the quarterback. And though the nimble Lewis was able to squirt free, taking only two short sacks on the day, his decisions were often rushed, leading to several throwaways.

Still, the game was heading toward a 7-7 tie going into halftime before Nate Stupar blocked his second punt of the season to give the Lions the ball at the Indiana 20 with 35 seconds remaining. Kevin Kelly turned it into a 32-yard field goal to give the Lions the lead.

Tensions quickly faded away in the third quarter when Evan Royster bounced and caromed out of the grasps of five Indiana defenders for a 19-yard score that energized the home sideline.

“That was an amazing run,” senior safety and captain Anthony Scirrotto said. “That was big for us. When our offense can put up points like that, it takes a lot of pressure off of (the defense).”

Kelly hit another field goal in the third quarter and a botched fake punt attempt led to another Penn State touchdown for a 27-7 lead.

Derrick Williams finished things off with a 36-yard touchdown on a reverse in the fourth quarter -- the longest run of his career.

Williams also had the first touchdown of the game, hauling in a 39-yard pass in the second quarter on a play-action fake.

It was one of two scores through the air for Daryll Clark, who had an up-and-down day coming off a concussion and a mediocre outing at Iowa.

Clark threw for 240 yards and the two scores but also turned the ball over three times, losing two fumbles and throwing an interception on a deep ball.

Penn State coaches had Clark throw a career-high 36 times, partly to try to help him get back into a rhythm in the pocket and partly so he could shake off his miscues before the day ended.

“That’s one of the reasons I kept him in there,” Paterno said. “I figured he has to work his way through some of that. We’re gonna talk a lot about the fumbles, and that’s just carelessness.

“Sometimes you have those days. He has had some problems, but I think he needs to work his way through it.”

The Lions had that luxury because of the stellar play of the defense, which kept its emotions in check after last week’s loss.

“I tell them all the time there’s no paybacks,” Bradley said. “It’s not about paybacks or angriness, it’s just about getting back to football and making plays.”