Penn State rides underclassmen to senior day win

For the third week in a row, Penn State's offense came out flat. So, tied at 10 entering the second half, the Nittany Lions' defense, which had played valiantly despite working against a minus-four turnover margin, took matters into its own hands. Junior linebacker Navorro Bowman intercepted a tipped pass and ran 73 yards to pay dirt, giving Penn state its first lead of the ballgame. The Nittany Lions offense followed up Bowman's pick-six with two consecutive scoring drives of its own, as Penn State (9-2, 5-2) emerged with a 31-20 win on senior day in Happy Valley.

But the valley was hardly happy most of the game, particularly when the Nittany Lions' not-so-special teams trotted onto the field. Penn State lost two fumbles on first half punt returns, and nearly lost another on the second half kickoff return. It became such a debacle by the third quarter, fans cheered when Graham Zug successfully fair-caught a punt. He and co-punt return specialist Drew Astorino each lost a fumble fielding punts. Penn State entered the game with one of the nation's worst punt return unit, and surely didn't help itself after today's performance. The Nittany Lions have spent all season unsuccessfully finding a replacement for 2008 All-American return specialist Derrick Williams.

As if the special teams weren't giving Penn Staters a big enough headache, the offense played its worst single quarter of the season. Senior quarterback Daryll Clark, who entered the game having thrown only eight interceptions for the season, tossed two picks in just four first quarter attempts. Clark would rebound, however, finishing his Beaver Stadium career with a 17-for-28, 194-yard performance, including a rush touchdown and a 13-yard touchdown pass to Evan Royster.

For Indiana, it's been a season-long trend of lost opportunities. The Hoosiers forced four turnovers in the first half, but only entered the locker room with 10 points to show for it. Indiana's offense held the ball for nearly 10 minutes in the first quarter, courtesy of the continuous giveaways by Penn State.

The Hoosiers had a tough time running on Penn State, finishing the game with only 48 net yards. This came despite giving up only two sacks for minus-11 yards. Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell had good protection against the Nittany Lions' pass rush, but after an early touchdown strike to Demarlo Belcher, couldn't lead the offense to another point until Penn State was working with a 24-10 fourth-quarter lead. Following two scores to open the game, Indiana failed to score on seven straight drives, including four punts, a missed field goal, and an interception. The Hoosiers entered the red zone only twice.

Chappell completed 32 of 51 passes for 298 yards -- all opponent single-game highs against the Penn State defense this season -- and two touchdowns.

The Penn State defense was a big part of forcing Indiana out of its early rhythm, as the Nittany Lions said good bye to five senior defensive starters, including two All-American candidates, linebacker and captain Sean Lee and defensive tackle Jared Odrick. Lee would end the game with 10 tackles and four pass breakups, while Odrick continued to be the rock of the defensive front.

However, some of the biggest plays for Penn State came from the underclassmen.

On defense, Bowman added a team-high 12 tackles, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a sack, to go along with his pick-six. Defensive linemen Devon Still and Sean Stanley each made stops behind the line, including a sack by the freshman Stanley. End Jack Crawford batted down two Indiana passes, and safety Nick Sukay came up big, breaking up what looked like a sure touchdown pass for Indiana.

When the Lions had the ball, it was another underclassman who provided some much-needed spark. True freshman receiver Curtis Drake finished with a career-high 60 total yards, including a 26-yard end around to propel on its first touchdown drive of the game.

Penn State improved its senior day record to 19-1 since 1990, and pushed its win streak to nine straight in home finales.

The Nittany Lions will face Michigan State (6-5, 4-3) next week in East Lansing, as the Spartans became bowl eligible with a 40-37 win at Purdue. Indiana (4-7, 1-6) will return home with hopes of spoiling the Boilermakers' bowl hopes.


Final Stats