They are more than happy in Happy Valley.
The leaves have turned and are falling on the Penn State campus–just like they do every year. And Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions are winning football games–like they used to.
No. 10 Penn State (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) took an important step toward regaining its stature in the world of college football Saturday with a 35-14 victory over No. 14 Wisconsin (8-2, 5-2). The Nittany Lions have the week off before ending the regular season at Michigan State. They can clinch at least of share of the Big Ten championship next Saturday if Northwestern (6-3, 4-2) beats Ohio State (7-2, 5-1).
“I obviously feel better this year than I did last year,” said Paterno, who is in his 40th season as head coach at Penn State. “Somebody said to me 12 months ago we were 0-6 in the Big Ten. You have to feel good about it. I had confidence that we were close. I had a good feeling about these guys. I really did … I’m happy.”
Retiring Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez wasn’t as happy in his final conference road game. The Badgers got within 28-14 in the fourth quarter, but then Tony Hunt scored Penn State’s final touchdown with 2 minutes 47 seconds left.
“We were beaten by a very good football team,” Alvarez said. “They are solid on both sides of the ball. I take my hat off to them. They create a lot of problems for you, especially offensively.”
Nittany Lions fans crowded downtown streets, many of them searching for extra tickets and many wearing “We’re Back” shirts. Penn State football, after two straight losing seasons and four of the last five, was back and proved it on a warm November day.
A crowd of 109,865, second-largest in Beaver Stadium history, was treated to vintage Nittany Lions defense on Senior Day and an impressive big-play performance by senior quarterback Michael Robinson, who ran for 135 yards and passed for 238 yards and two touchdowns.
Penn State held the Badgers to minus-11 net yards rushing, and limited tailback Brian Calhoun to 38 yards on 20 carries. The defensive front four of Tamba Hali, Jay Alford, Scott Paxton and Matthew Rice was more than the Badgers’ offensive line could handle.
Wisconsin quarterback John Stocco was sacked nine times, a school-record-tying four times by Hali, who was double-teamed all day.
“Our coaches had everything pretty much figured out,” said linebacker Paul Posluszny, who had 12 tackles, including a sack. “We knew exactly what was coming. We just played our spots. We had a good week of practice and our defensive line played great.”
Penn State, which led 21-0 at the half, showed its dominance early. Robinson threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Deon Butler on the fifth play of the game.
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Robinson finished 13 of 28 with two interceptions and two touchdowns to Butler, the second a 47-yarder. Robinson also set the school season total-offense record with 2,687 yards.
“We felt like if we could get a couple of quick touchdowns, we could turn them into the one dimension that they don’t want to do, and that’s throw the ball,” Robinson said. “If we got an early lead, we were going to leave it up to Stocco to win the game.”
Robinson’s career has personified Penn State’s recent troubles. The 6-foot-2-inch, 214-pounder from Virginia has been called “a great player” by Paterno but has had a hard time proving it while playing three different positions. This season he has concentrated on quarterback and he has flourished.
“He’s awfully good,” Paterno said. “Obviously, if you take him away from our football team, we’re not nearly as good. He’s a guy who has stuck with us. He’s jumped all over the place. He’s not anywhere as good as he’s going to be.”
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