PSU Beats Illinois 26-12, Paterno Calls Win “Lousy”

Penn State head coach Joe Paterno gave free spelling lessons after Saturdays 26 <96> 12 homecoming victory over the Fighting Illini.



<93>It<92>s spelt, L-O-U-S-Y,<94> said Paterno. <93>We were lousy.<94>



Paterno was referring to the play of the Nittany Lions offense that was held to just 40-yards rushing, 144-yards passing, 10 first downs and just 6 of 16 on 3rd down conversions.



As a result, punter Jeremy Kapinos got plenty of work throughout the game punting 8 times for a total of 365 yards.  With this he set the career punt yardage record for Penn State at 9,578.  The record was previously held by Ralph Giacomarro at 9,402 yards.



<93>This [record] crept up on me completely,<94> said Kapinos. 



He achieved the record in front of a crowd of 108,112 in Beaver Stadium.



<93>I kind of wanted to get it in front of a home crowd,<94> he continued.



Early on, the Lions jumped out to a 3 <96> 0 lead after driving down the field on their first possession.  Afterwards, they were held scoreless until mid-way through the third quarter when quarterback Anthony Morelli hit Kevin Darling for a 3-yard completion in the end-zone to put the Lions up 10 <96> 9.



The touchdown was the first of Darling<92>s career and with it the momentum of the game swung.



On the very next drive the Illini were trapped deep in their own end zone after a clipping call moved the ball back to the 3-yard-line. After battling out to the 7-yard-line on a 3-and-7, Illini quarterback Juice Williams was flushed from the pocket.



After almost taking him down once, linebacker Paul Posluszny tracked Williams down and forced a fumble which was picked up and run in by cornerback Tony Davis to make the score 17 <96> 9. 



<93>Anything can happen when he [Paul] is tackling somebody,<94> said Davis. <93>He forced the fumble and I just picked it up.<94>



As good as the Lions defense played, they gave up 202-yards on the ground and 156-yards passing.  Nearly half of the running yards came on a 79-yard Rashard Mendenhall rush that went from the Illini 11-yard-line to the Penn State 10 where Justin King dragged him down.



<93>I didn<92>t hear footsteps,<94> said Mendenhall. <93>But I heard [wide receiver] Frank Lenti tell me to tuck the ball because someone was coming.<94>



Unable to find the end-zone, the Illini were held to just 4-field goals and scoreless in the final 13:35 of the game.



A last minute onside kick return for a touchdown by Scirrotto following a safety put the Lions over the top bringing the score to 26 <96> 12.



<93>I saw this huge hole. No one was going to get me down,<94> said Scirrotto of the returned on-side kick. <93>It was the first touchdown of my career and hopefully there<92>s a couple more to come.<94>



The Illini would try one more time to find the endzone driving all the way to the Penn State 29-yard-line, but the final pass of the game was knocked harmlessly to the ground by safety Nolan McCready.



<93>A win is a win,<94> said offensive lineman and team captain Levi Brown. <93>The defense came up big.<94>



<93>It wasn<92>t the best game we<92>ve played but we got the <91>W<92>,<94> added Darling.



However Paterno doesn<92>t necessarily see the game as a Nittany Lions<92> win.



<93>We didn<92>t win that game today,<94> said Paterno. <93>Illinois lost it.<94>



The Nittany Lions take to the road in the first of a two game road trip to face Purdue next weekend followed by Wisconsin.