Joe Paterno won his 400th victory as Penn State’s head coach on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions scored five straight touchdowns to overcome a 21-0 Northwestern lead and give the legendary coach his biggest comeback victory ever in Beaver Stadium. (For photos, click on the gallery at the right.)
Backup quarterback Matt McGloin came off the bench to complete 18 of 29 passes for 255 yards, with four touchdown passes. It was the third game in as many weeks McGloin led the Lions (6-3, 3-2 Big Ten) to victory in a front of a crowd of 104,147.
Evan Royster led the Nittany Lion ground game, running 25 times for 134 yards, while Silas Redd added 131 yards on 11 carries. Joe Suhey led all receivers with six catches for 67 yards, and Derek Moye had five receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown against Northwestern (6-3, 2-3).
The Nittany Lion defense shut down Northwestern’s lightning attack when it mattered, surrendering only 27 yards and one first down in the crucial third quarter. That’s when the Penn State offense scored three times, to take a 28-21 lead.
400 THE NUMBER
The number that really mattered was 400.
Paterno, who will turn 84 next month, became the first major college football coach to hit the four century victory mark, a figure achieved in college football only by the late Eddie Robinson (408) and John Gagliardi of St. John’s in Minnesota, whose victory on Saturday gives him 477 wins.
It wasn’t easy. Until their comeback, the Lions trailed by three touchdowns.
“When we were down by 21, I didn’t think we were out of it,” Paterno said. “I felt we could move the ball.”
McGLOIN STARS AGAIN
Rob Bolden got the start at quarterback for the Lions – McGloin had found that out on Monday. But he was replaced by McGloin after getting hit hard and losing a fumble on the Lions’ second drive of the game.
McGloin didn’t do much better – until the Lions’ last possession of the first half. McGloin’s first touchdown toss, a 7-yarder to Brett Brackett with three seconds to go in the first half, got the Lions jumpstarted and cut the Wildcats’ lead to 21-7. The score culminated a nine-play, 90-yard drive that the Lions covered in just 47 seconds. McGloin completed five of six passes for 64 yards on the drive.
“It was huge,” McGloin said of the touchdown that came with just three seconds left in the first half. “We were actually feeling like we were winning the game going into halftime. We were pumped up, we were ready to go.
“The fans started to get back into it, the sidelines started to get back into it. We were ready to go and it showed. We came out and scored on the first drive.”
The Nittany Lions received the kickoff to open the second half and scored again. They went 84 yards in 14 plays in 5:52. McGloin completed three passes, Royster ran five times for 41 yards and Redd ran twice for 23 yards. The Lions scored on a three-yard pass from McGloin to Nate Cadogan, a former offensive tackle who was moved to tight end three weeks ago. That cut the Wildcats’ lead to 21-14.
The Lions then scored on a 41-yard pass from McGloin to Moye, a four-yard run by Redd and a 13-yard pass from McGloin to Royster. Those quick-strike TDs made the score 35-21.
Penn State scored all 35 of its points in a period of 19 minutes and 12 seconds – that’s in a 60-minute game, mind you.
Northwestern was led by Pennsylvania native Dan Persa, who completed 16 of 25 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked four times by Penn State. The Lions had just two sacks in the previous four games. Persa also ran for 109 yards on 25 carries, with two touchdowns.
324 AND 264
Win No. 400 looked more than a bit like Win No. 324.
That victory came on Oct. 27, 2001, when Paterno passed Bear Bryant as the winningest major college coach. In both games, a backup quarterback engineered a furious rally that resulted in a record victory at Beaver Stadium for Paterno. The 324th victory came against Ohio State, when Zack Mills led the Nittany Lions back from a 27-9 deficit to win, 29-27. That had been PSU’s biggest come-from-behind win (18 points) at Beaver Stadium. Until Saturday.
Win No. 400 also looked a little like Win No. 264.
That victory was a 21-point comeback on Nov. 5, 1994 when the Lions fell behind 21-0 against Illinois at Memorial Stadium. They rallied to win 35-31, their closest victory in a perfect 12-0 season.
Nos. 400 and 264 will go down in Penn State as the biggest comebacks, points-wise, in the Joe Paterno Era.
JOE KNOWS FOOTBALL
Paterno appreciated the win and the effort.
“Well, if I had my choice it would’ve been a little easier,” Paterno said. “I try to say it as honest as I can; this is a good bunch of kids. They are not there yet. With the stages we are going through, this is an important part of it. I had hoped that somewhere down the line that they would have a tough game and they’d stick in there to a point like we did against Michigan.
“To see them come back the way they came back was really important for me whether it was 315 wins or it was 400 wins. I just think some of these kids now know what it takes to get it done and to me, that was the important thing.”
Paterno was clearly touched by at a post-game ceremony on the field of Beaver Stadium, where athletic director Tim Curley — a former player, graduate assistant, administrative assistant and recruiting coordinator under Paterno — presented the coach with a commemorative crystal football.
“People ask me why I stay around so long,” he said from a cart that served as a makeshift stand. “Look around you, look around you.”
Paterno’s record now stands at 400-132-3.
Paterno has defeated 79 different teams in his 45-year head coaching career, but after the game he cared about only one opponent: the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions travel to Columbus to play the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe on Saturday.
“Now that the celebration is over,” Paterno said, “let’s go beat Ohio State.”
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