Penn State keeps Minnesota's Golden Gophers in their hole, 20-0

State College, PA - Penn State's defense kept Minnesota's offense in check all day even when it knocked on the end zone door early in the final period at the the PSU 8-yard line.  Evan Royster's 137 rushing yards and Derek Moye's outstanding catch late in the second quarter on a call reversed up in the booth, gave the Lions (6-1, 2-1) a 20-0 shutout over the Gophers (4-3, 2-2) who entered with a potentially potent offense.  Despite snow, rain, sleet, and limited parking due to an early fall snow in Happy Valley, we ventured to State College, PA in record time on Saturday morning despite warnings of new accumulations as GGA Ed Bonnefond drove us and our other Guest Game Analysts up I-80 in two and a half hours to assure that he, Kristen, and Matt Bonnefond would be able to attend their first Penn State game ever.  Weather be damned, the day couldn't have turned out better for these long-time Nittany Lion fans.

   Minnesota picked up a first down on its first series based on a personal foul by Penn State's Josh Hull (the official should have clarified it was for a helmet-to-helmet hit from what we saw through binoculars), but Hull would pick off Adam Weber's (10 of 21 for 101 yards, 1 INT) pass on the next play to thwart the Gophers' initial drive.  After holding Minnesota to three and out on the next series, Penn State followed with a drive starting from its own 38 to set up Collin Wagner's 47-yard FG for a 3-0 lead.  PSU's defense would not only stifle Minnesota's offense the rest of the day holding them to three of eleven on third own attempts, but because of their defensive dominance, the Lions would control the time of possession throughout the game, 41:59 to 18:01.  Minnesota , averaging over 30 points per game, would gain only 37 yards on the ground in addition to Weber's 101 passing yards. 

      Five seconds into the second period, Wagner would finish off a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 27-yard FG to put the home team ahead, 6-0. The PSU defense held the Gophers to two more three and out series.  The Lions took over with 6:21 left in the first half.  On a third and two at the Minnesota thirteen,  Darryl Clark's pass to Graham Zug was called incomplete by the referee and it appeared that the home team would have to call on Wagner for a chip shot to make it 9-0.  However, a review in the booth reversed the call indicating that Zug had his hand under the low pass and controlled it giving the Nittanies a first down at the Gopher six with about a minute remaining.  A holding call put PSU back on the 12. On the next play, Clark (21 of 32, 287 yards, 1 TD), lofted a pass to the right sideline in the end zone where Derek Moye ( 6 catches for 120 yards, 1 TD) made a diving attempt and caught the ball out of bounds.  From our seats high but right above the play in the end zone in section SHU, it did not look like Moye's foot even made contact with the surface - so thought both GGA Ed Bonnefond and I.  However, a review by the replay booth  showed clearly that Moye's foot dragged across the sideline while he controlled the ball for a PSU TD with 35 ticks left in the half.  GGA Bob Jones, whom we joined with his daughter Sydney at his seats in SHU,  pointed out that it was rare two consecutive reviews would be made in the booth at  a PSU game and that both would be reversed in favor of the Lions'.  PSU took a 13-0 halftime lead into the locker rooms. 

     The announced attendance was 107,981, but that indicated seats sold, not physically sat in. We wonder if the "1" in that figure included the snowman several PSU students built toward the end of the game in the half-empty student section.  We figure the actual total was about half of that as six inches of snow fell in the area on Friday and pending precipitation warnings closed all the grass parking lots surrounding Beaver Stadium which probably kept a lot of fans watching the game at home on TV to avoid the weather and the parking hassles.  Without a hassle in the stadium, GGA Eric Koreivo with myself and the Bonnefonds were able to sit with Bob and his daughter right next to their seats.  During the intermission, the Penn State Blue Band remained in their section for the halftime entertainment as it also had for the pre-game festivities.  Even the drum major sat in the stands foregoing his traditional pre-game flips and salute to the crowd to prevent any damage to the playing surface or to his back, we guess.  However, on the field in the end zone, Penn State paid tribute to the surviving members of their teams of 1946 and 1947. The 1947 team went to Dallas where it tied SMU in the Cotton Bowl, 13-13, and finished the season at 9-0-1.  However, it was told that this team stuck together when the African-American players on the team were refused admittance to stay at their designated hotel in Dallas.  The entire team refused to stay and took quarters instead at a nearby naval base for their southern stay.  The result was the famous PSU spirit coined by the phrase, "We are...Penn State!"

     After two more defensive three and outs in the third period, PSU took over from its own 15 and chewed up 7:56 of clock to take a 20-0 lead.  Clark's 20-yard pass to Zug (5 catches for 52 yards) set up his own one-yard TD run at the one to put the Lions up with the lead heading into the final period.  Before it was over though,  the Gophers got bit of a spark as Weber connected with WR Eric Decker for 42 yards to move into Penn State territory at their 34.  It was the only reception of the day caught by the third leading receiver in the nation entering this weekend.  The drive continued into the fourth when the Gophers converted a third down into first at the Lions' eight.  On fourth and goal at the one, Minnesota HC Tim Brewster put his team up to the task of going for the TD.  Kevin Whaley swept to the left side for the score but was met for no gain by PSU's leading tackler Navorro Bowman ( 8 tackles) and CB A.J. Wallace.  The Lions preserved their shut out.  From the one, the offense drove to the Minnesota 39 and punted into the end zone, but again the ball control offense of Penn State who never turned the ball over this day ate up 6:23. Minnesota actually converted another third down to a first on the subsequent drive, but eventually punted back to PSU who ran the clock out.  PSU had its second Big Ten win and a shutout.  They head to Ann Arbor next week to play nemesis Michigan, and we will follow for our first game there.  The Gophers go to Ohio Stadium to take on shell-shocked Ohio State, losers to Purdue last weekend, 26-18. The Bonnefond family went home happy to see PSU play and win in the first game they attended in snow-covered Happy Valley. We'll be back there in three weeks for the game versus Ohio State, initially anticipated as the big game in the Big Ten this year.  However, that game may have been played already when Iowa left happy from Happy Valley with their 21-10 win three weeks ago.

Extra Points - Because of our early arrival on Saturday before 11 am, our yellow, prepaid parking sticker got us into the paved parking lot at Innovation Park.  We had a paved lot and backed into a grass median where we pushed aside snow with our shoes and set up our coolers under a canopy behind our minivan. We stayed dry before the game.  Regretfully, we didn't bring a grill having been warned that we could end up in Wal-mart or Home Depot parking lot where tailgating wouldn't be allowed. We knew that alcohol would be, however.  We ate sandwiches and snacks and drank under the canopy before the game. Eric and Matt found open parking lots to toss the football around.  We were able to use the facilities in the adjacent hotel ( The Penn Stater?) which also had a fireplace some fans huddled in front of before the game.  The staff there was very friendly to its impromptu parking lot guests.  Kristen took several PSU posters available from the lobby as her official game souvenirs.  We took the shuttle bus from IP to Beaver Stadium and made sure we knew where we had to find the makeshift shuttle buses after the game. We met John Massimilla and friends at the Bryce-Jordan Center to hear the Blue Band and to get my tickets.  Along the way, Kristen snapped shots of everything Penn State.  We hope to get a few of her shots posted this week here as we deemed her the official photographer of the PSU-Minnesota game.  There were people selling tickets all over the place despite what the record homecoming attendance PSU announced.

PSU students bombarded fellow students in lower rows and people along the sideline - even the Nittany Lion and PSU dancers as they performed to Michael Jackson's "Thriller!" - creating a dangerous situation.  Luckily, the eggheads have lousy arms and no one got hurt. The snow was perfect for snowball making we noted earlier.  It was a while before several announcements were made to show some class and to stop.  Otherwise, getting caught meant eviction, fines, an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Lions,  and loss of future ticket privileges.  Students in the lower sections chanted, "Stop throwing snow." One even seemed intended for Paterno as he watched his team play.  Stupid! 

It looked strange, but pretty, looking over the surrounding parking lots and not seeing cars and people surrounding the areas right outside of Beaver Stadium.  A blanket of white covered all the unpaved areas.  We expected to be enjoying the fall foliage this weekend, but even that was covered by haze and fog in the distance during the falling darkness. 

It was the 61st game we've attended that PSU's won, all under Paterno, of course.  The last time we saw PSU record a shutout was in October 2002 when the Lions clobbered Northwestern, 49-0, on their way to become No. 15 in the nation at the end of the season.

Big cheers of course followed the announcement of Purdue's win over Ohio State.  The Lions still can't take OSU for granted when it comes calling on Nov. 7.  We all also left thinking Arkansas had pulled out the win over No. 1 Florida, only to find that the Gators pulled it out later on.  

After the game, it was little confusing getting bus rides back to Innovation Park.  It got colder as we waited in the long lines and our eventual bus initially bypassed us after waiting ahead of hundreds of people behind us, but we got aboard.  No one made it clear where to wait for buses for the different routes the buses came to pick us up for.  On our return trip home through rain and snow, the engine block light on the minivan came on.  With 140,000+ miles on the 2003 Voyager, this may have seen its last trip to State College over the years.  We'll see what St. Laurie wants to do about her faithful, paid-for mode of transportation.