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Penn State Roars in Red Zone Past Northwestern, 33-7

State College, PA- Though the Nittany Lions (3-2,1-1))dominated the Northwestern Wildcats (2-3,0-1) defensively during the entire game on Saturday, their offense faltered as PSU could have taken a  28-0 lead  early in the second quarter.  A fumble by RB Tony Hunt (137 yards and 3 TDs) in the red zone to end the first series of the game followed by three more consecutive trips to the red zone resulting in Kevin Kelly FGs gave the Lions a tenuous 9-0 lead at the beginning of the second period.   Ineffective play within the 20-yard line cost the Lions four TDs on the first four possessions of the game.  The defense played stellar throughout.    On this date, CFF attended our 300th game since 1979.  We also saw the Lions best NU for the fifth time as we saw PSU win for the the 54th time overall.  We look forward to returning to Happy Valley in two weeks to see a crowd, and hopefully a team, primed to play #6 Michigan. 

     In the first period of play, PK Kevin Kelly converted FGs on the Lions second and third possessions of the game from 34 yards and from 23.  On the second, PSU purposely let the play clock expire to take a five-yard penalty to afford Kelly a better angle from 28 yards away, but the Wildcats refused, and Kelly still recorded three to help the Lions to a 6-0 lead by the end of the first period. 

     On the next possession in Q2, the Lions' drive once again stalled in the red zone and Kelly came through with another three points from 33 yards away to take the tenuous 9-0 lead.  The Lions forced another one of NU P Slade Larscheid's nine punts on the day, but unlike the three previous drives for FGs, Northwestern's Nick Roach intercepted and the Wildcats set up shop at the PSU 16.  A three-yard gain and a seemingly unintended late hit call on PSU All-American LB Paul Posluszny put the Wildcats on the Penn State six.  The stingy PSU defense held the Wildcats to a fourth and goal from about a foot away until RB Tyrell Sutton took it in for a one-yard TD.  A game dominated by the Lions was cut to only a 9-7 lead with Joel Howell's placement.  The teams exchanged punts with PSU starting its series from its own 21.  On first and ten from the 38, QB Anthony Morelli (19 of 33 for 288 yards) connected with Deon Butler for 49 yards down to the Wildcat 13. Butler had eleven receptions for 217 yards this afternoon.   FB Brandon Snow ran the ball to the one for a first and goal.  On second down, Morrelli appeared to have the TD on the sneak, and PSU called a time-out with hopes that the play would be reviewed.  CFF has seen many plays reviewed this season which did not seem warrant a review because the calls seemed obvious.  This one should have at least been reviewed, but the play stood on the field as called.  Tony Hunt took it over the top just crossing the goal line with :29 remaining to get the Lions in the end zone for their first TD to take the lead after Kelly's conversion, 16-7, before the half ended. 

     The Penn State Blue Band entertained at the half with music from the Broadway Musical, "The Wiz", but it was nowhere near as entertaining as the Penn State Nittany Lion Mascots' rendition of "The Evolution of Dance" between the first and second periods.  Like an internet video seen on the web, the Lion did versions of dances starting back from "The Twist" to some more recent rap-style dances set to the appropriate music.  He was a big hit with the announced crowd of 108, 837 (including no-shows). When finished, one nearby fan remarked that he had almost forgotten that we were still here to watch some more football. 

      On PSU's first drive of Q3,  the Lions once again scratched the surface of the red zone, as they relied on Kelly's leg for a fourth time to kick another FG from 36 yards to extend the lead, 19-7.  After an exchange of punts, P Jeremy Kapinos's punt put the Wildcats back on their own 13.  The stalwart defense pushed NU back with a sack and a penalty.  On third down LB Sean Lee seemed to have QB Andrew Brewer stopped for a safety as his forward progress seemed to stall in the end zone, but he wiggled away enough for the refs to spot the ball again at the Wildcat one.  Derrick Williams returned the subsequent punt to the NU 29.  After two Morelli completions, Tony Hunt didn't waste time in the red zone this time as he zigged and zagged 14 yards for his second TD of the afternoon.  PSU led 26-7.  On Northwestern's next possession, Sean Lee made another big play from his OLB position as he picked off Brewer's pass at the NU 44-yard line. The Lions smelled blood, as the short drive culminated in Tony Hunt's third TD of the day on a six-yard run.  PSU was up 33-7 which carried through the end of the game for the final score. 

     The offense will have to figure out ways to get into the end zone when it gets inside their opponents' 20.  We hope that they figure it out before we see them play #6 Michigan in two weeks, but before then, the Lions still have to contend next weekend with the Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-3,0-2) at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.  Minnesota fell to #6 Michigan last weekend, 28-14.  The Wildcats travel to play 4-1,1-1 Wisconsin next Saturday.  CFF ventures close to Happy Valley next weekend as we drop in on a D-2 contest to see a key PSAC contest between 3-2 West Chester State Golden Rams and the 4-1 Bloomsburg Huskies in Bloomsburg.  Junior RB Jamar Brittingham already has 56 TDS in his career at BU.

Extra points:  Many fans at the game including CFF came unprepared for the sudden, colder weather this Saturday afternoon.  GGA Frank Lorito and I came prepared to bask under sunny skies in Happy Valley, but as we crossed the bridge across the Delaware Water Gap from NJ, we drove through fog into a cold, cloudy day which persisted all day in State College.  Once inside the stadium, it gets more comfortable with 100,000+ other bodies seated closely together.  Rain was light and unnoticeable.  

     When is PennDOT going to learn how to keep traffic moving freely along Route 80 construction sites so fans don't run into hourly plus delays traveling along the interstate?  They persist in bottlenecking everyone down into one lane for miles rather than maintaining a second lane along the shoulder.  It's not that difficult and even a non-engineer can figure this out.  We've seen this for years.  You'd think that they would learn how to prevent these absurd delays by now!  At least for now we know that we have to figure a way to circumvent this, but every tear, it seems to be a surprise on our first trip.

     We had great chili and other foods at a tailgate with Jim Malayter, his son Tyler and their friend Dan after the game.  Jim could have been Head Coach at Notre Dame, but when he stepped aside as freshman football coach at Boonton (NJ) High school in 1979, he opened up the door for a guy named Charlie Weiss who replaced him ( yes, that Charley Weiss)!  We presented Jim with one of our Tailgate Party packages similar to the one we offer for the next winner of our Trivia question.  Check it out and give us the right answer for Hot sauce, Steak sauce, mustard and a couple of other tailgate essentials!