LOOKING AHEAD
Penn State (1-1) at No. 23 Nebraska (2-0), 8 p.m. Saturday, Memorial Stadium. The Nittany Lions thrashed the Cornhuskers, 40-7, last season at Beaver Stadium.
NOTEBOOK
QB Michael Robinson didn't touch the football until early in the second half, being used mostly as a decoy on fake pitches and plays through the first two quarters. "At first, you wonder why," said Robinson, who started at tailback for the second consecutive week and also played receiver. "I'm not happy. First of all, because we lost. Second, because I didn't get any yardage until the third quarter." Robinson, whose 53-yard run broke open the Temple victory last week, rushed for 24 yards on nine carries and completed just 4 of 11 passes for 41 yards and got tackled behind the line while attempting to pass no fewer than four times. His elusiveness might be beneficial given the Lions' porous line play thus far. "I think that gives them some comfort knowing I'm back there and can make some people miss," Robinson said. "I'm not saying it gives them the luxury to let everybody in. Obviously, [Boston College's rushers] got in my lap."
Freshman RB Austin Scott had the most carries on the team for the second week in a row. He had 10 carries for 60 yards and scored his first career touchdown on a 10-yard run in the second quarter. Scott also made a crucial mistake, fumbling on the Boston College 3 late in the third quarter with the Lions trailing, 27-7. Scott had 12 carries for 69 yards against Temple last week. "I thought he played a lot, played well," coach Joe Paterno said. "He's a good running back. He made a typical, young mistake when he fumbled the ball inside the 5-yard line."
Former Penn State player Horace Dodd, a backup running back for Boston College, had 13 carries for 62 yards and scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter, a play that gave the Eagles a 21-0 lead. "As soon as I got in the game, I knew I was going to score no matter what," said Dodd, who transferred to Boston College after the 2000 season. "I don't care if a brick fell out of the sky and hit me on the top of the head, I was still going to land in the end zone. It was just a great feeling. Right at that point, after I scored, I was like, 'Man, we're going to blow them out.' I thought we were going to put 60 on the board today." Dodd said he dreamed about this game for three years. "This is everything I envisioned," he said. "Whenever I thought about playing in the game, I just envisioned us beating them up and down the field. There was no doubt in my mind we would dominate them. I knew we were going to dominate them and that's what I told the guys before the game."
The Penn State rush defense that ranked second in the Big Ten Conference last season allowed a running back to rush for more than 100 yards for the second week in a row. Derrick Knight ran for 156 yards on 26 carries as the Eagles rushed for 238 as a team. Last week, Temple's Makonnen Fenton had 118 yards on 23 carries. The Owls had 162 as a team. "We need a little more experience," Paterno said. "We need to read things a little quicker. ... Right now [the defensive line] is not reacting as well as they should. We didn't tackle very well today."
Penn State's offense remained vanilla as seven new starters get acclimated. Someone asked Paterno if the play-calling had become too predictable. "I thought we moved the ball fairly well after the first quarter," he said. "When your offensive line is having some problems, that also creates some problems with your play selection. We had trouble with their ends. Our two tackles had trouble with pass protection, which made it difficult for Zack when he's forced to throw passes that take a little longer to throw. ... We scout ourselves. We study ourselves. We look at it always with the idea that the other guy is going to look at it and figure out what we're doing when certain people are in. We try to cross them up. We feel we're not predictable, but there may be something we don't see."
Boos were heard from the Beaver Stadium crowd. "Which is very surprising," said WR Tony Johnson. To Robinson, it was just another omen for this atrocious day. "The crowd boos. Joe throws his little paper. It's really bad."
Penn State trailed, 21-0, in the first quarter. The last time that happened was at Illinois in 1994. The Lions came back to win that game, 35-31. Penn State's 24-0 deficit in the second quarter marked the most points the Lions had been behind in a game since Miami led, 33-0, in the opener in 2001.
Jeremy Kapinos set a freshman record for punting average in a game. He had six punts, averaging 48.7 yards. The old record was held by Ralph Giacomarro, who averaged 43.2 yards on four punts against Syracuse in 1979. Kapinos' average is the fourth-highest in school history.
CB Alan Zemaitis had his first career interception in the third quarter. ... DT Scott Paxson had his first career sack in the second quarter. ... WR Tony Johnson had a career-high seven receptions for 89 yards. ... WR Ernie Terrell had a career-high four receptions for 36 yards.
DB Anwar Phillips dressed for the game. He sat out last week's opener after being acquitted of sexual assault Aug. 26.
Fifty members of the undefeated 1973 team celebrated their 30th reunion with a halftime ceremony yesterday. Among those in attendance were Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti, QB Tom Shuman, DT Randy Crowder and OT Mark Markovich. The '73 team was 12-0 and finished ranked No. 5.
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