LOOKING AHEAD
Indiana (2-8, 1-5) at Penn State (2-8, 0-6), noon Saturday, Beaver Stadium. Indiana beat Illinois yesterday. ... Penn State and Illinois are the only winless teams in the Big Ten.
NOTEBOOK
Penn State is 2-8 for the first time since the 1931 season. That team finished 2-8. Among the teams the Lions lost to that season were Waynesburg, Dickinson, Colgate and Lafayette. This team will set the school record for losses in a season if it loses one of its final two games against Indiana or Michigan State.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno answered reporters' questions after the game, speaking for five minutes or so in a whisper. "I've got to figure something out," he said. "It would be nice to win a game. I've got to do a better job, I guess. We've had teams with bad luck before, and we've been able to overcome it." "He is frustrated," Michael Robinson said of Paterno. "Losing frustrates him. He has never experienced anything like this."
Paterno used Robinson as a running back, receiver and quarterback against Northwestern. Robinson had 15 rushes for 47 yards and five receptions for 55 yards. He was 1 for 1 for 11 yards passing.
Paterno benched the two freshmen running backs who had been getting most of the carries in previous weeks. Austin Scott and Tony Hunt did not play. "He can do a lot of things," Paterno said of Robinson. "We looked good for a while." Robinson said he will do whatever he can to help the team win. "Obviously, I prefer to play quarterback," he said. "But I look at it as a challenge to go out there and do what I can to help this team win."
Northwestern RB Noah Herron became the 10th opposing player to rush for 100 yards or more against Penn State. Herron, a 5-foot-11, 235-pound junior, rushed for a career-high 180 yards on 35 carries. The only team not to have a 100-yard rusher against Penn State was Kent State.
Penn State LB Gino Capone left the game in the first quarter with a right knee injury and did not return. Junior Tim Johnson and senior Andy Ryland took his place at middle linebacker. Capone was on crutches after the game.
WR Maurice Humphrey led Penn State with eight receptions for 97 yards, but he dropped two passes, including one that would have gone for a touchdown.
QB Zack Mills was 22 for 36 for 230 yards with an interception. He was accurate in the first half, going 9 for 11 for 102 yards. Both of the incomplete passes were dropped. When he was asked what the team could take away from the game, he said: "We didn't get anything out of the game, at least not offensively. When we needed to come through, we stunk."
LB Paul Posluszny of Hopewell High School had his best game of the season. He made eight tackles, including one for a loss and stopped Northwestern on a fourth-and-goal play midway through the fourth quarter.
FB Sean McHugh led Penn State with 79 yards rushing on 10 carries. ... DB Yaacov Yisrael led the Lions with 15 tackles and forced a fumble. ... CB Rich Gardner recovered a fumble and had an interception.
Penn State DB Calvin Lowry continues to struggle on special teams. He was called for a personal foul for tackling a Northwestern punt returner before he had a chance to catch a punt. After Penn State forced Northwestern to punt, Lowry called for a fair catch at the Penn State 5.
Northwestern is 5-5, 3-3 in the Big Ten and can become bowl eligible by winning one of its final two games against Michigan or Illinois. "We'll find a way to win," Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. "And we found it in a different way today. I'm really proud of our football team. There were countless times throughout the course of the game where lesser men could have easily caved in and gone in the wrong direction, started pointing fingers or placing blame. We just kept playing hard."
Here's a telling statistic that might explain why Penn State is struggling. The Lions have been outscored, 42-10, in the fourth quarter of their past six games, all losses.
Penn State is 0-4 on the road this season and has one away game remaining -- Nov. 22 against Michigan State. The Lions have managed to win at least one game on the road every year since 1936, when they were 0-4 on the road and 3-5 overall.
Penn State players on the six-game losing streak: "We have never been this down," senior LB Deryck Toles said. "It's real hard on us, and we are taking a lot of heat right now." Mills said: "I have never been in a situation like this. I won 25 games in a row back in high school. I have never been 2-8."
Penn State place-kickers are 9 for 18 this season. Senior David Kimball, who took over the place-kicking duties last week, was 0 for 2 yesterday, missing from 27 and 34 yards. He is 2 for 5 for the season. Robbie Gould, who was benched, is 7 for 13.
Penn State leads the series, 7-2. Northwestern won for the first time in the series since 1995 and avenged a 49-0 loss at Beaver Stadium last season.
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