Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 24

2G Lincoln Journal Star. Sunday, September 15, 2002 HUSKER EXTRA Paterno shows old dog can learn new tricks I in A 4 .1 i IK i BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON Lincoln Journal Star STATE COLLEGE, Pa. New tricks aren't the sole domain of the young. Joe Paterno, the dean of college coaches, was sheepish about a new dimension to his Perm State offense. The "gimmick" was the shotgun formation used so successfully for passing and running by quarterback Zack Mills in the Nittany Lions' victory against Nebraska Saturday.

"I've never been a shotgun guy, but I'm becoming a convert," he said with a big grin. "I never thought it was a great formation without a quarterback who is very mobile. Zack is a talented athlete, so it works with him." Paterno cautioned fans and the media not to make too much of the dominating performance by his squad. "I don't think one win makes a football team, so don't get carried away with this," he said. "We have a long way to go, but this will certainly help.

"If this was a game where we were behind and then ahead and then came back and had to- scratch for everything we got, that would be one thing. I just think Nebraska had one of those nights." The Nittany Lions' defense had a lot to do with that, limiting the buskers to 252 yards rushing. "The defense played really well. That's the best we've tackled in awhile," he said. "We missed some, but those guys are good.

We knew we had to contain their option. That was the advantage 7 i. i 'fc I -t t- i TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star Penn State fans take part in their traditional tailgating before Saturday night's game against Nebraska. An estimated 40,000 fans were expected to participate in the pregame festivities. hung in there and took some shots in the first half.

Then the protection was really good." Offensive guard Tyler Lenda said the Nittany Lions took a great deal of pride in their performance. "I think we played our best football we've played in a long time," he said. "We did a good job protecting Zack and this will definitely be a huge confidence boostforus." A shot in the arm to a program that suffered through back-to-back losing seasons for the first time in Paterno's storied career. "Being underdogs and playing like we did showed everyone that Penn State is back," said tailback Larry Johnson, who rushed for 123 yards. "This will help this team and the university and it will show all those recruits out there that Penn State is still a top team." Reach Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambletonjournalstar.coni.

of the off week. We spent a lot of time working on the option." Another major factor in the game was the play of the offensive line, which gave Mills enough time to complete 19 of 31 passes for 259 yards. "The offensive line was good. We were very concerned if we could handle that No. 57 (Chris Kelsay).

But I thought we did a good job," said Paterno. "I thought Zack was very consistent. You have to give Nebraska credit because he WILLIAM LAUERLincoln Journal Star Penn State backup quarterback Michael Robinson scores a third-quarter touchdown Saturday night. Robinson scored two times on reverses. Incognito ejected after altercation following interception return NOTECC0X Non-league setback Nebraska's last loss to a non-conference, regular-season opponent was a 19-0 setback to Arizona State in 1996.

Streak ends at eight Nebraska's streak of consecutive victories against Big Ten opponents ended at eight. Nebraska's previous loss to a Big Ten opponent was a 27-23 setback to Michigan in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl. Nebraska also had a streak of 11 straight regular-season victories against the Big Ten snapped. The Huskers hadn't lost to a Big Ten team during the regular season since their last trip to Happy Valley, a 27-24 loss in 1982. Sack man Nebraska rush end Chris Kelsay had an 8-yard sack of Zack Mills in the second quarter, giving him 4.5 sacks this season.

He had five sacks all of last season. Kelsay also had four quarterback hurries in the first half. summary Husker offensive lineman Richie Incognito was ejected in the third quarter along with Penn State's Jeremiah Davis after an altercation that followed Rich Gardner's 42-yard interception return for a touchdown. Incognito was not available for comment, but fellow lineman and team captain John Garrison offered the following attempt at an explanation: "I'm not exactly sure what happened, but some kind of altercation did happen, obviously, for the ref to make a decision like that. It's another learning process, but you don't want to learn the hard way.

It's my responsibility to keep my guys under control, and I didn't do a very good job of that" Crowd not to blame NU head coach Frank Solich would not blame the loud crowd at Beaver Stadium for his team's poor performance. When asked if Penn State benefited from the raucous gathering of 110,753, Solich said: "I Would say no. They played better football." Three picks The last time a Nebraska opponent intercepted three passes in a game was Oklahoma in Norman in 1990. Rich Gardner's 42-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter was the first interception return for a touchdown against Nebraska since a 47-yarder by Miami's James Lewis in the 2002 Rose Bowl. Nittany Lion milestones This was the 199th Penn State victory in Beaver Stadium since it was built in 1960 The attendance of 110,753 is a record eclipsing the previous mark of 109,303 set in last years season opener against Miami Larry Johnson ran for more than 100 yards for the first time in his career while wide receiver Bryant Johnson had his sixth 100-yard game, catching eight passes for 147 yards Rich Gardners interception and 42-yard return for a score were career firsts for him Both Lavon Chisley and Chris Harrell recorded their first interceptions.

Lt I .1 I i 1 I (It 1 i NEBRASKA PENN STATE OFFENSE OFFENSE Player Larry Johnson Michael Robinson Zack Mills Sean McHugh Paul Jefferson Team RUSHING Player No. Yards Avg. TO Long Jammal Lord 14 111 7.9 0 27 Dahrran Diedrick 16 71 4.4 0 15 Cory Ross 7 27 3.9 0 11 JuddDavies 4 21 5.3 1 14 Ross Pilkington 3 14 4.7 0 11 Josh Davis 1 8 8.0 0 8 RECEIVING Player No. Yards Avg. TO Long Ross Pilkington 2 29 14.5 0 16 Josh Davis 2 14 7.0 0 9 Aaron Golliday 1 16 16.0 0 16 Cory Ross 1 9 9.0 0 9 BenComelsen 1 5 5.0 0 5 Wilson Thomas 1 3 3.0 0 3 RUSHING No.

Yards Avg. TO Long 19 123 6.5 2 35 4 56' 14.0 2 28 14 32 2.3 0 9 2 6 3.0 0 4 2 3 1.5 0 4 2 -3 0 0 RECEIVING No. Yards Avg. TO Long 8 147 18.4 0 26 4 35 8.8 0 21 3 42 14.0 0 20 3 32 10.7 0. 19 1 3 3.0 0 3 PASSING Comp Att.

Int. Yards TO Long 19 31 0 259 0 26 if it Player Bryant Johnson Larry Johnson Casey Williams. Tony Johnson Sean McHugh Player Zack Mills PASSING Player Comp Att. Int. Yards TD Long Jammal Lord 8 16 3 76 0 16 DEFENSE SECOND QUARTER NEBRASKA 0, PENN STATE 7 12:54 Larry Johnson 7 run Drive: 80 yards in 8 plays, covering 3 minutes, 19 seconds.

Other key plays: Larry Johnson 5 run, Tony Johnson 19 pass from Zack Mills, Bryant Johnson 24 pass from Mills, L. Johnson 21 pass from Mills. Conversion: Robbie Gould kick. NEBRASKA 7. FENN STATE 7 10:04 Judd Davies 2 run Drive: 84 yards in 8 plays, covering 2 minutes, 41 seconds.

Other key plays: Jammal Lord 16 pass to Ross Pilkington, Lord 27 run, Aaron Golliday 16 pass from Lord, Dahrran Diedrick 6 run, Lord 5 run, Josh Davis 9 pass from Lord, Judd Davies 3 run. Conversion: Josh Brown kick. NEBRASKA 7. PENN STATE 10 5:56 Robbie Gould 20 field goal Drive: 78 yards in 13 plays, covering 4 minutes, 8 seconds. Other key plays: Michael Robinson 28 run, Larry Johnson 7 pass from Zack Mills, Johnson 19 run on 3rJ-and-2 from NU 45, Mills sacked for loss of 8 by Chris Kelsay, Bryant Johnson 26 pass from Mills, Tony Johnson 10 pass from Mills, Mills 3 run on 3rd- 1 and-1 from NU 4.

NEBRASKA 7. PENN STATE 13 Robbie Gould 33 field goal Drive: 50 yards in 10 plays, covering 3 minutes, 35 seconds. Other key plays: Zack Mills 20 pass, Larry Johnson 3 run on 3rdand-l from NU 37, Mills 9 run from the NU34. THIRD QUARTER NEBRASKA 7. PENN STATE 19 7:50 Michael Robinson 8 run Drive: 80 yards in 16 plays, covering 7 minutes, 10 seconds.

Other key plays: Zack Mills 8 run, Bryant Johnson 21 pass from Mills, Larry Johnson 4 run, Casey Williams 7 pass from Mills, L. Johnson 7 run, Sean McHugh 2 run on 3rdand-2 from NU 42. B. Johnson 12 pass from Mills on 3rdxind-5 from NU 35, B. Johnson 14 pass from Mills.

McHugh 4 run on 3rd-" and-1 from NU 14. Conversion: Mills pass failed. NEBRASKA 7, PENN STATE 26 5:51 Rich Gardner 42 interception return Conversion: Robbie Gould kick. NEBRASKA 7. PENN STATE 33 2:15 Michael Robinson 11 run Drive: 55 yards in 3 plays, covering 1 minute, 24 seconds.

Other key plays: Larry Johnson 37 run, Michael Robinson 9 run. Conversion: Robbie Gould kick. FOURTH QUARTER NEBRASKA 7. PENN STATE 40 6:19 Larry Johnson 2 run Drive: 54 yards in 8 plays, covering 4 minutes, 35 seconds. Other key plays: Larry Johnson 14, 11 runs from the NU 39, Paul Jefferson 4 run on 4tland-l from NU 5.

Conversion: Robbie Gould kick. TED KIRKLincoln Journal Star Senior defensive tackle Jon Clanton watches the scoreboard in the final minutes of the Huskers' 40-7 loss to Penn State on Saturday night. TEAM STATISTICS I DEFENSE TACKLES UT AT Tot For loss PASS DEFENSE Sacks BU Irrt LaMar.Stewart .8 0 8 00 0-0 0 00 Shawn Mayer 6 2 8 1-1 00 0 00 Derek Wake 5 0 5 00 OO 0 00 Rich Gardner 4 1 5 00 00 2 142 Michael Haynes 3 1 4 1-7 00 1 00 Gino Capone 2 2 4 00 00 0 00 Jimmy Kennedy 2 2 4 00 00 0 00 Chris Harrell 2 1 3 00 OO 1 10 Anthony Adams 1 2 3 1-1 00 0 00 Calvin Lowry 2 0 2 1-1 00 0 OO Alan Zemaitis 1 1 2 00 00 0 OO T.C. Cosby 10 10O 00 0 00 DeryckToles 1 0 1 00 00 0 00 James Millon 10 1 00 OO 0 00 John Branson 1 0 1 00 00 0 00 Gus Felder 1 0 1 1-3 00 0 00 David Kimball 10 1 OO 00 0 00 Bryan Scott 1010O 00 0 00 Team 0 1 0 00 00 0 00 Lavon Chisley 0 1 0 00 00 1 1-8 Fumble recoveries: None. TACKLES PASS DEFENSE UT AT Tot For loss Sacks BU Int PatRicketts 5 3 8 00 00 2 00 Jerrell Pippens 5 0 5 00.

00 0 OO Barrett Ruud 3 2 5 1-1 00 1 00 Philip Bland 3 2 5 1-5 00 1 00 Chad Sievers 2 3 5 1-1 00 0 00 DeJuan Grace 4 0 4 00 00 0 00 T.J. Hollowell 4 0 4 00 OO 0 00 LeKevin Smith 3 1 4 00 00 0 00 Demorrio Williams 3 1 4 00 00 0 00 Aaron Terpening 2 2 4 00 00 0 00 Demoine Adams 2 1 3 00 00 0 00 Scott Shanle 1 2,3 00 00 0 00 Titus Adams 2 0 2 1-1 00 0 00 Jon Clanton 1 0 1 1-8 1-8 0 00 Wilson Thomas 10 1 00 OO 0 00 Fabian Washington 1 0 1 00 00 0 00 Josh Bullocks 1 0 1 00 00 0 00 Marques Simmons 1 0 1 00 00 0 00 Trevor Johnson 1. 0 I 00 0 00 Ryon Bingham Oil 00 00 0 00 Shane Siegel 0 1 1 00 00 0 00 Chad Buller 0 1 1 00 00 0 00 Patrick Kabongo 0 1 1 00 00 0 00 Steve Kriewald Oil 00 00 0 00 Fumble recoveries: None. NEBRASKA PENN STATE 18 First downs 24 45-252 Rushes-yards 43-217 5.6 Average per carry 5.0 1 Rushing touchdowns 4 76 Passing yards 259 8-16-3 Completions-attemptSHnterceptions 19-310 0 Passing touchdowns 0 328 Total offensive yards 476 Plays-yards per play 6- 281 Punts-total yards 3-139 46.8 Punting average 46.3 0 Punts blocked 0 1- 12 Punt returns-total yards 3-27 12.0 Punt return average 9.0 2- 27 Kickoff returns-total yards 1-17 13.5 Kickoff return average 17.0 1- 8 Sacks by-yards lost 00 5-16 Tackles for losses-yards 5-13 lO Fumbles-lost 00 3 Total turnovers 0 00 Interceptions-yards returned 3-50 4 Passes broken up 5 2- 11 Third-down conversions 9-15 1-1 Fourth-down conversions 1-1 7- 60 Penalties-yards 3-20 27:03 Time of possession 32:57 SPECIAL TEAMS PUNTING Player No. Yards Avg.

Bk Long David Royer 3 139 46.3 0 56 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yards Avg. TO Long Bryant Johnson 3 27 9.0 0 15 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yards Avg. TO Long Larry Johnson 1 17 17.0 0 17 PLACEKICKING Player XP-Att FG-Att 139 40-49 50 Robbie Gould 4-4 2-2 2-2 00 00 SPECIAL TEAMS PUNTING Player No.

Yards Avg. Bk Long Kyle Larson 6 281 46.8 0 56 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yards Avg. TO Long DeJuan Grace 1 12 12.0 0 12 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yards Avg.

TD Long Josh Davis 1 26 26.0 0 26 Troy Hassebroek 1 1 1.0 0 1 a PLACEKICKING Player XP-Att FG-Att 1-39 4049 50 Josh Brown 1-1 00 00 00 00 of 1 '-') BY THE NUMBERS 5:54 Penn State's edge in time of possession for the game. 123 Yards rushing by Nittany Lions senior tailback Larry Johnson, the first lOOyard game of his college career. 329 Career coaching victories by Penn State's Joe Paterno, who has been at the helm of the Nittany Lions since 1966. His record against Nebraska is now 3-3. 139-57 The apjyegate score in Nebraska's last three losses, all away from Memorial Stadium (62-36 vs.

Colorado; 37-14 vs. Miami and 407 vs. Penn State). 110,753 The size of the sellout crowd at Beaver Stadium, the largest number of fans to have ever seen a Husker game, beating the 93,781 at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3 of this year.

8 The length of Nebraska's win streak against Big Ten opponents before Saturday's loss. The last Big Ten team to beat the Huskers was Michigan in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl..