THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
After every Penn State game this season, Daily News beat writer Bernard Fernandez will provide Nittany Line Plus with his observations and analysis. Here is his take on Saturday's 35-10 road rout of Michigan.
Did you notice . . .
-- That senior Daryll Clark's four touchdown passes give him a school-record 55 accounted for, beating the old record of 52 set by Zack Mills from 2001-04? The breakdown: 36 touchdown passes, 19 TD rushes. Not too shabby when you consider that Clark has been a starter for only 21 games while Mills was the top guy under center for four seasons. Next Penn State record for Clark to erase: 41 scoring passes, a mark shared by Mills, Todd Blackledge and Tony Sacca.
-- That, in beating the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the first time since 1996, ending a streak of five consecutive defeats in Michigan Stadium, Penn State coach Joe Paterno foiled TWO hexes? That's JoePa in a small photo on the front cover of this past week's Sports Illustrated, which featured a very nice eight-page profile of the 82-year-old coaching legend. If you can beat the Curse of the Big House and the SI cover jinx all at once, you're leading a charmed existence.
-- That Michigan's true freshman quarterback, Tate Forcier, might not be the miracle worker everyone imagined after he directed a pair game-winning, fourth-quarter drives in his first four college contests? Pressured throughout by Penn State's QB-gobbling front seven, Forcier completed only 13 of 30 passes for 140 yards with five sacks and an interception. What's worse, he appeared more miserable in the cold, wet, windy weather than my late Cuban-born mother-in-law did when visiting Pennsylvania in winter for the first time. Hey, Tate, if you don't like playing in inclement conditions, maybe you should have matriculated at a school closer to your San Diego home.
-- That Penn State gave up a first-half touchdown for the first time this season, when tailback Brandon Minor powered into the end zone from a yard out to cap a 70-yard drive following the opening kickoff? But Minor wound up as the Wolverines' leading rusher with only 48 yards on 12 carries, extending to 11 games (dating back to last season) the Nittany Lions' streak of not allowing an opposing rusher to gain 100 yards.
-- That Nits tailback Evan Royster extended a streak of his own? In gaining 100 yards on 20 carries, Royster has helped Penn State go 10-0 in games in which he has rushed for triple digits.
-- That wide receiver Graham Zug, who scored three touchdowns, got maximum benefit from his five receptions for 59 yards? "It's a great feeling Daryll trusts me three times for the touchdown," said Zug, a former walk-on.
-- That tight end Andrew Quarless got behind Michigan linebacker Obi Ezeh for a 60-yard touchdown strike from Clark on the first play after Quarless told his quarterback in the huddle he could beat the guy over the middle?
UP NEXT: at Northwestern (5-3), Saturday, 4:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2.
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