Nittany Lions Fall to No. 4 Notre DameNittany Lions Fall to No. 4 Notre Dame

Nittany Lions Fall to No. 4 Notre Dame

Tony Hunt led Penn State with 74 rushing yards against the Irish.

South Bend, IN.; September 9, 2006 ?C The ghost of George Gipp recorded zero yards of total offense. The spirit of legendary coach Knute Rockne didn??t register a single tackle. No one woke up the echoes of past Notre Dame glory.

But today, the Fighting Irish proved they don??t always rely on that special brand of mystique to win games.

Notre Dame broke open the contest with 17 second quarter points and capitalized on Penn State mistakes ?C scoring 17 points off three turnovers ?C while rolling to a 41-17 victory in the 76th home opener since Notre Dame Stadium debuted in the final season of Rockne??s celebrated career.

??Notre Dame played very well and they did a great job coaching,?? said Joe Paterno after the game. ??They outplayed us and their coaching staff did a great job."

The Irish opened the game on offense and Brady Quinn??s arm proved to be as accurate as advertised. The senior quarterback led the Fighting Irish on a 12-play, 63-yard scoring drive that included four first downs, all through the air. Carl Gioia??s 36-yard field goal put Notre Dame ahead, 3-0.

For the game, Quinn completed 25-of-36 for 287 yards and three scores. "I thought Brady Quinn was a great player coming in and he didn??t do anything to change my mind,?? Paterno said.

Expecting a slugfest, the undaunted Nittany Lions answered Notre Dame's opening score with a long drive. Anthony Morelli led Penn State from its own 27-yard line to the Notre Dame 9, where the drive stalled within field goal range.

Anthony Morelli had a productive day in his first career road start, completing 21-of-33 for 189 yards and a touchdown.

Kevin Kelly never had a chance to tie the game. Jason Ganter couldn??t hold onto the snap, the Irish snuffed out the kick attempt and Penn State??s first scoring opportunity went awry. At the end of the first quarter, the Irish led by three.

In the second period, Notre Dame was in the red zone three consecutive times and scored on each possession.

After Tom Zbikowski forced Tony Hunt to fumble, the Irish drove 63 yards and went ahead 6-0 on a 35-yard field goal by Gioia.

Then, Quinn??s arm took over. With four minutes left in the half, he found an open Jeff Samardzija to give Notre Dame a 13-0 lead. Three minutes later, Quinn hit Rhema McKnight in the back of the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown and a 20-0 lead. The first half clock expired on the ensuing kickoff.

The key first half statistic was time of possession: Notre Dame held the ball for 18:58, while the Nittany Lions were on offense for only 11:02.

On Penn State??s second offensive play of the second half, Morelli was hit by Maurice Crum and fumbled. The loose ball was scooped up by Zbikowski and returned for a 25-yard touchdown that gave the Irish a 27-0 lead.

The Lions finally got on the board with 11:29 remaining in the third quarter when Kelly drilled a 28-yard field goal, capping a 10-play drive highlighted by a 34-yard pass to Jordan Norwood and a 28-yard run by Morelli.

After Notre Dame touchdowns by Darius Walker and Travis Thomas, Deon Butler caught a pass from Morelli for a two-yard touchdown with six minutes to play. Nittany Lion backup quarterback Daryll Clark added a five-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds to play to end the scoring.

Morelli finished the game with 21 completions on 33 attempts ?C both career highs ?C for 189 yards and a touchdown. Hunt led Penn State with 74 yards rushing and now has more than 2,000 yards rushing in his career.

Norwood made six catches for 91 yards to lead the Nittany Lion receiving corps. On defense, Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny each had 12 tackles.

Joe Paterno said after the game that it is important to look foward to next week's game.

With the win, the Irish improve to 292-89-5 in "The House that Rockne Built?? and improve to 94-18-5 in home openers.

The Irish own an overall mark of 214-106-15 in 335 games against Big Ten schools.

Penn State must now look forward, and Paterno will count on leadership from the senior co-captain Posluszny to help right the ship.

??We dropped a few balls we could have intercepted and we made mental mistakes that are easily correctable,?? Posluszny said. ??There were so many things we could have done to help ourselves that we usually do. This won??t be hard to put behind us.??

Next week Notre Dame stays at home to host Michigan, the second of four straight Big Ten opponents, while Penn State hosts Youngstown State to wrap up non-conference play.

Tony Hunt led Penn State with 71 rushing yards against the Irish.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa; September 2, 2006 ?C The Anthony Morelli era began with a 42-yard touchdown to Deon Butler, on his very first pass as a starting quarterback. The junior signal caller completed seven of his first 10 passes for 111 yards, two touchdowns and 17 total points on Penn State's first three drives.

??I was just having a good time and having fun,?? said Morelli after the contest. ??That first pass felt great and Deon made a great play.??

Remnants of Hurricane Ernesto forced the cancellation of Football Eve, washed out tailgates, soaked Beaver Stadium and in general made a sloppy mess out of Happy Valley.

The weather, however, was not enough to ground the Penn State attack. The Nittany Lions opened the 2006 season with a 34-16 win over Akron in front of 106,505 soggy fans and the game wasn??t as close as the final score might indicate.

Morelli completed 16 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, Jordan Norwood pulled in a career-high seven catches for 61 yards, one for a touchdown (a career first), and Tony Hunt capped off Penn State??s scoring with a five-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.

??It felt good to get that first TD under my belt,?? said a smiling Norwood after the game. ??My dad (safeties coach Brian Norwood) just said he was proud ?C but he would have said that if I dropped it anyway, so it didn??t really matter.??

The Lion defense held the Akron offense to just 225 total yards; Dan Connor made a career-best two sacks, Tim Shaw tied a career-high with two sacks and Anthony Scirrotto and Nolan McCready each intercepted Zips quarterback Luke Getsy in the win.

Paterno, as is his wont, was not completely satisfied with the performance. ??Overall it was a good first game. We started out well but then made too many mistakes especially with the kicking game,?? he said. ??We didn??t run the ball well and certainly didn??t block well.??

Anthony Morelli had a productive day in his first career road start, completing 21-of-33 for 189 yards and a touchdown.

During the week, Ernesto moved inland and up the east coast and its hurricane-force winds petered out. The storm became a cluster of smaller storms and began to move slowly, so the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical depression.

Other than that, there was no depression at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions looked efficient - if not spectacular - in their first game since the epic, triple overtime win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Penn State now owns a 15-2 record against teams from the Mid-American Conference and the Lions improve to 3-0 all-time against Akron.

Paterno was asked during his weekly teleconference if he thought Morelli had enough moxie to lead the Nittany Lions in the post-Michael Robinson era. Paterno simply said, ??I think Anthony will be fine.?? He was right.

If there was any doubt about Morelli??s moxie, it evaporated in the first quarter. His opening throw to a leaping, double-covered Deon Butler gave the Lions a 7-0 lead.

On his second possession, Morelli drove the Lions 43 yards in 11 plays for another score. As time expired in the first quarter, Kevin Kelly drilled his first field goal of 2006, a 39-yarder, to give the Nittany Lions a 10-0 lead.

Four minutes into the second quarter, Morelli had the offense moving again. Jordan Norwood??s first catch of the season went for 14 yards and the first touchdown of his career. Kevin Kelly??s extra point gave Penn State a quick, comfortable, 17-0 lead.

Each team stalled until Akron put together a scoring drive midway through the third quarter. The Zips drove 50 yards in 11 plays and Dennis Kennedy capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown run. Zips kicker Matt Domonkos missed the extra point and Penn State led 17-9.

Joe Paterno said after the game that it is important to look foward to next week's game.

The Lions answered right away: true freshman A.J. Wallace returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to set up another Penn State score. Perhaps sensing the eight-point gap between the two teams was a little too close for comfort, Morelli came through with a 40-yard drive, highlighted by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Williams that made the score 24-9 with 7:10 left in the third quarter.

Tony Hunt??s touchdown run early in the fourth quarter gave the Nittany Lions all the insurance they would need. His five-yard scoring jaunt capped a seven-play, 30-yard drive and made the score 31-9. Just for good measure, Kevin Kelly added a 42-yard field goal with just over six minutes to play to make the score 34-9.

Akron??s David Harvey tacked on another score for the Zips in the waning moments, collecting a 27-yard pass from Getsy for a touchdown.

With the win, Joe Paterno??s coaching record improves to 355-117-3 in his 41 years.

His longevity put him in rare company today; Paterno joins Amos Alonzo Stagg as the only other coach to serve at least 41 seasons at an institution. Since he became head coach in 1966, there have been 775 head coaching changes in Division I-A, an average of more than six changes per school.

When asked if he would be watching the Notre Dame-Georgia Tech game, Paterno responded, ??It depends on how many relatives I have over at my house tonight. But I might have someone tape it for me.??

The Lions face six bowl teams in the first seven games of the season, including a visit to South Bend next Saturday for a showdown with the Fighting Irish. -->