PHOTO: Dan Saelinger
Penn State tailback Eric McCoo runs the ball for a touchdown after recovering his own fumble as spectators laugh.

Back on track
Lions pummel Northwestern after last week’s loss at Michigan

By VITO FORLENZA
Collegian Staff Writer

It epitomized the season for both teams.

In Penn State's 41-10 pounding of Northwestern Saturday before 96,382 at Beaver Stadium, one play served as the perfect summary. It showed the Wildcats' (2-9, 0-8 Big Ten) dismal season, and the success the No. 16 Nittany Lions (7-2, 4-2) have enjoyed -- when they play weaker opponents ... at home.

On a second-and-one from the Penn State 43 during the Lions' initial possession of the second half, freshman tailback Eric McCoo took a handoff and bolted up the left sideline to the Northwestern 25.

As he halted his jaunt to bypass some traffic, Wildcat defensive back Harold Blackmon punched the ball from McCoo's hold. As it bounced 10 yards upfield, McCoo never broke stride, picking up the fumble on a perfect hop and taking it in for a touchdown and a 24-3 Lion lead.

"I talked to (Wildcat coach) Gary Barnett after the game," Lion coach Joe Paterno said, "and I said, ‘Gary, when the back is running down the middle of the field, on a grass field, and the ball bounces right back at him, it's not your year.'"

However, there was considerable discussion about the play, with many questioning whether or not the end result should have been allowed because McCoo (11 carries, 127 yards) stepped out of bounds as he tried to retrieve the ball.

"I had the head of officials tell me the football gods weren't with me," Barnett said.

"I guess I'll have to accept that, too."

But early in the first quarter, it looked as if the gods were indeed watching over the Wildcats. After the Lions stopped them on their initial two plays of the game, the Wildcats faced a third-and-11 from their own 16.

In a passing situation, the Lions were showing blitz and came at the snap. But Wildcat quarterback Gavin Hoffman (14 for 24, 229 yards) tossed the ball to receiver D'Wayne Bates on a screen play. Bates raced past the Lion secondary 81 yards to the Penn State 3.

But, as it had on the first two plays, the Lions' stifling defense completely shut down the Wildcats, pushing them back eight yards, forcing Northwestern to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.

"Before you know it, they were downfield," Lion defensive end Brad Scioli said of Bates' scamper. "It was like, ‘Whoa, we better be ready, or we'll be in for a long day.'"

After the Wildcat defense stopped the Lion offense on its first possession, Penn State quarterback Kevin Thompson hit tight end Cuncho Brown for a 43-yard reception on the next series, which set up fullback Mike Cerimele's 1-yard touchdown plunge, giving the Lions a 7-3 lead.

Following cornerback David Macklin's fifth interception of the season, stopping the Wildcats' second possession, Thompson (8 of 20, 170 yards, one touchdown) fired a strike to receiver Joe Nastasi in the back of the end zone to give the Lions a 14-3 advantage -- a lead they never would relinquish in a string of 34 unanswered points.

The Lions, winless against the conference's top teams this season, next face their third of three tough road battles when they head to Madison, Wis., next week to take on the No. 13 Badgers.

"We can't afford to lose," Lion linebacker LaVar Arrington said. "Our backs are up against the wall. We dug ourselves in a hole, and now we have to fight to keep people from putting the dirt on top of us."

Penn State vs. Northwestern