The Penn State football team did something on Saturday that it struggled to do all season.

The Nittany Lions made Joe Paterno a believer.

There he was, the same coach who stood before a gallery of reporters last July and said, "Seven wins will not be easy with this football team."

And then, after an 0-2 start, his first one in a decade, he admitted, "We obviously aren't very good."

But after his Lions scored 28 first-quarter points against Michigan State and never looked back en route to a 42-23 win, Paterno finally had a chance to say what he had really wanted to say after that second game.

"We talked all week about the fact that I told them I thought they were a really good football team, but they were just killing themselves," Paterno said. "They were ready to go today and I was pleased with them."

Lions tailback Eric McCoo engineered Penn State's (5-7, 4-4 Big Ten) first scoring drive on its first possession by bouncing to the outside for a 28-yard gain. And then, on third and five from Michigan State's 12-yard line, the Spartans (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten) penetrated, nearly sacking quarterback Rashard Casey and relegating the Nittany Lions to an early field goal.

But Casey kept his balance and slung a 6-yard pass across the middle to tight end John Gilmore, setting up a goal-line plunge two plays later.

Larry Johnson took a short-yardage draw play on the Lions' next possession, but found a gaping hole in the middle and broke 58 yards for the touchdown. He would finish the day as the Lions' leading rusher with 94 yards on 10 carries.

"It was a simple draw play that we just disguised," Johnson said. "We went from an I-formation to a single-back formation."

Johnson's statement is ironic because he criticized the Penn State offense after the Toledo loss for being "too predictable."

On Penn State's next drive, Casey unleashed a high pass that tipped off wide receiver Eddie Drummond's fingers, but Kenny Watson stood behind him and corralled the pass into his own hands, easily jogging in for a 40-yard score.

Casey hit Drummond in stride 50 yards away to set up what eventually would be the game-winning score on the first play of his next drive.

Casey finished the day 11 of 18 for 218 yards.

"It was a big win because we didn't want to go out hanging our heads, complaining about losing another game," Casey said. "We wanted to come out here and play like we thought we were capable of playing, and we did that."

But perhaps even more impressive than Penn State's offensive onslaught was that of its defense, which forced the Spartans into four straight three-and-outs and sacked quarterback Jeff Smoker twice.

And then, when it seemed Michigan State would finally hit paydirt after consuming nearly eight minutes of clock time on its next drive, the Lions held strong near the end zone, forcing Spartans kicker David Schaefer to boot a 22-yard field goal.

Smoker would only strike once, with a 21-yard pass to Lavaile Richardson in the back of the end zone, just past the outstretched arms of Lions cornerback Bhawoh Jue.

Spartans tailback T.J. Duckett would rumble 44 yards for a score in the fourth quarter, and backup quarterback Ryan Van Dyke would hit Travis Wilson from 26 yards out late in the game, but by then, none of it mattered.

"We did what we have been doing all season long," Smoker said. "Penn State was not blitzing when I got sacked. You have to give Penn State credit."

Some, it seemed, didn't care to do that. Late in the fourth quarter, with the scoreboard reading the game's eventual final score, a Michigan State public information official walked up to a Spartans assistant coach and started some small talk.

"You know," the official said. "If Penn State hadn't scored those 28 first-quarter points, Michigan State would be winning right now."

The coach laughed, shaking his head.

Of course, if Southern California hadn't scored those 29 points, or if Toledo's Chester Taylor didn't have a career day running against the Lions, or maybe, if Tony Stewart had caught that pass in overtime against Iowa . . .

But the seven wins didn't come for Penn State. And Paterno likely will struggle to get the two he needs to become the all-time Div. I-A leader in wins early next season, with out-of-conference matchups looming against Miami, Southern Mississippi and Virginia.

And sure, the Lions had needed those seven wins to become bowl-game eligible, but once that became an impossible dream, Paterno's troops did what they could to salvage the season. They tried to play the spoiler.

Penn State did just that against Michigan State, which entered the game with a 5-5 record, needing just a win to become eligible for a bowl berth.

"I refused to let to let the guys look ahead," Spartans coach Bobby Williams said. "You can't look ahead when you travel to play Penn State. Besides, we had to win this game just to be bowl eligible. So what did we have to look forward to?"

Much like Penn State, next season, it seems.