You have to wonder if Larry Johnson Sr. ever honestly imagined a day like Saturday.

There really wasn't much more the Penn State defensive line coach could ask for. For starters, he got to watch from the sidelines as his son, Larry Jr., put together one of the most impressive outings in Penn State football history, breaking the school rushing record, recording 257 yards of rushing in just over a half of play before sitting out. Beyond that, the defense he helped coach was dominant. The Nittany Lions' 49-0 win was their first shutout since the 1999 Alamo Bowl.

"What a great day," Johnson said. "That's what somebody said to me, they were like, 'Larry, boy, you had a great day. You've got your son having a record setting day. You pitch a shutout. What a great day.' It's a blessing to be honest."

Johnson's line has seen a few better days, such as its performance against Wisconsin, when it registered six sacks. However, the two it got was plenty, and it opened up holes for linebacker Gino Capone to get two sacks and for safety Paul Cronin to record one of his own.

The defensive line's presence was felt even more so in the running game. It helped hold Northwestern to just 88 gross rushing yards. The sacks took that total down to a miniscule nine net yards on the ground.

Though Larry Jr.'s rushing record and the defensive shutout might have overshadowed the performance of his other son, wide receiver Tony Johnson, the younger Johnson brother gave his father yet another reason to be proud.

Tony has been through some tough times lately with two clutch catches negated by shaky calls by officials. However, on Saturday, Johnson made a play that left no doubt.

After dropping a pass on the play before, Johnson beat his man on a streak route, and quarterback Zack Mills got the ball just over the hands of the defensive back for a 40-yard touchdown strike.

"[After the previous play] I was shaking my head, because I came off the break and the ball was right there," Johnson said. "Zack threw it kind of quick, not to fault him, but I caught it and I went to switch hands which I shouldn't have done and the guy just kind of poking the ball down. For a minute, I was like, 'This ain't happening to me again.' But I kind of shook it off. I was surprised that we came back and ran an x-streak and we got in the end zone for six."

Johnson was also instrumental in helping his brother pick up yards. Johnson and his fellow receiver Bryant Johnson got a lot of solid downfield blocking, opening up holes for Larry.

Though Larry has been very appreciative of his blocking this year, taking his offensive line to Damon's Steakhouse for all-you-can-eat night after his 147-yard effort against Louisiana Tech and giving Saturday's game ball to offensive line coach Dick Anderson, Tony doesn't expect the same gratitude.

"Oh, no, he don't credit me nothing," he said.

Larry basically gave reporters the response Tony expected, ripping him in good nature for a second-quarter play near the end zone in which he ran into his brother, who was trying to block for him.

"If Tony gets in my way one more time, I'm going to really step on his back," Larry said. "But Tony does a great job. He's kind of different than me. If he sees me carrying the ball, he wants to get out there and block his heart out because he knows I'm going to get on his butt if he doesn't block for me, so he's always trying hard."

Tony said that his brother hit him harder than anyone else on that play, but with the game going the way it did, the siblings didn't squabble afterwards.

"They came off the field laughing," their father said.

On Saturday, the Johnsons got to do that a lot.