As the 42-yard pass sailed just over the outstretched arms of two Akron defenders and safely into the waiting hands of receiver Deon Butler, Anthony Morelli's long wait officially came to an end.
The junior quarterback who played the role of backup the last two seasons connected with Butler in the end zone on his first pass as Penn State's starter, officially ushering in the Morelli era of Nittany Lions football. The new era commenced with a rain-soaked 34-16 victory over Akron on Saturday in Beaver Stadium.
"The first pass felt great," Morelli said. "Deon made a great play with the weather conditions to pull that in for a touchdown. It was a great feeling."
Morelli would feel the excitement of two more touchdown passes as the game wore on, connecting with Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams en route to a 16-of-32, 206-yard opening performance.
The quarterback's 14-yard touchdown pass to Norwood gave the No. 19 Lions a 17-0 lead with 11:39 to play in the second quarter. It also gave the sophomore receiver his first career touchdown catch.
From there the offense was shaky, gaining just 28 total yards on its next three drives.
The Penn State defense, however, was good enough to make the lead stick. Quarterback Luke Getsy and the Zips offense were stifled all afternoon, gaining just 225 yards of total offense on the day -- an average of 2.9 yards per play. The Lions sacked Getsy five times -- including two each from Tim Shaw and Dan Connor -- and intercepted two of the senior's passes.
"Our defensive line was very good," starting linebacker Sean Lee said. "They got pressure on the quarterback all day."
Penn State made room for Lee in the starting defense by using three down linemen up front in addition to putting Shaw -- who was a middle linebacker a year ago -- on one of the end spots as a stand-up rusher.
"The thing you want to do is what your people do best," defensive coordinator Tom Bradley explained. "We try not to ask our players to do things they can't do because then they're not going to play fast, and they're not going to play well."
The defense played fast and well while utilizing a variety of packages throughout the day. Dan Connor led all players with 13 tackles, 3.5 of which came for a loss of yardage. Connor set career highs in sacks and tackles for a loss, earning him the honor of Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
The box score was not nearly as kind to Penn State tailback Tony Hunt. Though proficient at pass blocking, the Lions' offensive line showed an inability to run block against Akron's stunting three-man front.
Hunt finished the day with just 36 yards on the ground and a paltry 2.6 yards per carry.
The leading rusher for Penn State was A.J. Wallace. The true freshman's 42-yard dash down the Lions' sideline on a second quarter reverse was his only carry of the day, but Wallace still displayed more of his potential on kick returns.
On his first return, Wallace broke through the middle for 41 yards, only to cough up the ball on the 50, giving Akron the field position necessary to mount its first touchdown drive.
On the very next kick, though, with Penn State's lead down to 17-9, Wallace reversed field at the 20 and broke free down the Akron sideline for a return of 54 yards.
"He's very fast," Penn State tackle John Shaw said of Wallace. "He's noticeably just extremely quick in practice; he stands out among the speediest guys on the team."
Morelli converted on the ideal starting field position, connecting with an open Derrick Williams in the end zone with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Though he was pleased with many aspects of the game, Paterno recognized that there is much room for improvement.
"We were sloppy," Paterno said. "We could have put that thing away early."
