For his dive during Saturday's fourth quarter, Jay Alford was given few points for style and, more to the senior defensive tackle's dismay, zero points for a touchdown.

Midway through the fourth, Alford picked up what, at the time, was a fumble after Northwestern quarterback Andrew Brewer lost control of the ball around his own 35-yard line. Alford, listed at 288 pounds, rumbled down the sideline and, while crossing the goal line, left his feet and performed a mid-air somersault into the end zone.

As soon as Alford landed, a flag was thrown and an unsportsmanlike conduct call was made. Seconds later, the referee was summoned to the sideline to review whether or not Brewer's arm was going forward when he lost the ball.

Sure enough, the fumble call on the field was overturned and was ruled an incomplete pass -- negating Alford's touchdown, but not canceling out his celebration penalty. As a result of the dive, Northwestern was awarded a first down and an extra 15 yards. Alford, on the other hand, was greeted on the sideline with an earful from his coaches.

"I told him that's not the way we do things at Penn State," defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "Hand the ball to the official and celebrate with your teammates --that's the way things are done."

Head coach Joe Paterno did not see the celebration from his viewpoint on the sideline, but had Bradley inform him of Alford's ill-fated acrobatics.

According to Alford, Paterno told him if he ever did that again, he would be on the scout team.

"I just hate to see that," Paterno said. "When you score you score. What is it, the greatest thing that ever happened? He didn't invent the wheel."

Certainly, Alford's somersault and the word "great" will not be used in tandem very often.

"I'm sure the guys are going to have a lot of fun with him because it was a terrible dive," Bradley said.

Fellow defensive tackle Ed Johnson agreed that it wasn't the most graceful move.

"Yeah, he ain't even do it forward," Johnson said. "He went sideways ... I probably would have added a dance on at the end. Defensive linemen, it's very rare that we get the opportunity, so we have to make the most of it."

Luckily for Alford, though, the defensive tackle spot requires neither grace nor style. The Orange, N.J. native has 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery this season.

A big part of Alford's success has been the solid play of Johnson,
who returned to the team this
year, after off-field issues forced him off the squad last season.

"Once Ed has success that always opens the holes up for me," Alford said.

Johnson is tied for the team lead with three sacks and is second with five tackles for a loss, and his hefty frame ties up blockers at many points throughout the game.

It's a rare occasion, though, when Johnson becomes a blocker himself.

"I was happy I didn't have to run out there and block," Johnson said of Alford's run, just as Tony Hunt interrupted and asked who stole the 300-plus pound lineman's Twix bar. "There was somebody I picked up right there, so I didn't have to chase with him."

Still peeved after the game by Alford's celebration, Paterno continued to play down the cause for such excitement.

"I could have picked that ball up and ran it in," the 79-year-old coach said. "Even with my banged up ribs and everything else."