WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Paul Posluszny trotted off the field with a grass-stained helmet by his side, not once stopping to smile and take in the sights.

Maybe if he would've stood a moment, he would've noticed a half-empty Ross-Ade Stadium or heard the "We are ... Penn State!" chants that followed the game on Saturday.

Instead, he didn't so much as glance at the scoreboard -- or the orange, digital zero under Purdue that punctuated the 12-0 shutout and qualified Penn State (6-3, 4-2, Big Ten) for a bowl game.

"We didn't really expect this," Posluszny said. "We knew we were going to come out and play well defensively. But to come out and shut out a great offensive team like Purdue, that's big."

Posluszny grinned in the interview room upon hearing it was the first time Purdue was held scoreless in a decade. It was also the first Penn State shutout since 2002.

"We're very proud because, like I said, we've never done it -- at least since I've been here," senior defensive tackle Jay Alford said.

It was a game full of precedents. The Boilermakers (5-4, 2-3) were averaging 448 yards per game but managed only 240 on Saturday, their lowest mark of the season.

Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter attributed that difference to tight coverage by the Nittany Lion secondary. Painter said after watching film, he didn't anticipate his passing windows would close up so quickly.

"Yeah, we were starting to change up a little bit, play a lot tighter," cornerback Justin King admitted. "We figured if they were going to beat us, let them try to beat us deep because we've gotten beat so many times this year, it's time to take chances and start squeezing routes."

But, early in the contest, it seemed as if a win was the last place the game was headed -- but not because of the defense.

Dropped passes and the inability to capitalize inside the red zone plagued the Lions' offense. Penn State led 6-0 at halftime, but quarterback Anthony Morelli had trouble finding any rhythm. He was 9-for-22 in the first half.

"It was tough throwing into the wind, throwing with the wind; sometimes it was going across the field. But he did what he had to do," wideout Jordan Norwood said.

The Lions eventually put the game out of reach early in the final quarter after a 2-yard scamper by tailback Tony Hunt that preceded a botched two-point conversion. Obviously, it wasn't the offense's most memorable performance. But it seemed to be the type of game that linebacker Dan Connor wouldn't soon forget.

"The [shutout] is a great accomplishment for us. Offensively, it's like putting up 50, 60 points," he said. "It's tough to do, but you work for it every game."