Just before Derrick Williams scampered 36 yards for a touchdown with seven and a half minutes to play in the third quarter, Penn State's offensive play-callers, Galen Hall and Jay Paterno, got a direct order from their boss.

Joe Paterno noticed Indiana's defense over pursuing and thought a reverse might catch the Hoosiers out of step. Thirty-six yards later, Williams made Paterno look like a psychic.

"We got Derrick involved in some other ways and he made some big plays," Jay Paterno said. "That last reverse, that was Joe all the way. Joe said, 'I don't care what the down is, run the reverse and he'll score.' "

The 36-yard run was the longest Williams' career and his second touchdown of the day.

Indiana defensive end Jammie Kirlew said with Williams' speed, there was no way the Hoosier defense was going to be able to recover from being out of position on the reverse.

"Everybody has to react, so it doesn't matter if you're a defensive lineman, safety, corner, linebacker, you have to react," Kirlew said. "You have to get over there and we just had to do a better job of that."

His stat line, 164 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, is what many people expected when Williams signed with Penn State as the No. 1 recruit in the country in 2005, according to Scout.com.

While he hasn't put up mind-boggling numbers, Williams said he's just wanted to make the program better. And with 39 wins in less than four seasons, Williams and his fellow class of 2005 recruits have won more games than any class of Lions since the recruiting class of 1994 won 41 games.

"I wasn't a recruit that was trying to go out there, put up big numbers with stats and everything," Williams said. "I just want to try to help the team out and leave my presence on the team. Everything I've set out to do I've accomplished and with the help of my teammates it's been a great trip."

Paterno said Williams is the Lions' top playmaker and the coaching staff just needs to find different ways to get him the ball.

Williams' first touchdown came via the air. Matched up one-on-one with Indiana safety Brandon Mosley, Williams ran a post and made a leaping, twisting grab around the five-yard line before running into the end zone.

Against Iowa two weeks ago, Williams took direct snaps as a quarterback. Against Indiana, Paterno said the offense didn't need Williams in the backfield as much, but he still had eight touches on offense and three returns.

And a career-long run. While he's returned kickoffs more than 90 yards for touchdowns, he's never taken a handoff as long as he did against the Hoosiers. When asked if he was surprised that after three-and-a-half years in blue and white that he'd never had a carry that long, Williams just laughed.

"Nah, I'm not surprised," he said. "And hopefully I can get some more before my career's done."