Penn State entered Saturday with the fewest penalties in the Big Ten. That was no longer the case following its 20-0 win over Minnesota.
The Nittany Lions committed a season-high nine penalties -- eight on offense -- and fell behind Iowa, now the conference's least-penalized team.
"I don't know. I don't know what was going on," right tackle Ako Poti said. "Maybe it was bad footing, so we were grabbing. I don't know."
Poti, making his second career start, was called for a false start in the third quarter.
The redshirt senior said he responded to a "go" a Minnesota player shouted, thinking it was quarterback Daryll Clark with the call.
Penn State moved five yards back, and Poti knew what to expect from coach Joe Paterno after the game.
"He's not even going to see the score, that we shut them out, this and that," Poti said. "All he's going to see is all the penalty yards. We're gonna come in and we might run a little extra for those."
Fortunately for the Lions, their penalty yardage (76) more than doubled the Golden Gophers' rushing yardage (37) on a day the Penn State defense pitched their first shutout of the season.
Still, eliminating little mistakes will be a key going into Ann Arbor, Mich., this weekend when the Lions face Michigan.
"All that stuff has to be thrown out of the door," Clark said, "especially when we going to the road."
Day to remember
Offense: WR Derek Moye
The redshirt sophomore tied a career-high with six catches Saturday and had 120 yards receiving. His balancing act on a 12-yard touchdown in the second quarter evoked images of Santonio Holmes in February's Super Bowl and gave the Lions a much-needed cushion heading into halftime.
Defense: CB A.J. Wallace
Tom Bradley and Joe Paterno challenged the senior all week long, and he certainly responded.
Wallace held Eric Decker, the Big Ten's leading receiver, to just one catch for 42 yards and teamed with linebacker Navorro Bowman to stop Minnesota's Kevin Whaley on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the final frame to preserve the shutout for Penn State.
Wallace had four tackles on the day.
Day to forget
Offense: RB Stephfon Green
Green netted zero yards on four carries before leaving the game in the first half with what Paterno thought was an ankle injury.
Defense: CB Knowledge Timmons
Timmons was for the most part limited to special teams on Saturday. Paterno said the senior was in full health following a knee injury a week earlier, but Wallace's impressive performance on Saturday could mean less time for Timmons in the future.
Did you notice?
The student section not full in the second quarter, something ABC analyst and former Penn State defensive tackle Matt Millen was not shy to point out during the game's broadcast ... The "Zug Zone," Graham Zug's third different fan sign ... The snowman in the student section near the southeast corner of Beaver Stadium
Extra point
Evan Royster ran for a season-high 137 yards on a season-high 23 carries on Saturday.
Green's absence meant Royster had to shoulder a heavier workload. But Paterno thought Royster would be ready for it, saying the redshirt junior was ill for
a few weeks and kept quiet about it.
"I don't think he would admit it, but he had a period there where he was sick with the flu and the whole bit," Paterno said. "He kept saying, 'I'm OK, I'm OK,' but he never quite had the spring in his legs that he had a year ago, and I think today he started to come around and feel a little better. I thought he had a good game, I thought he played well."
Quotable
Stefen Wisniewski on playing in the cold weather:
"I would have liked maybe a little drier on the ground, because people think skill guys are the only ones that gotta cut, but linemen, we gotta have our balance, too. So maybe a little drier, but hey, I'll take 30 degrees all the time. That's great. I sweat a lot less, you know? That's nice."
