EVANSTON, Ill. -- The term "trap game" evoke all kinds of connotations, from playing down to an overmatched opponent to looking ahead to an interstate rival down the road.
For 45 minutes on Saturday, Penn State's game against North-western had all the makings of a traditional trap. But the No. 12 Nittany Lions woke up in the fourth quarter, scoring three touchdowns in less than four minutes to break open a tie game and top the Wildcats, 34-13, before 30,546 fans at Ryan Field.
"They certainly hung in there, didn't panic at halftime," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "I thought they did a good job."
Brandon Beachum scored his first touchdown of the season on a two-yard run with 12:27 left in the game, breaking a 13-13 tie. Penn State (8-1, 4-1 Big Ten) then scored on its next two offensive plays, with Daryll Clark finding an open Derek Moye down the Northwestern sideline for a 53-yard score and Evan Royster breaking off a career-long 69-yard touchdown run to make it 34-13 with 8:47 to go.
Moye matched a career-high with his third consecutive six-catch game and fourth of the season. He finished with 123 yards receiving.
Royster ran for 118 yards on 15 carries. The Lions are now 11-0 when he runs for more than 100 yards.
"I saw the safety come up on that play, and I was just praying that Daryll was gonna hand the ball off," Royster said, "because it was one of those ones where you could throw it out or hand it off, whichever one he chooses, and I was just praying because I knew it was gonna open up, and then after that I just had to run as fast as I could to get away from some people."
Royster and the rest of the Penn State offense had trouble moving the ball in the first half, netting just 136 total yards and trailing 13-10 at halftime.
Clark then led the Lions on an 11-play drive to open the third quarter that ended with a Collin Wagner field goal, and Penn State simply imposed its will on Northwestern (5-4, 2-3) in the fourth.
The Lions scored three touchdowns in three minutes, 40 seconds and their defense shut out the Wildcats -- led by reserve quarterback Dan Persa -- the rest of the way.
Northwestern's starter, Mike Kafka, left the game in the second quarter with a leg injury.
His counterpart, Clark, put in another impressive outing, going 22-for-31 for 274 yards and a touchdown. The senior captain also scored his 20th career rushing touchdown -- tying Michael Robinson for a school record by a quarterback -- and went a third straight game without throwing an interception.
"We all just felt when they're down that we gotta do what we can to knock them down for good," Clark said, adding, "If you don't take care of business right away and you start turning the football over and not capitalizing on opportunities, they end up coming back."
With Northwestern in its hindsight, Penn State can now focus solely on No. 15 Ohio State, which has split its last four meetings with the Lions.
But for a while on Saturday, it looked like next weekend's matchup would lose some of its luster.
Notes
Stephfon Green (ankle) traveled with the team but did not dress. ... Persa's mother and sister attended Penn State. ... Nerraw McCormack replaced right tackle Ako Poti for a few plays in the first quarter after Poti had trouble with his shoe. ... The Lions moved up one spot to No. 11 in the latest AP poll, released Sunday.
