If there's one thing Daryll Clark learned from mostly watching on the sidelines two years ago, it's that the point spread doesn't matter until the final snap.

Two seasons ago, Penn State traveled to Michigan State and grabbed a 17-point third-quarter lead before a collapse led to a stunning defeat.

"They had their thing going on offense, and we just weren't able to put on any more points and they ended up just taking over the football game all together. I just feel like if we would've finished it, we definitely would've won that football game," Clark said during his Wednesday conference call.

"They fight till the last whistle. And that's what they showed in 2007."

Clark went 0-for-1 passing and ran for negative-2 yards in the game while his counterpart under center this weekend for the Spartans, Kirk Cousins, was redshirted that season and watched from the sidelines..

This time, the two signal callers rank Nos. 1 and 2 in the Big Ten in passing efficiency, with Clark's 19 touchdown passes pacing the league and Cousins tossing just five interceptions.

Penn State head coach Joe Paterno has repeatedly said Clark hasn't gotten the recognition he believes the quarterback deserves, but the coach took this notion one step further regarding other players in the Big Ten like Cousins.

"I don't think some of the kids in our league have gotten the credit they should get, either the wideouts or the quarterbacks," Paterno said during his weekly press conference.

Both quarterbacks may be in the running for conference honors, but Clark is more intent on helping the offense put together a complete performance.

In its last two victories, Penn State has scored 20 total first-half points as it trailed Northwestern and was tied with Indiana at the half before scoring a combined 45 points in the second half to pull away in both contests.

Clark said one reason for the slow starts is the correct guessing by the defenses.

When this happens, it comes down to making adjustments throughout the game before coming out of the locker room for the second half with basically a new game plan.

"The main thing is not to panic," Clark said.

"Just make sure whenever you get the chance to execute when there's a gap or when there's an opportunity to put some points on, make sure you get that done. Because on the road at a tough place like out there in East Lansing, the opportunity may not come as much."

The senior reasoned the inconsistency is natural considering a primarily new cast at the line and with the wideouts this season. Of course, now that it's the final game of the regular season, those new guys have basically a full season under their belts.

Ironically, the slow starts that have hindered the Nittany Lions in recent weeks weren't present in the two losses this season, as, instead, the Lions were shut out in the second half against both the Hawkeyes and the Buckeyes.

But this weekend, Clark hinted that playing just one half of solid football would end more like the Iowa and Ohio State games than the Northwestern and Indiana games.

"When you're playing against a quarterback such as [Cousins], he'll definitely make some things happen and definitely put us in a big hole," Clark said.

"I'm sure our defense has been working hard on their side of the field this week and we've been doing the same thing on ours because they have a good defense."