Northwestern
Penn State
Wildcat Football Knocked Off By Penn State, 38-35
10/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct 20, 2001
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By DAVE CARPENTER
Associated Press Writer
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Joe Paterno's season-long long wait for a share of the major-college coaching record ended Saturday with a dramatic come-from-behind victory over the 22nd-ranked Wildcats.
Zack Mills threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Eric McCoo with 22 seconds remaining as Penn State rallied for a 38-35 victory, enabling Paterno to tie Bear Bryant for most Division I victories with 323.
Paterno is 323-94-3 in 36 seasons at Penn State. Bryant was 323-85-17 in 38 seasons at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama. Florida State's Bobby Bowden earned his 319th victory Saturday night against Virginia.
McCoo's TD capped a back-and-forth game in which Penn State (1-4, 1-3 Big Ten) came from behind five times.
It overcame a go-ahead touchdown run by Northwestern quarterback Zak Kustok -- his third of the game -- with 2:03 left that had made it 35-31.
Mills, a redshirt freshman, was called on for the first time during the game-winning, 69-yard drive after starter Matt Senneca was knocked out of the game on a jarring tackle. He promptly completed 5 of 8 passes, connecting with McCoo near the goal line on the left side.
Senneca ran for the first two touchdowns of his college career and threw for another as the Nittany Lions surpassed in one game their previous point total of 31 for the year.
Robbie Gould kicked a 24-yard field goal with 3:36 left to give Penn State its first lead of the game at 31-28.
Senneca completed 20 of 39 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown, also to McCoo. Bryan Johnson caught eight passes for 129 yards.
The defeat overshadowed a career-best performance from Kustok. The Big Ten leader in total offense, Kustok was 23-for-40 and a touchdown to Sam Simmons, and rushed for 115 yards on 21 carries for Northwestern (4-2, 2-2). He totaled a personal-high 413 yards in total offense. Besides the TD pass, he equaled a career best by running for three scores. Simmons caught seven passes for 168 yards.
After a week off to ponder the worst start in its 115-year football history, Penn State revived its struggling offense with a season-best 501 yards offense, including 213 on the ground.
Entering the game as the worst rushing team in the country, averaging just 40.8 yards, the Nittany Lions managed their first rushing touchdown of the season and first of any kind in the first half.
Northwestern broke through first when Zustok, after hitting Sam Simmons on a 55-yard pass play, scampered untouched over left tackle for a 9-yard TD run on the next play.
Senneca led Penn State on a 73-yard touchdown drive early in the second period to tie it, lobbing a 16-yard pass to McCoo. Not only was it the first time the Lions had been in the end zone before halftime all season, it was their first points in October, following a shutout loss to Michigan and a week off.
The teams traded scores again to make it 14-14, Kustok's 14-yard keeper offset by McCoo's tackle-busting 7-yard run.
Northwestern took a 21-14 just before halftime when Simmons slipped behind double coverage and hauled in Kustok's 44-yard scoring pass. Then Senneca pushed into the end zone from a yard out to make it 21-21 early in the third period.
The Nittany Lions came back for tie No. 3 when Senneca, coming off a shoulder sprain and playing for the first time in three weeks, pushed into the end zone from a yard out with 9:26 left in the third quarter.
Nine minutes later, after Damien Anderson had given Northwestern a brief 28-21 lead on a 3-yard TD, Senneca added a 1-yard TD on a sneak.
