Wildcats Fall To Nittany Lions, 33-7

Saturday, September 30

University Park, Pa.

2:30 PM

Northwestern

2-3 , 0-1

Penn State

3-2 , 1-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Northwestern	0	7	0	0	7
Penn State	6	10	17	0	33

Northwestern quarterback Andrew Brewer, left, tries to get out of the clutches of Penn State linebacker Tim Shaw in the first quarter. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

9/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Sept. 30, 2006

NU at Penn State Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Box Score

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Northwestern traveled to Penn State for the second of three consecutive road games and wound up on the short end of a 33-7 decision to the defending Big Ten co-champions.

In a matchup of the oldest and youngest coaches in Division I-A, Joe Paterno and Penn State earned the win over Pat Fitzgerald and his Wildcats -- Fitzgerald's first game as a Big Ten head coach.

Penn State's Deon Butler was Saturday's star, setting a Penn State record with 216 yards receiving yards. Tony Hunt ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns.

Linebacker Sean Lee had a sack and an interception to thwart back-to-back Northwestern drives in the third quarter, and Penn State took advantage each time by following up with scoring runs by Hunt to break open the game.

The second TD, from six yards out, was trademark Hunt -- stopped just short of the goal line before trudging forward, with help by a gaggle of teammates, to give the Nittany Lions (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) a 33-7 lead.

With a white towel draped around his neck and blue Penn State jacket, the 79-year-old Paterno walked to midfield to hug and shake hands with the 31-year-old Fitzgerald after beating the Wildcats (2-3, 0-1).

Penn State was able to move the ball most of the day behind Hunt and long completions from Anthony Morelli to Butler. The Lions outgained the Wildcats 329-127 by halftime, but led just 16-7 after the Wildcats came up with three red-zone stops and forced the Nittany Lions to settle for field goals early.

Penn State broke the game open in the third quarter thanks in part to big plays on defense.

Northwestern redshirt freshman Andrew Brewer, making his first start in place of injured starter Mike Kafka, was sacked at his own 10 by Jay Alford. A penalty pushed Northwestern back another 5 yards before a Maurice Evans and blitzing Lee sacked Brewer at the 1.

Three plays later, Hunt scored from 14 yards to give the Nittany Lions a 26-7 lead.

Lee then picked off Brewer's pass at the Wildcats' 44 on Northwestern's next play from scrimmage. Morelli hit Butler on a couple short completions and connected with a jumping Derrick Williams on a perfect throw over tight coverage before Hunt had his 6-yard score.

Butler finished with 11 catches, and set the Penn State record on his last reception, a 7-yard reception from backup quarterback Darryl Clark late in the fourth quarter. Butler broke O.J. McDuffie's single game receiving yards record of 212, set against Boston College in 1992.

Morelli, making his fifth career start, finished 19-of-33 for 288 yards. Brewer was 14-of-30 for 157 yards and one interception, and ran 17 times for 41 yards.

The Wildcats' only score came in the second quarter after Nick Roach picked off Morelli's only interception of the day and returned it to the Penn State 16.

On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Tyrell Sutton took an option pitch from Brewer and was tackled just short of the end zone by Paul Posluszny but was able to extend the ball over the goal line before going out of bounds to cut the Penn State lead to 9-7.

The Wildcats didn't score again.

Sutton finished with eight carries for 40 yards.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)