Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/86430
Did anybody see McGloin pull the Discount Double Check after the TD? PSUFAN2 Take away a couple PSU special teams mistakes and today's game might not have been as close as the final score. KSLion [Zach Zwinak's yards] can't even be measured. The kid's heart is amazing. I think he won this game for us. He inspried this whole football team today. FROM THE WEB Waltwarm MARKED MAN Mark's 75-yard punt return touchdown gave the Wildcats a 28-17 lead. CAN'T HOLD ON Northwestern squanders momentum as PSU rallies to victory It would be much too simplistic to MATT HERB | M A T T@B L U E WH I T E O N L I N E . C O M characterize Penn State's game against Northwestern as a battle of brains vs. brawn. After all, the Wild- cats are pretty brawny in their own right, and Penn State is coached by an Ivy League guy. But when Venric Mark fielded a deep punt late in the third quarter Saturday, he was determined to outsmart the Nit- tany Lions as well as outrun them. "They knew we were going to go right," Mark said. "I knew that they knew we were going to go right, so I went left. There was no one there but a kicker and one other guy." Mark's 75-yard punt return gave the Wildcats a jolt of momentum and seemed as though it might stand as the game's key play. But 24th-ranked Northwestern wasn't able to hold on, surrendering 22 unanswered points to end the game. The come-from-ahead loss left the Wildcats frustrated. While they made some plays in the kicking game, they struggled on offense and defense against Penn State. The Nittany Lions built a 19-minute edge in time of pos- session, and ran 99 plays to North- western's 61. The visit to University Park offered Northwestern an opportunity to go 6-0 for the first time since 1962. But in- stead, coach Pat Fitzgerald and his team are looking to regroup as they get ready for next week's trip to Minnesota. "They're not very happy right now, and I'm really glad they're not," Fitzgerald said. "We've got to play bet- ter to win, and when you come on the road and put yourself in position in the fourth quarter to win a football game and you don't, you've got to look at it critically. "The one thing I thought we took a step forward in today was our kicking game. I thought our kicking game was really good. I thought it gave us a chance to win the football game on the road, and we've got to get the other two phases going. We had one phase step up in the kicking game and the other phases did not play well, and that's on us as coaches. We've got to be better." O C T O B E R 6 , 2 0 1 2 12 John Beale I love this team ONLINE REACTION TO PsU's LATEsT GAME and staff. All of them. And the crowd took over the game at the end. People should be excited about going to see Penn State play because this is a lot of fun. And the weather was tremendous. SUPride1 I'm convinced Belton hasn't completely healed from his high ankle sprain. Once healthy, he'll bring another dimension to this offense. hiptohoo Big win for future recruiting. Don't you think? DonP74 I am very happy with O'Brien and happy with the win. I have just one nitpick. Why does it seem like we abandon a perfectly functional rushing game in the red zone? Sandista! Fourth quarter was a character- builder. GREAT HEART by these boys. dogwood3131 I fully admit it. No way I thought we would overcome that 11-point deficit. psubowhunter When was the last time we saw a Penn State team play with this kind of emotion? They are so tight with each other it is incredible. NorCal Lion B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M