PSU takes second victory of the season
BY GENARO C. ARMAS
AP SPORT WRITER
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP)
Another week of off-field drama
couldn't slow down No. 19 Penn
State.
The Nittany Lions shoved
aside the distraction created by
the suspension of two defensive
starters, then rolled over Oregon
State, 45-14 on Saturday.
Evan Royster rushed for 141 yards
and three touchdowns, Daryll
Clark threw two TD passes and the
Nittany Lions defense didn't miss
a beat when it counted.
"We got to go out and focus on
football," said Josh Gaines, a
defensive end and team captain.
Penn State has had to deal with a
string of off-field concerns since
April 2007.
"We got a good team here, great
players. It showed today," Gaines
said. "If we really want to get
something done, we can get it
done."
In surprisingly easy fashion, too.
What was supposed to be Penn
State's toughest nonconference
game of the year turned into a
laugher early. Oregon State fell to
0-2 for the first time since 2004.
Clark looked poised in the pocket
in his second career start, finishing
14-of-23 passing for 215 yards,
while also running for an 18-yard
score. Jordan Norwood finished
with a career-high 116 receiving
yards on eight catches, including a
22-yard touchdown reception.
Royster had 112 yards and all
three of his touchdowns with 11-
plus minutes left in the second
quarter.
"We didn't tackle well. We didn't
get off the field on third down,"
Oregon State cornerback Brandon
Hughes said. "When that you
happens, you can't win a game
like that."
Mickey Shuler tiptoed the sideline
in the end zone for an acrobatic
5-yard touchdown catch to give
Penn State (2-0) a 14-0 lead before
the Beavers sputtered on their next
drive.
Gaines tackled tailback Ryan
McCants for no gain, before fellow
defensive end Aaron Maybin
leveled the Beavers' Lyle Moevao
just as the quarterback released the
ball to force Oregon State to punt
from their own 37.
That didn't go well either
The snap to punter Johnny Hekker
was wide. Hekker tried to run but
was tackled by Penn State's Nate
Stupar for a 9-yard loss.
Two plays later, Royster went
off tackle for an easy 28-yard
touchdown run to give Penn State
a 21-0 lead with 14:41 left in the
second quarter.
Three-plus minutes later,
Royster got terrific lead blocks
from receiver Brett Brackett and
fullback Dan Lawlor to score
easily from 4 yards out on a sweep
for a 28-0 lead.
"Everything seemed to go well
for us early, and it put them on their
Gas prices affects college tailgating
BY GENARO C. ARMAS
AP SPORT WRrrER
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP)
Like the coach of a team losing
at halftime, college football fans
banged around by high gas prices
are changing their game plans.
They are cramming into sedans
and leaving the RVs at home,
speeding by hotels where they
stayed in the past and, in some
cases, making the hard decision
to go to fewer games.
On a big weekend of college
football, The Associated Press
found fans from the parking
lots of Happy Valley to Eugene,
Ore., who said they are making
concessions yet determined to
indulge their passion.
As rain fell Saturday in central
Pennsylvania before No. 17 Penn
State beat Oregon State, sales
executive Dan Wilhelm huddled
under a tent next to his SUV
after a three-hour drive from
Pittsburgh.
His friend and fellow Penn
State alum, Bick Remmey, had
organized a party in the next
parking spot. Burgers sizzled on
the grill, while the table featured
a commemorative Joe Paterno
plate from the 19705.
To cut costs, the Wilhelm
family gave up their big summer
vacation typically to a spot like
Hilton Head, S.C. to be there.
"It just felt like we knew football
season was coming, and we knew
heels," coach Joe Patemo said.
By that time, the biggest concern
for the giddy student section was
whether they could twirl their
white rally towels in the air in
unison while cheering "We are ...
Penn State!" They were headed
for the exits by early in the fourth
quarter, with the Nittany Lions up
by 38.
It was Patemo's 374th career
victory, temporarily putting him
one ahead of Florida State's
Bobby Bowden for most wins
among major college coaches. The
Seminoles were to play Western►
Carolina later Saturday.
Regardless, Saturday's win made
that was one 12-week vacation,"
Wilhelm said.
"You don't cut this," he added.
With its spacious lots and
overflow parking in grass fields,
Happy Valley is a mecca of
Saturday tailgating. More than
100,000 fans pack Penn State's
enormous stadium every home
game and thousands more
without tickets are happy just to be
able to hang out at the tailgates.
Greg Stanton and Neil Plotkin
made the 300-mile drive from
northeast Maryland to State
College on Saturday. Stanton, a
1992 Penn State graduate, took
his sedan and left the RV at home
to save on gas.
Stanton and Plotkin didn't set
up picnic tables or camp chairs.
Instead, the two security systems
workers ate and drank out of the
trunk the car.
"We basically let the wife and
children not eat for a week so we
can do this," joked Plotkin, who
was attending his first Penn State
game.
In Auburn, Ala., college football
Saturdays are a way of life. But
even some fans of the No. 9
Tigers are weighing whether to
go to every game especially if
the opponent is from outside the
tough Southeastern Conference.
High school teacher Brian
Grantham, drove four hours from
Foley, Ala., in a camper-trailer
to watch Auburn beat Southern
Miss, but he said he might skip
out on other non-SEC games.
Paterno feel good about his defense
after the Hall of Fame coach didn't
play pass-rushing end Maurice
Evans or fellow starting defensive
lineman Abe Koroma because of
an unspecified off-field issue.
Patemo had initially said he would
hold out a third player, Andrew
Quarless, for the game for the
same issue, but the second-string
tight end did suit up Saturday. He
took part in warmups, but did not
play.
Paterno after the game didn't
disclose why he changed his mind
on Quarless, and said he wasn't
sure about when Evans or Koroma
would play next.
"I do a little more planning and
have to think about things a little
more," Grantham said.
John Schneller, of McDonough,
Ga., drove about two hours to get
to the Auburn game. Giving up
tickets is a no-no his wife is an
Auburn alum.
"Even with gas prices so high,
you've still got to have some
sort of entertainment," he said.
"Spread over three months, this
is still the best entertainment you
can find."
But they're cutting back by
driving home after games instead
of spending the night at a hotel.
Schneller said hotel rates have
just become too expensive.
For many fans, the football
weekend is about more than just
about the game. It's a brief respite
from the everyday worries of
balancing the checkbook and
paying the bills.
Mike Swaim, a lawyer from
Salem, Ore., attends a couple of
Ducks games each year with his
wife, Kellie. He paid $3.60 per
gallon to fill up for the hourlong
trip to Eugene to watch No. 16
Oregon trounce Utah State last
week.
"If it's food and rent vs. football
tickets, obviously food and rent
takes precedent," Swaim said.
"But when you're talking about
discretionary spending, these
games are the moments you look
back on and tell your kids about.
So it's worth it."
In Clemson, S.C., insurance
He was happy, though, with the
guys who stepped up to fill the
void.
"You got some good (assistant)
coaches, and some good kids who
realize there's an opportunity for
them," Paterno said.
Oregon State had a few highlights,
including Jacquizz Rodgers' 12-
yard scoring run late in the second
quarter, when the freshman
broke three tackles up the middle
and tumbled into the end zone.
Rodgers added a fourth-quarter
TD run and finished with 99 yards
on 22 carries.
Moevao finished 25-of-41 for 250
yards and two interceptions.
agent Danny Marcengill, cut back
his ticket allotment this year from
five to three before the season
started, saving him some cash.
Marcengill spoke before Clemson
beat the Citadel last week, with
the disappointment of his beloved
Tigers' season-opening loss to
Alabama still fresh in his mind.
He said a victory then would have
erased any lingering concerns
about the cost of traveling to the
game.
"Well, if they had won last
week," he said, "I wouldn't have
thought about it quite as much."
Others said the cost of gas
didn't matter one bit they
were determined to root on their
favorite teams regardless.
Eric Linde, a construction
company executive, showed up
at Penn State on Saturday in a
massive RV complete with
satellite hookup and a flat-screen
TV mounted on the outside of the
trailer, shielded by an overhang.
Driving around the gas-guzzling
RV gets costly, he said, "but yet
... there's no consideration that
we're not coming to another game
because of fuel prices."
A grill swings out from the rear
of his trailer, with the words
"Serious Tailgaten" emblazoned
on the cabinet doors. Linde's son
in-law, Steve Atcavage, hammed
it up with friends and family as
he took charge of the sausages
cooking on the fire.
"People find ways to adapt," he
said. "Life is too short."