East Roundup : Penn State Sputters to a 19-0 Win

Quarterback John Shaffer drove Penn State to a touchdown on its first possession at Morgantown, W.Va., Saturday night, but from there the second-ranked Nittany Lions had to rely on four field goals from Massimo Manca and an unrelenting defense to gain a 19-0 victory over West Virginia.

“It was good to come down here and take the first drive and make a big league drive, and after that we sputtered all over the place,” Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said.

Paterno said the Nittany Lions, who have beaten West Virginia 29 times in their last 31 meetings, “got a little greedy at times” after Shaffer’s 23-yard pass to D.J. Dozier capped a 91-yard first-quarter scoring drive.

“We had people trying to make things happen instead of doing the things they are supposed to do,” he said. “They were trying to make big plays . . . instead of just pecking away and doing what we do best.”

What the Nittany Lions did best was play defense, allowing West Virginia past midfield only three times. The Mountaineers, 2-6 and heading to their first losing season since 1978, managed only nine first downs in their sixth consecutive defeat.

Manca’s six field goal attempts set a Penn State record, and his four field goals were one short of the school mark.

Dozier finished with 63 yards in 12 carries and has 2,962 career rushing yards in four seasons, surpassing Lydell Mitchell, who had 2,934 in three seasons. Curt Warner holds the Penn State career record with 3,398 yards.

Syracuse 24, Pittsburgh 20--Scott Schwedes caught a two-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Don McPherson midway through the fourth quarter, giving the Orangemen an upset victory over the Panthers at Syracuse, N.Y.

Schwedes’ leaping catch in the corner of the end zone with 8:46 to play was his second touchdown of the afternoon and lifted the Orangemen (3-5) to their second straight win.

McPherson, who connected with Schwedes on an 11-yard scoring strike in the second quarter, also tossed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Kane.

Pitt (4-3-1) opened a 10-0 advantage by blocking a punt for a safety in the first quarter, getting another two points in the second period when Syracuse punter Tim Fox had to step out of his own end zone after receiving a high snap from center, and kicking two field goals.

Villanova 42, Columbia 34--Freshman quarterback Kirk Schulz triggered a 28-point third quarter with three touchdown passes as the Wildcats rallied at New York to send the Lions to their 28th straight defeat.

Columbia led at halftime, 28-14, but Schulz threw three scoring passes in five minutes as the Wildcats (6-1) converted two fumble recoveries and an interception into touchdowns to take a 35-28 lead.

Columbia is 0-7 this season and is winless in its last 31 games, the longest winless streak in the nation.

Boston College 27, Army 20--Shawn Halloran tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Peter Casparriello with 4:43 to play, and Troy Stradford rushed for 240 yards and a score as the Golden Eagles won at West Point, N.Y.

Stradford, a 5-foot-9 senior tailback, carried 34 times to help the Eagles improve to 5-3. Army (3-5) produced 242 rushing yards out of the wishbone.

Colgate 42, Lafayette 7--Junior tailback Kenny Gamble rushed for 201 yards to tie the NCAA Division I-AA record for most 200-yard games rushing in a season and lead the Red Raiders to a Colonial League victory at Hamilton, N.Y.

Colgate is 2-6 overall, 1-3 in the first-year league. Lafayette fell to 5-3 and 1-2.

Gamble, who had 31 carries, has rushed for at least 200 yards in four games this season. He also tied the Division I-AA career mark for 200-yard rushing games with five.

Brown 31, Harvard 19--Mark Donovan, who ran for one touchdown and passed for three, threw to tight end Pete Zidlicky for a 66-yard score in the fourth quarter as the Bears (4-3, 3-2) came from behind to beat the Crimson (2-5, 2-3) in an Ivy League game at Boston.

The game was Harvard’s 1,000th since it began playing football in 1874. Its record is 670-281-49. Harvard became the third college to play 1,000 games, after Pennsylvania and Yale.

Penn 23, Princeton 10--Rich Comizio rushed for 154 yards in 29 carries, and Chris Flynn had 117 yards and 2 touchdowns in 17 carries at Princeton, N.J., as the undefeated Quakers struggled to their seventh straight victory.

The 7-0 start is the best for the Quakers since 1924, but the victory did not come easy against the 2-5 Tigers, who got a 49-yard touchdown run from Derek Wassink in the second quarter.

The Quakers, who are three games away from their first undefeated season since 1904, led only 16-10 with 13:36 left to play.

Holy Cross 41, Massachusetts 7--Quarterback Jeff Wiley completed 16 of 28 passes for 310 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Crusaders to a victory at Worcester, Mass. Wiley has a school-record 1,857 passing yards this season.

Other stars for Holy Cross (8-0) were fullback Tom Kelleher, who rushed for 148 yards in 22 carries, a career best, and tailback Gordon Lockbaum, who amassed 260 total yards, also a career best.

Holy Cross also set a team record of 27 interceptions in a season by intercepting three passes against Massachusetts (7-2).

Dartmouth 39, Yale 13--Quarterback Dave Gabianelli passed for three touchdowns, and Ernie Torain ran for three as the Big Green upset the Bulldogs at New Haven, Conn.

Gabianelli completed 16 of 24 passes for 274 yards to spoil the 200th game for Yale Coach Carmen Cozza. Dartmouth is 1-7, and Yale is 2-5.

Cornell 16, Bucknell 3--At Ithaca, N.Y., junior wide receiver Shaun Hawkins caught two Marty Stallone touchdown passes in the first half to lead the Big Red to a nonconference victory.

Cornell (6-1) had established a potent running attack in previous games, but the Big Red took to the air for the key plays against the Bisons (3-5).