No. 3 Penn State Beats Wisconsin With Late Kick

Joe Paterno won’t take any credit for this victory.

The third-ranked Nittany Lions escaped with a 23-20 Big Ten Conference victory over stubborn Wisconsin on Saturday at Madison, Wis.

But Paterno, the winningest active coach in major college football, blamed himself for missed opportunities that kept the game close.

He called for a Wally Richardson pass into the end zone on a third-and-four situation from the Badgers’ seven with less than 90 seconds remaining. Free safety Kevin Huntley tipped it away, and on the next play, Brett Conway kicked a 23-yard field goal with 1:23 left to snap a 20-20 tie.

“I didn’t do a good job of coaching there. I think the kids won in spite of me,” Paterno said.

Wisconsin had a chance to tie the score, but John Hall’s 58-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide left as the clock expired, disappointing a crowd of 79,607--the third-largest at Camp Randall.

Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1) was the only team Penn State (5-0, 1-0) hadn’t beaten since joining the Big Ten in 1993. This was Penn State’s first visit to Madison in 26 years.

No. 25 Northwestern 35, Indiana 17--Darnell Autry rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns and D’Wayne Bates caught two touchdown passes from Steve Schnur for the Wildcats (3-1, 1-0) at Bloomington, Ind.

It was the 17th consecutive game that Autry has rushed for more than 100 yards.

Indiana (2-2, 0-1) came in the game ranked fifth in the nation in total defense, but gave up touchdown runs of 50 and 23 yards to Autry, and a 65-yard touchdown reception and plays of 40 and 37 yards to Bates.

Purdue 42, North Carolina State 21--Edwin Watson rushed for a career-high 227 yards and three touchdowns in a nonconference game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (1-3) gained 493 yards in avoiding its worst start since 1982. North Carolina State (0-3) had 436 yards.

Watson, who returned to fullback after starting the last two games at tailback, had the fourth-highest rushing total in Purdue history. He ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as the Boilermakers took a 28-6 lead.

Michigan State 47, Eastern Michigan 0--Wide receiver Nigea Carter and running back Sedrick Irvin each scored two touchdowns for the Spartans (2-2) in a nonconference game at East Lansing, Mich.

Freshman Bill Burke started at quarterback for Michigan State and completed eight of 22 passes for 166 yards. Eastern Michigan is 1-4.