Life Really the Pits for Penn State After Pitt’s 12-0 Victory

Things have gone from bad to worse for Penn State, which was shut out, 12-0, at Pittsburgh Saturday.

Penn State (1-3) opened the season with losses to USC and Toledo before beating Louisiana Tech, 67-7, a week ago.

In the last scheduled game of the series between the intrastate rivals, Penn State’s offense was limited to 64 yards on the ground, and key sacks and penalties kept the Nittany Lions from threatening.

“I thought we would play well, and I thought we started well,” Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said. “But then it just got away from us. Everyone was looking around, waiting for something to happen.”

John Turman threw for 272 yards and a touchdown and Nick Lotz kicked two field goals for the Panthers (3-0). Turman, who shared time with redshirt freshman Rod Rutherford, was 11 for 19 with one interception. It was Pittsburgh’s first win against Penn State since a 14-7 victory at State College in 1988.

EAST

Michael Vick scored on a spectacular somersault into the end zone, threw for a touchdown and set up a third with a 45-yard escape and run as No. 8 Virginia Tech (3-0, 1-0) rolled to a 49-0 victory over Rutgers (2-1, 1-0) in a Big East opener at Blacksburg, Va. Vick, who passed for 105 yards and ran for 105 in the first half alone, flipped into the end zone to complete an eight-yard scoring run with 10:29 left in the first half. The Hokies had 348 of their 527 yards on the ground and Lee Suggs ran for four touchdowns. . . . West Virginia (2-0) limited Maryland’s Lamont Jordan to 38 yards in 18 carries in a 30-17 victory over the Terrapins at Morgantown, W.Va. The Terrapins trailed only 23-17 when a fumbled punt gave them a first-and-goal at the nine, but quarterback Calvin McCall was stopped on fourth down at the one. . . . Devin Scott completed 23 of 33 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns as Temple (2-1), off to its best start in six years, recorded a 31-14 victory over Bowling Green (0-3) at Philadelphia.

Rashad Bartholomew scored three touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 201 yards to lead defending Ivy League champion Yale (1-0) to a 42-6 nonconference victory over Dayton (2-1) at New Haven, Conn., as the Bulldogs became the first school to win 800 games. . . . Eric Webber threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and Mike Malan rushed for 183 yards to lead Brown (1-0) to a 36-20 victory over San Diego (1-2) at Providence, R.I. . . . Marko Glavic completed a two-yard pass to Phil Yarberough with two seconds left to give Lafayette (1-1) a 24-17 victory over Princeton (0-1) at Easton, Pa. . . . Quarterback Brian Hall rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns as Holy Cross (2-0) held off a late rally for a 27-25 Ivy League victory over Harvard (0-1) at Boston. . . . Phil Pleasant and Jamaal Burcher rushed for third-quarter touchdowns to lead Lehigh (2-0) to a 17-10 victory over Penn (0-1) at Bethlehem, Pa. . . . Jonathan Reese ran for 172 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns as Columbia (1-0) rolled to a 43-26 victory over Fordham (1-2) at New York.

MIDWEST

UCLA is off to the 3-0 start and so is Toledo. Chester Taylor gained 156 yards in 32 carries and scored the team’s only offensive touchdown as the Rockets (3-0) notched a 31-16 victory over Eastern Illinois (2-1) at Toledo, Ohio. . . . Jeff Ryan threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores as Division I-AA Youngstown State (3-0) earned a 26-20 victory over Kent State (0-3) at Kent, Ohio.

SOUTH

David Garrard threw two long touchdown passes in the second half and ran for 112 yards as East Carolina (2-1, 1-0) recorded a 37-17 victory over Tulane (0-2, 0-1) in a Conference USA game at Greenville, N.C.

SOUTHWEST

Donald Shoals returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown and Tulsa capitalized on three Rice fumbles as the Golden Hurricane (1-2, 1-0) recorded a 23-16 WAC victory over the Owls (1-2, 0-1) at Houston. . . . Ryan White’s four field goals gave Memphis (2-1) a 19-17 victory over Arkansas State (0-3) at Jonesboro, Ark. . . . Army’s Brendan Mullen missed a 32-yard field goal with six seconds left, giving Houston (1-2) a 31-30 victory over the Cadets (0-3) at Houston.

WEST

Nate Scott rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries, including a school-record 95-yard romp, in leading Wyoming (1-2) to a 31-10 victory over Central Michigan (1-2) at Laramie, Wyo. . . . Drew Miller threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns as Montana (2-1), ranked No. 10 in Division I-AA, closed out its nonconference schedule with a 53-3 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (0-3) at Missoula, Mont.

SOUTHLAND

Marcus King rushed for 180 yards and four touchdowns--including three in the second half--to lead Northern Arizona (2-0, 1-0) to a 49-26 victory over Cal State Northridge (1-2, 0-1) in a Big Sky game at Northridge. Marcus Brady passed for three touchdowns in the first half to lead Cal State Northridge to a 21-21 halftime tie. Brady finished with 352 yards passing. . . . Lewis & Clark (1-0) scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including one on a one-yard run by Jeff Scheid with 27 seconds left, to rally for a 21-17 victory over Redlands (1-1) at Portland, Ore. Jeff Thomas’ 30-yard touchdown run gave Redlands a 17-0 halftime lead. . . . Quarterback Brian Ferrette threw for three touchdowns to lead Pomona-Pitzer (2-0) to a 55-36 victory over Colorado College in a Division III game at Colorado Springs, Colo. Colorado’s Chris Witt passed for five touchdowns but also had three passes intercepted. . . . Chapman (0-2) gave up 443 yards of total offense, 330 in the first half, and lost to Whitworth College, 49-22, in a Division III game at Spokane, Wash.