Paterno has overview of win

Penn State’s Joe Paterno has coached from the press box before, and he’ll probably do it again as long as the Nittany Lions continue to play like they did in a 20-6 victory over Purdue on Saturday at West Lafayette, Ind.

With Paterno, 81, sidelined because of a lingering left hip injury he suffered in late August, Penn State rolled over the Boilermakers to improve to 6-0 and give the legendary coach some help with his pain.

“Sometimes I feel great, sometimes I don’t,” said Paterno, who made it down to the field to shake the hand of Purdue Coach Joe Tiller before the game. “So, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be on the field or coach upstairs.”

For Paterno, dealing with personal injury is nothing new.

Two weeks ago, Paterno spent the second half of Penn State’s 45-3 win over Temple coaching from the Beaver Stadium press box, and in 2006 a broken right leg and torn ligaments in his knee required surgery that kept him off the field for the final two regular season games.

In other injury news, Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter started against California but suffered a left ankle injury in the Sun Devils’ 24-14 loss to the Bears and left the stadium on crutches.

Virginia Tech defeated Western Kentucky, 27-13, but lost starting running back Kenny Lewis Jr. for the season when he suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon in the third quarter.

For the second game in a row, West Virginia quarterback Pat White did not finish because of injury and backup Jarrett Brown stepped in to complete a 24-17 win over Rutgers.

Texas Christian handed San Diego State a 41-7 defeat and the Aztecs lost starting quarterback Ryan Lindley to a right shoulder injury in the second quarter.

Star tracks

Illinois quarterback Isiah “Juice” Williams had plenty of spectacular plays in accounting for 431 yards and four touchdowns in the Illini’s 45-20 victory over Michigan.

Williams’ most impressive effort came early in the fourth quarter with Illinois leading, 31-20. Williams, who finished with 310 yards passing and 121 yards rushing, faked a pitch and then outran the Wolverines’ defense for a 50-yard gain, setting up a one-yard touchdown run by Mikel LeShoure that gave the Illini a commanding 38-20 lead. . . .

Georgia Tech freshman quarterback Jaybo Shaw made the most out of his first start in leading the Yellow Jackets to a 27-0 victory over Duke. Filling in for injured starter Josh Nesbitt, Shaw passed for 230 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score.

And the most interesting thing about Shaw’s effort? He completed nine of 13 passes with every completion going to Jonathan Dwyer, who finished with 230 yards receiving, the second-highest total in Georgia Tech history behind Dez White’s record 243 against Virginia in 1998. . . .

In Michigan State’s 16-13 victory over Iowa, Spartans linebacker Adam Decker made the defensive play of the day when the Hawkeyes had the ball deep in Michigan State territory late in the fourth quarter.

With Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz deciding to forgo a potential game-tying field goal on fourth down and one from the Spartans’ 21-yard line, Decker tackled Shonn Greene -- who finished with 157 yards rushing in 30 carries -- for a loss to clinch the win for Michigan State. . . .

USC’s Joe McKnight is often compared to former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, but it was Stafon Johnson who made a “Reggie-like” run in the Trojans’ 44-10 victory over Oregon.

With USC leading, 27-10, early in the third quarter, Johnson took a pitch to the left, made an ankle-breaking cut to the right and then sprinted away from defenders for a 22-yard touchdown run.

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Undisciplined and unruly are characteristics normally not associated with Notre Dame and Stanford, but that’s probably the best way to describe how the teams looked following a 28-21 home victory by the Irish.

Tempers flared after Stanford failed to score on the game’s final play and a brief scuffle between two players nearly turned into a full-scale brawl. Fortunately, before any major punches landed, cooler heads prevailed and Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh and Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis were able to get their teams separated. . . .

Alabama may have remained undefeated with a 17-14 home win over Kentucky, but the Tide benefited from a break late in the fourth quarter to get it done.

Leading 14-7, Alabama running back Glen Coffee fumbled inside the Wildcats’ 20-yard line, but Kentucky defensive backs David Jones and Marcus McClinton were unable to recover the football before it bounced out of bounds. Possession was given back to the Tide at the Kentucky 12, which led to a game-clinching 24-yard field goal by Alabama’s Leigh Tiffin with 2:12 remaining.

Block party

North Carolina’s Bruce Carter had a career game for a special teams player in the Tar Heels’ 38-12 victory over Connecticut. Carter blocked a school-record three punts in the first half to set the stage for North Carolina’s upset victory over the previously unbeaten Huskies. . . .

In Navy’s 33-27 victory over Air Force, the Midshipmen blocked two punts for touchdowns, with Blake Carter being involved in both plays. Carter returned a blocked punt 25 yards for a score in the first half and blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown by teammate Bobby Doyle in the fourth quarter. Navy had not blocked a punt in nearly nine years.

Records and streaks

Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker, the Big Ten Conference’s leading receiver, tied a school record with 13 catches for 190 yards in the Gophers’ 16-7 victory over Indiana. . . . Arizona’s Rob Gronkowski matched a school record with three touchdown catches in the Wildcats’ 48-14 victory over Washington. . . . Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s streak of consecutive passes without an interception came to an end at 203 when Arkansas’ Jerry Franklin picked off his pass in the third quarter of the Gators’ 38-7 victory.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com