Print

Mail

wiki links

Nittany Lions can't find a way to beat Boston College

Arms folded, eyes down, Joe Paterno began to pace the Penn State sideline on Saturday before the first quarter was even over.

It was a brisk pace. Paterno seemed particularly determined to find solutions hidden in the sideline chalk. So often, Paterno has come up with solutions that way.

But Saturday seemed like a lost cause from the start. Boston College thrashed the Nittany Lions, 27-14, exposing so many flaws on Paterno's team that he may need several weeks to fix them all. "I don't think I tried to fool anybody," Paterno said. "I said, `It's going to take us a while to become a good football team."'

Paterno has won 337 games at Penn State, but he has had teams that have needed time. Some were never good. Paterno found himself on Saturday making comparisons with the 2001 team, which lost its first four games and finished 5-6.

"I think we're better than that," Paterno said, smiling weakly. "We've got one."

The Nittany Lions beat Temple, 23-10, in their opener Aug. 30. But Boston College, which lost the week before last to Wake Forest and had beaten Penn State only twice in 21 meetings, made the Nittany Lions look unprepared and inept.

"We have to play with our heart and soul, and we didn't do it," Damone Jones, a senior offensive tackle for Penn State, said. Eagles quarterback Quinton Porter threw two touchdown passes in the first 5 minutes 11 seconds.

Boston College promptly intercepted a screen pass when Penn State missed a blocking assignment, then scored again less than two minutes later.

"We didn't make a lot of the silly mistakes we made" against Wake Forest, Boston College coach Tom O'Brien said.

Penn State could not manage a successful comeback because of its inexperienced, porous offensive line, and because Paterno and his coaching staff are still evaluating the players.

"We weren't comfortable at all," Penn State free safety Chris Harrell said. "It was just a little bit of nerves. We had a little bit of adjustments to make. I was in awe at first -- a little surprised. We didn't expect to be that far down that early."

Paterno said Zack Mills, a junior, was still Penn State's quarterback, but the Nittany Lions were more versatile when they used the sophomore Michael Robinson.

He did not replace Mills on Saturday, however, until the Nittany Lions trailed, 27-7. Robinson, who is often used as a flanker, touched the ball only once in the first half, and he quickly gave up the ball on a reverse. His first positive yardage came on a 17-yard quarterback draw with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

Robinson, who sustained an eye injury against Temple, wore a clear visor on his face mask on Saturday, but he said the injury was not a problem and the visor was not a handicap. Asked if he was puzzled that he was not used more or earlier, Robinson said: "A little, a little."

Those remaining in the crowd of 106,445 buzzed when Robinson entered the game with Austin Scott, a freshman from Allentown, Pennsylvania, who rushed for 3,853 yards as a high school senior and played well against Temple. Scott gained 22 yards on an option play to give the Nittany Lions a first down at the Boston College 11.

But linebacker Josh Ott stripped Scott of the ball on the next play, and he fumbled at the Eagles' 3. It was one of two fumbles the Nittany Lions lost inside the Boston College 20.
This story has been viewed 1574 times.