Penn State humbles Syracuse in first matchup in 18 years

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Penn State Crushes Syracuse, 55-13

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Daryll Clark connected with Jordan Norwood on a 55-yard TD just 1:20 into the game to start a very long afternoon for Syracuse. Gameball goes to... Jordan Norwood, who caught five passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Stat of the game... 560: The Nittany Lions racked up 560 total yards, while the Orange posted 159. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	26	8
Total Yards	560	159
Passing	344	110
Rushing	216	49
Penalties	7-56	1-15
3rd Down Conversions	10-17	2-17
4th Down Conversions	2-2	3-5
Turnovers	2	2
Possession	35:06	24:54

Air/Ground Leaders
Penn State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Clark 10/21 163 2 0 Devlin 8/13 130 2 0	Syracuse Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Dantley 13/32 110 1 1 Robinson 0/3 0 0 0
Penn State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Royster 13 101 0 31 Green 10 52 1 11	Syracuse Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Brinkley 14 21 0 7 Robinson 1 9 0 9
Penn State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Norwood 5 113 2 55 Butler 7 110 2 28	Syracuse Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Davis 3 40 0 34 Mayes 1 26 0 26

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				PSU	SYR
	TD	13:40	Jordan Norwood 55 Yd Pass From Daryll Clark (Kevin Kelly Kick)	7	0
	TD	07:45	Deon Butler 17 Yd Pass From Daryll Clark (Kevin Kelly Kick)	14	0
	TD	02:54	Dan Lawlor 1 Yd Run (Kevin Kelly Kick)	21	0
SECOND QUARTER				PSU	SYR
	TD	12:11	Deon Butler 15 Yd Pass From Pat Devlin (Kevin Kelly Kick)	28	0
	FG	08:11	Patrick Shadle 44 Yd	28	3
	TD	02:32	Jordan Norwood 24 Yd Pass From Pat Devlin (Kevin Kelly Kick)	35	3
	FG	00:50	Patrick Shadle 44 Yd	35	6
	FG	00:00	Kevin Kelly 52 Yd	38	6
THIRD QUARTER				PSU	SYR
	TD	05:19	Stephfon Green 2 Yd Run (Kevin Kelly Kick)	45	6
	TD	01:23	Marcus Sales 11 Yd Pass From Cameron Dantley (Patrick Shadle Kick)	45	13
	FG	00:16	Collin Wagner 43 Yd	48	13
FOURTH QUARTER				PSU	SYR
	TD	02:50	Derek Moye 33 Yd Pass From Paul Cianciolo (Collin Wagner Kick)	55	13

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse celebrated its glorious past. Penn State reveled in its stellar present.

Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler each caught a pair of touchdown passes before halftime, and No. 17 Penn State renewed the rivalry between the schools with a rout Saturday, gaining nearly 400 yards and scoring 38 points in the first half on the way to a 55-13 win.

Fast Facts

• The "spread HD" continued to dominate their opponents as the Nittany Lions routed Syracuse behind 560 yards of offense. Penn State has outscored its opponents 166-37 in its three games this season.

• Joe Paterno picks up win No. 375 and stayed in a tie with Bobby Bowden atop the FBS all-time wins list (FSU beat Chattanooga on Saturday).

• Greg Robinson continued to struggle at Syracuse, dropping to 7-31 as head coach. The Orange have been outscored 127-51 in just three games this season.

-- ESPN research

"It's always a good thing when you score early," said Joe Paterno, who won his 375th game as Penn State coach. "I'm just not sure how good we're going to be yet. We haven't faced any adversity yet, so we'll see."

The rout came the day after former Syracuse stars Jim Brown, Floyd Little, Art Monk, Don McPherson, and 40 members of the unbeaten 1959 team attended the world premiere of "The Express," a movie about Ernie Davis. He was the star of that championship team and in 1961 became the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy, two years before he died of leukemia.

The schools met in every season except one from 1922-90, but the series ended when the Big East was formed and Penn State joined the Big Ten. Today, the programs are headed in opposite directions and it didn't take long to see that.

Penn State (3-0) outgained Syracuse 191-5 in the first quarter, and the Orange (0-3) did not get a first down until Cam Dantley hit Grant Mayes for a 26-yard gain early in the second. By that time, Syracuse trailed 28-0.

"It was a diffcult day at the office for us," said Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson, whose 7-31 record in three-plus years has his job in jeopardy. "The way it started was kind of the way it unfolded. They had us reeling for a little bit for a period of time."

There was little indication this game once meant so much to Eastern football. Syracuse, a 27 1/2-point underdog, finished with 49 yards rushing on 25 carries. Overall, the Nittany Lions outgained Syracuse 560-169 and allowed just eight first downs.

"We've been through this kind of adversity before. We know not to get down," Orange senior captain Jake Flaherty said. "We need to just keep plugging away. You've just got to bounce back, keep going when your back's against the wall."

Penn State has scored at least 35 points in the opening half of all three of its games, the first time the Nittany Lions have done that since 1994.

"We never let down," linebacker Navorro Bowman said. "You know to keep going, keep fighting and show the world that you can play ball."

The Nittany Lions, who lead the series 41-23-5, wasted no time demoralizing the 45,795 orange-clad fans, the largest Carrier Dome crowd in nearly five years. After fumbling the ball at their own 36 on the second play from scrimmage, they got it back on the next play when Dantley's quick pass to Curtis Brinkley in the left flat was ruled a lateral after it bounced short and was recovered by the Nittany Lions at their own 45.

Daryll Clark hit Norwood in the left flat on the next play, and he streaked untouched across the middle for a 55-yard TD reception.

"Teams are going to have to choose whether they want to back up or press us," said Butler, who had seven catches for 110 yards. "I think today they thought they could press us."

The Orange certainly couldn't, not with players regularly being shifted to different positions and so many inexperienced players in the lineup because of injuries. Five freshmen had substantial playing time on Saturday.

Norwood had five catches for 113 yards. Clark finished 10-for-21 for 163 yards passing and two TDs, and backup Pat Devlin was 8-for-13 for 130 yards and two scores. Evan Royster had 101 yards rushing on 13 carries, his second straight 100-yard game.

"Coach Paterno said they are a good team, don't sleep on them just because of their record," said Stephfon Green, who scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter. "We went to work in the Carrier Dome."

Patrick Shadle kicked field goals of 44 and 52 yards for the Orange, who scored their lone touchdown late in the third. Dantley, in just his third career start, hit Donte Davis over the middle for 35 yards, then connected with freshman Marcus Sales on an 11-yard scoring pass on fourth down.