Penn State 'one play away'

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The Nittany Lions have given top-five-rated teams strong competition.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — They were routed by Notre Dame, stumbled late against Ohio State and battered by Michigan.

Three games against top-five opponents, three losses for Penn State. No other team in the country has had to face such a tough trifecta this season.

The Wolverines were the latest highly ranked opponent to hang the Nittany Lions with a loss, 17-10, Saturday night. But linebacker Paul Posluszny isn't making excuses.

"With Penn State, there is no such thing as a moral victory," said Posluszny, who had seven tackles and a sack. "We have to learn from what happened and realize we are one play away from beating top five teams. We have to start making that play."

At least the Nittany Lions (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) are getting closer on the scoreboard. Then-No. 4 Notre Dame blew out Penn State 41-17 at South Bend in week two.

The Lions hung close late against top-ranked Ohio State in week four at the Horseshoe before the Buckeyes scored on two late-game interceptions in a 28-6 win.

Manningham shelved

And on Saturday, Posluszny and the Penn State defense played relatively well against Michigan (7-0, 4-0), which was without injured receiver Mario Manningham (Warren Harding High). Quarterback Chad Henne felt some pressure and Michigan had their lowest point total of the season.

But Michigan's defense was even better in front of a mostly hostile crowd of 110,007 — the second-largest crowd ever at Beaver Stadium. Only a 2002 game against Nebraska drew more fans (110,753).

The blue-and-white faithful went home disappointed. Consider these lowly statistics against Michigan:

33 rushing yards for running back Tony Hunt, 78 below his season average.

The Nittany Lions were held to minus-14 rushing yards total, in part due to the negative yardage resulting from Michigan's seven sacks. That was the first time a Joe Paterno-coached squad had negative rushing yards.

Two quarterbacks knocked out: Starter Anthony Morelli left in the third quarter with a concussion, and backup Darryll Clark departed in the fourth after looking groggy following a scramble.

Clark's status not determined

Clark, the Ursuline High graduate, landed on the back of his head, though his neck was fine, a team official said. The availability of both quarterbacks for this week's game against Illinois was still unclear, and doctors were supposed to update the coaches today.

"We played against a pretty good [defensive line]," Paterno said. "They did great on us."

Monday, October 16, 2006