Clark helps No. 13 Penn State cruise
November 22, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)—Daryll Clark passed for 310 yards and four touchdownsas No. 13 Penn State wrapped up its regular season with a 42-14 victory atMichigan State on Saturday.
Clark moved into first place in the school’s record book with 23 TD passesin a season and 42 in a career.
Penn State (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten) now must wait to learn of its postseasondestination. The Nittany Lions have a shot at getting a BCS berth. Theconference’s automatic bid goes to Ohio State.
Michigan State (6-6, 4-4) also is bowl-bound.
Evan Royster gained 114 yards on 13 carries for Penn State, which pulledaway in the third quarter after the score was tied 7-7 at halftime.
Kirk Cousins completed 16 of 28 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown for theSpartans. He was intercepted twice, setting up short Penn State scoring drives.
Penn State is assured of back-to-back seasons of at least 10 wins for thefirst time since 1993-94, but the Nittany Lions lost any chance to share the BigTen championship before kickoff. Ohio State, which had already clinched the BCSberth, claimed the crown outright by beating Michigan earlier in the day.
The Nittany Lions have a shot at an at-large BCS bid, but Iowa—which beatPenn State earlier this season—finished with an identical 10-2 record. Onlytwo teams from any conference can play in the BCS.
Orange Bowl representatives were at Saturday’s game. Penn State could be aprime candidate for the Capital One Bowl or the Outback Bowl if it gets left outof the BCS.
Michigan State will be headed to a bowl for the third straight season forthe first time since 1995-97. But the Spartans’ defense was shredded by PennState after halftime.
Penn State grabbed a 14-7 lead just over a minute into the half with thehelp of a trick play. Wide receiver Curtis Drake took a handoff and rolledright, throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Quarless in the back of theend zone.
It capped a 55-yard, three-play drive aided by a roughing the passerpenalty.
Penn State increased its lead to 21-7 midway through the third quarter.Clark rolled to his right, planted and threw back across the field to the leftsideline—finding Joe Suhey all alone for a 30-yard TD pass.
Penn State’s Nick Sukay intercepted Cousins’ pass on the next series,setting up the Nittany Lions at the Michigan State 32. Clark fired a TD pass toGraham Zug on the very next play, giving Penn State a 28-7 lead with 5:22 leftin the third.
The Land Grant Trophy—a 4-foot-tall, 50-pound hunk of wood adorned with aNittany Lion, Spartan and other images—stays with Penn State after Saturday’svictory.
The trophy was created when Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993. PennState and Michigan State are the nation’s pioneer land grant universities.
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