Penn State wins, lobbies for BCS bid
November 21, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)—It didn’t take long for Penn State to start lobbyingfor a BCS bid.
Daryll Clark passed for 310 yards and four touchdowns Saturday as the No. 13Nittany Lions wrapped up their regular season with a 42-14 victory againstMichigan State on Saturday.
Clark set a school record with his 23rd TD passes this season and set thecareer record with 42. He also moved to the front of a line of folks in NittanyLion Nation hoping for an at-large slot in the lucrative Bowl ChampionshipSeries.
“Yes we do,” Clark said when asked if Penn State (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten)deserved a BCS slot.
Penn State may be a long shot. Clark noted the Nittany Lions have lost twice— to BCS automatic qualifier Ohio State and fellow at-large hopeful Iowa—butsays his team deserves credit for bouncing back to finish the season strong.
Coach Joe Paterno also made his team’s case, in good-natured fashion.
“What do you want me to say?,” Paterno asked reporters outside SpartanStadium. “Pick us. Maybe I could get on the phone and call somebody and say,‘you owe me one,’ or ‘you might find a horse’s head in your bed’.”
Michigan State (6-6, 4-4) also is bowl-bound and may have a long wait tofigure out the exact bid. But the Spartans were stinging after getting routed byPenn State in Saturday’s second half. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said Michigan State quarterback KirkCousins, who threw for 155 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. “We workedvery hard and expected to come out and play well. In the second half, we didn’tdo that.”
Evan Royster gained 114 yards on 13 carries for Penn State. Graham Zug andAndrew Quarless each caught two TD passes.
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.
Penn State also has back-to-back seasons of at least 10 wins for the firsttime since the early 1990s, but the Nittany Lions lost any chance to share theBig Ten championship before kickoff. Ohio State claimed the crown outright bybeating 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.
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 Quarless in the back of the endzone.
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 toZug on the very next play, giving Penn State a 28-7 lead with 5:22 left in thethird.