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Royster leads No. 6 Penn State past Purdue
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Posted: October 4, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Evan Royster ran for 141 yards and a touchdown, and No. 6 Penn State beat Purdue 20-6 on Saturday.

Royster also had 53 yards on four catches for the Nittany Lions (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten).


Daryll Clark completed 18 of 26 passes for 226 yards and ran for a score for Penn State, which outgained Purdue 422 to 241 in its last test before next Saturday's showdown at Wisconsin.

Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter finished 13-for-22 for 112 yards. He moved past Mark Herrmann into second place on the school's career yards passing list, but on a day in which the 10,000 career yards passing milestone was in reach, he fell short and was benched in the fourth quarter. The loss left Painter with an 0-9 record against ranked teams in his career, and Purdue coach Joe Tiller has lost 15 straight against ranked opponents.

Kory Sheets led Purdue (2-3, 0-1) with 59 rushing yards on 18 carries. He broke a tie with Mike Alstott to set a school record with 40 career rushing touchdowns.

Penn State's Joe Paterno chose to coach from the press box because of a lingering right hip injury. The 81-year-old Paterno was hurt while performing an onside kick during practice on Aug. 28. It was the first time this season he didn't start a game on the sideline.

Purdue kicker Chris Summers missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt wide right on the first play of the second quarter to leave the game scoreless.

Penn State responded with the game's first scoring drive. Penn State running back Dan Lawlor was stopped on a third-and-goal from the 1, and Purdue appeared to have Penn State stopped on fourth down, Officials ruled that the fourth-down play didn't count because the previous play was being reviewed. The original call that Lawlor was short of the goal line stood, but Purdue fans were upset that the team's key stop was taken away. On the fourth down play that counted, Clark scored on a quarterback sneak, and Penn State took a 7-0 lead.

Summers was wide left on a 36-yard field goal with 3:41 left in the second quarter. Penn State kept the ball for the rest of the half, and finished the second quarter with a 25-yard field goal by Kevin Kelly that increased the Nittany Lions' lead to 10-0 at halftime.

Royster scored on a 4-yard run with 8:02 left in the third quarter to make it 17-0.

Late in the third quarter, Penn State safety Drew Astorino intercepted Painter and returned it 29 yards to the Purdue 30. Kelly made another field goal early in the fourth quarter, to make it 20-0.

Joey Elliott replaced Painter and quickly led Purdue down the field. Elliott's fourth-down completion to Desmond Tardy put the Boilermakers at the Penn State 1, and Sheets went over the top for Purdue's only points to make it 20-6.