TodayMoral victory is still a loss for Penn State
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Article RatingLINCOLN, Neb. - Moral victories don't normally come in to play for teams that are used to winning.
You don't hear coaches with perennially successful squads focus their postgame comments on how proud they were of their players' efforts in a loss. Especially when their offense mustered just 203 total yards and their run defense was as porous as Penn State's was Saturday night.
The Nittany Lions (1-2) allowed Nebraska to rush 72 times for 337 yards in an 18-10 loss Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
"We played hard and hung in there," Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said. "We're still not very precise on offense, but the defensive kids hung in there tough."
Moral victory indeed. PSU averted embarrassment in front of a national television audience. Their dirty little rebuilding secret stays in Happy Valley for another week.
In all fairness, the Lions should be satisfied with some of their improvements, especially on offense. Quarterback Zack Mills wasn't running for his life on every pass play like he was in PSU's 27-14 loss to Boston College.
"I'm encouraged because the mistakes that we made (against Nebraska) are easily correctable," Mills said. "We can overcome our mistakes, and that's what we will have to take from this game."
The Lions utilized a short passing attack with some success against the Huskers. The game plan was for Mills to get rid of the ball early on drives, often hitting fullback Sean McHugh in the flat for nominal gains. McHugh finished with seven receptions for 48 yards, both career bests.
But one member of the short passing game had a very forgettable night.
Senior tight end Casey Williams went down with a serious knee injury Saturday. Paterno thought Williams' injury would sideline the senior for the rest of the season.
Williams' misfortune may be a windfall for Trinity High School graduate Matt Kranchick. The senior is currently third on the Lions' depth chart at tight end behind Williams and Mike Lukac.
Kranchick has already seen increased playing time this season. He comes in on passing downs and when PSU runs the two-minute drill. The senior caught his first pass of the season Saturday night, when Mills found him over the middle for 20 yards near the end of the first half. That drive resulted in a Robbie Gould 47-yard field goal.
While the short pass was working, the Lions couldn't get anything going on the ground. Freshman tailback Austin Scott rushed six times for a team-high 19 yards, and PSU totaled just 44 yards on 21 attempts.
The Huskers also got a little payback against PSU's do-everything offensive threat Michael Robinson. The sophomore rushed four times for 56 yards against Nebraska last season, including a pair of touchdowns.
Saturday was a different story, as Robinson was held to five rushes for -2 yards and one reception for 3 yards.
"They were spying me all night," Robinson said. "It seemed everywhere I went there was also a defender waiting for me. Tonight the offense really didn't help the defense out."
And the defense really could have used some help.
The Lions entered the game with some obvious handicaps. They were giving up 200 yards per contest on the ground and they were down four defensive linemen. Redshirt freshmen Jay Alford and Patrick Hall were both sidelined with injuries, as were juniors Sam Ruhe (traveled but didn't play) and Jeremiah Davis (expected to miss the entire season after a concussion in fall practice).
Then, in the second quarter, sophomore Tamba Hali went down with an ankle injury.
Remaining regulars Lavon Chisley and Ed Johnson did what they could up front, forcing two Jammal Lord fumbles. But the Huskers abandoned the pass in the second half, running a 16-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that consumed 8:12.
All the running plays meant gaudy tackle stats for the PSU linebackers. Starters Gino Capone, Derek Wake and Deryck Toles combined for 35 stops.
There were plenty of plays for the defensive backs, too. Sophomore Alan Zemaitis made a career-best 12 tackles and senior Yaacov Yisrael also had a big day, making nine stops (including one for a loss) and intercepting a pass in the red zone in the first quarter.
Nonetheless, the Huskers rolled down the field and piled up the yardage, tacking on David Dyches' fourth field goal of the game with 3:53 to play.
"We knew they were going to run it right at us," safety Andrew Guman said. "We played tough tonight. We bent a little but didn't break. That's their game and we tried the best we could."
Guman's right. The defense gave it everything they had. Give them another moral victory.
Too bad it won't help them get to a bowl game.
