| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score |
| UCF | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Penn State | 0 | 21 | 9 | 7 | 37 |
| Scoring Summary | ||
| 1st | 02:44 | UCF - Matt Prater 33-yard field goal |
| 2nd | 9:41 | PSU - Tony Hunt 4-yard run (Gould kick) |
| 5:16 | PSU - Tony Hunt 26-yard run (Gould kick) | |
| 3:19 | PSU - John Bronson 1-yard pass from Z. Mills (Gould kick) | |
| 0:00 | UCF - Matt Prater 22-yard field goal | |
| 3rd | 1:05 | PSU - Team safety. Ball snapped out of end zone on punt |
| 0:28 | PSU - Tony Hunt 33-yard run (Gould kick) | |
| 4th | 7:41 | UCF - Tavaris Capers 54-yard punt return (Prater kick) |
| 0:44 | PSU - Mike Gasparato 22-yard run (Gould kick) | |
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Flooded roads, an unimposing opponent and, perhaps,
lingering depression from a telling loss a week earlier at Boston College
made yesterday a good day to find a parking spot outside Beaver Stadium.
It was not a good day to try to get a handle on what this Penn
State football team is all about.
Yes, the Nittany Lions won handily, 37-13, but the result was more
a testament to Central Florida's futility than anything else.
In boxing, Central Florida (0-3) would be considered an "opponent,"
a fighter willing to take a punch on the jaw in a big-time venue for a
nice payday.
Meanwhile, Penn State (2-1) needed to iron out the shoot-itself-in-the-foot
approach that led to its going belly-up at BC. The Nittany Lions will
begin a rough stretch of Big Ten Conference games Saturday at Wisconsin.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno said after the loss to BC that no
team can win when it commits five turnovers in a game. Central Florida
helped prove him wrong.
The Nittany Lions coughed up the ball six times yesterday - their
highest total since they committed six turnovers in a 42-21 loss at Alabama
in 1982.
All of their turnovers against the Knights could be attributed
to senior quarterback Zack Mills, who will probably spend this week getting
reacquainted with E.Z. Smith, his center.
Two of the four fumbles Mills lost came on snaps. Another came
on a botched handoff to running back Austin Scott. Mills also threw two
interceptions.
In the last two games, Mills has committed an astounding 10 turnovers,
six of them interceptions.
"I am concerned about it," Paterno said. "I think
we have to do a much better job protecting the football and we need to
be more careful in the passes we make. Three [turnovers] and you usually
lose. I hope most of it is correctable.
"I'm a little discouraged. We spend every day working on snaps.
You should never have fumbles on exchanges. To have two in one game is
very disturbing."
It was no surprise, then, that Mills was in no mood to celebrate
setting a record. He had become the most prolific quarterback in Penn
State history by throwing for 229 yards to raise his career total to 6,081.
In becoming the first Nittany Lions quarterback to surpass 6,000
yards, Mills broke the record of 5,869, set by Tony Sacca from 1988 to
'91.
"I'm very frustrated right now," said Mills, who threw
a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Bronson and caught a 39-yard
pass from Michael Robinson after lining up at receiver.
"It's nice that we did win, so I'm happy about that. But [all
the turnovers] shouldn't happen, so I'm a little down right now. Six turnovers
- you're usually going to get killed."
Six turnovers and yet Central Florida never really got a whiff
of victory. Penn State rubbed out a 3-0 deficit with three TDs in a
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span of 6 minutes, 22 seconds of the second quarter. Tony Hunt scored on runs of 4 and 26 yards, and Bronson, a converted defensive end, made his first career catch a TD catch.
Hunt added his third touchdown in the third quarter on a 33-yard run, screwing defender Mike Walker into the ground with a dazzling spin move before breaking into the open.
Hunt ran for 125 yards on 16 carries. He had also surpassed 100 yards in the 48-10 victory over Akron on opening day.
But Penn State's best player yesterday was Robinson, who produced a total of 183 yards running, passing and receiving and had played quarterback, receiver and running back by the time the Nittany Lions had run four plays.
The gifted junior led the team with seven catches for 93 yards, including an impressive over-the-shoulder grab he made while tightroping along the sideline. He also ran for 51 yards and lofted the 39-yard completion to Mills.
Afterward, Robinson had some consoling words for Mills. "I just told him to have a short memory," Robinson said. "He's a great player, and he's had his highlights and lowlights. He can bounce back from anything."
Between turnovers, the Nittany Lions amassed 524 yards of total offense. And for the second time against an overmatched opponent, their defense played well. It didn't allow a touchdown.
The Knights, who managed only 181 yards of total offense, scored their lone TD on a 54-yard punt return by Tavaris Capers midway through the fourth quarter.
Another bright spot for Penn State was the play of outside linebacker Dan Connor, the highly touted freshman from Strath Haven High School. Connor set up the Nittany Lions' third TD with an interception at the Knights' 28-yard line, and he tied for the team high with seven tackles, four of them solo. He got more playing time at his position than Derek Wake, a senior cocaptain.
"Connor has been practicing well, and I didn't think Derek was playing well, so we gave Dan a shot, and he played well," Paterno said.
Paterno keeps true freshmen off-limits to the media, so Connor was not available for comment.
After the game, the 77-year-old coach seemed as puzzled about his team as everyone else.
"I don't know where we are," he said. "All I know is we've got two wins and we've got to go to Wisconsin. We have two of the better teams in the country [Wisconsin and Minnesota] coming up, so we'll find out."