Penn State 34, Akron 16 Penn State Nittany LionsAkron Zips
September 2, 2006
Beaver Stadium - University Park, PA
Attendance: 106,505
Kickoff Time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Akron 0 3 6 7 16
Penn State 10 7 7 10 34

Scoring Summary
1st 10:02 PSU - Deon Butler 42-yard pass from Morelli (Kelly kick)
00:00 PSU - Kevin Kelly 39-yard field goal
2nd 11:39 PSU - Jordan Norwood 14-yard pass from Morelli (Kelly kick)
03:34 AKR - Matt Domonkos 46-yard field goal
3rd 09:26 AKR - Dennis Kennedy 4-yard run (Domonkos kick)
07:10 PSU - Derrick Williams 20-yard pass from Morelli (Kelly kick)
4th 09:18 PSU - Tony Hunt 5-yard run (Kelly kick)
  06:35 PSU - Kevin Kelly 42-yard field goal
  02:45 AKR - D. Harvey 27-yard pass from Getsy (Domonkos kick)

UNIVERSITY PARK -- The cat long since out of the bag, Tim Shaw could finally talk about Penn State's 3-4 defense.
  "We've been doing it for a little while," the senior linebacker admitted Saturday.
  The 19th-ranked Nittany Lions opened their season with an up-and-down, 34-16 defeat of Akron before 106,505 drenched fans in Beaver Stadium, showing off a variety of personnel and formations on both sides of the football.
  Despite persistent dismissals of the 3-4 switch by head coach Joe Paterno during the preseason, Penn State opened the game with three down linemen and four linebackers, with sophomore Sean Lee starting at linebacker and the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Shaw rushing the passer or dropping into coverage.
  The Nittany Lions also utilized their base 4-3, a nickel package, a penny package and even what appeared to be a 2-4-5.
  "We've done that before, just a little bit differently today," said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who addressed the formation switching with a laugh. "I'd like to say it's revolutionary, but it's really not."
  What it did was hold quarterback Luke Getsy and the Zips offense to 225 yards on 77 plays -- a paltry 2.9-yard average -- and help the Lions force three turnovers. Bulked-up junior linebacker Dan Connor led all defensive players with 13 tackles and, like Shaw, had two of Penn State's five sacks.
  "I don't think what they did caused us a lot of problems," said Getsy, who threw for just 160 yards and a pair of interceptions on 22-of-42 passing. "They did a little something different at first than what we expected and we had to adjust to what they were doing."
  The Nittany Lions' offense wasn't much better in a steady rain, mustering 282 yards on 59 plays. Paterno, who opened his 41st season with his 355th career win, was less than pleased with his offensive line, which broke in four new starters Saturday.
  "I thought they got their ears kicked in today," he said. "Simple as that."
  What bailed the Lions out was the big play, and they got them from expected and unexpected sources. Junior quarterback Anthony Morelli threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions in his starting debut, sophomore wide receiver Derrick Williams quietly totaled 116 yards on nine touches and sophomore wideout Jordan Norwood, a State College High School graduate, grabbed a career-high seven passes.
  A pair of true freshmen were just as impressive. Six-foot-three receiver Chris Bell snagged a 19-yard pass from Morelli, and two-way threat A.J. Wallace picked up 42 yards on a reverse and 95 yards on a pair of kickoff returns.
  "They did great," Williams said. "I think they did better than me in my first game."
  On a day when its defense displayed its versatility, Penn State's offense displayed balance -- at least in the passing game. Six different receivers caught passes from Morelli, who threw touchdowns to three different receivers.
  After a tackle-breaking 19-yard run on the first series, senior tailback Tony Hunt was held to 17 net yards on his final 13 carries.
  "It's nice to have (the passing game), but I'm a run guy," said left tackle Levi Brown, the lone returning starter on the offensive line. "The sooner we can get this running game on the right path, the happier I'll be."

Tim Shaw

  A personal foul -- one of eight Akron penalties -- stalled the Zips' opening drive at their own 33, and Penn State didn't waste time. Williams picked up eight yards on an end-around, Hunt charged for 19 and Morelli's first pass of the season found its way through the rain and two defenders to Deon Butler for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 10:02 left in the first quarter.
  Morelli was 5-for-7 for 55 yards on Penn State's next drive, which ended in a 39-yard field goal from Kevin Kelly as the first quarter ended.
  Shaw, tearing in from the outside, sacked Getsy on the next series, a three-and-out, and a reverse from Williams to Wallace went for 42 yards and set Penn State up at the Akron 20. Three plays later, Morelli dumped a pretty touch pass over the middle to Norwood, who raced in from 14 yards out to make it 17-0 with 11:39 left before the half.
  Then the Nittany Lions became the "sloppy" team that Paterno would refer to later. The defense continued to hold, but the offense began to stall and the special teams handed Akron back some momentum.
  Penn State holder Jason Ganter slipped during a fake field-goal attempt and later bobbled a second snap, and Terrell Golden roughed Akron punter John Stec deep in Zip territory, keeping alive a drive that resulted in a 46-yard John Domonkos field goal.
  Wallace returned the second half kickoff 41 yards but fumbled at midfield. Eleven plays later, the Zips found the end zone on a 4-yard run from Dennis Kennedy, though Domonkos missed the extra point.
  Wallace immediately redeemed himself with a 54-yard return, however, and a brisk six-play, 40-yard drive ended with Morelli floating a pass down the left sideline to Williams, who hauled it in to put Penn State up 24-9 early in the third quarter and send many of the soggy fans headed home happy.
  "The goal every week is to get a win, it don't matter how it's done," Brown said. "This was an ugly one; we didn't have the running game that we thought we would have. Morelli had to step up and the receivers made big plays. One thing falls, you just rely on another."
  As they begin preparations for next week's visit to South Bend and No. 2 Notre Dame, the Nittany Lions are still very much in the stages of determining what works and what doesn't.
  "This game was a learning game. We have some things we've got to fix and get into the rotation, but we'll be good," said defensive tackle Jay Alford. "We have to learn some things on the run, but I think we'll do well, because we have talent. And talent can overcome the experience part."

AKRON
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing Att Gain Lost Net TD LG
Kennedy 25 71 12 59 1 8
Getsy 9 18 44 -26 0 12
 
Passing Att Comp INT Yds TD LG
Getsy 42 22 2 160 1 27
Kennedy 1 1 0 32 0 32
 
Receiving No. Yds TD LG
Kennedy 8 50 0 11
Arthur 4 57 0 32
Harvey 3 41 1 27
Kasparek 3 17 0 12
Poindexter 3 15 0 9
Lindsay 1 8 0 8
Long 1 4 0 4
 
Punting No. Yds AVG LG In20
Stec 7 233 33.3 46 0
 
Returns PR KOR INTR
Jones 1-1 3-67 -
Anderson - 1-22 -
Tuzze - 1-1 -
 
Field Goal Attempts
Domonkos 2nd 03:34 46 yds Good
 
Defense T TFL S Int. FF FR
Mackey 6-2-8 0.5-1 - 1-8 1 -
Jones 6-0-6 1.0-1 - - - -
Stokes 4-0-4 2.0-7 - - - -
Tate 2-2-4 1.5-6 - - - -
Pace 2-2-4 1.0-2 - - - -
PENN STATE
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing Att Gain Lost Net TD LG
Wallace 1 42 0 42 0 42
Hunt 14 48 12 36 1 19
Hahn 3 9 0 9 0 8
Williams 3 8 4 4 0 8
Kinlaw 3 3 5 -2 0 3
Morelli 1 0 5 -5 0 0
Ganter 2 0 8 -8 0 0
 
Passing Att Comp INT Yds TD LG
Morelli 32 16 0 206 3 42
 
Receiving No. Yds TD LG
Norwood 7 61 1 15
Williams 3 49 1 20
Butler 2 50 1 42
Hunt 2 18 0 14
Bell 1 19 0 19
Golden 1 9 0 9
 
Punting No. Yds AVG LG In20
Kapinos 4 138 34.5 39 1
 
Returns PR KOR INTR
Williams 3-44 1-19 -
McCready - - 1-7
Scirrotto - - 1-28
Wallace - 2-95 -
 
Field Goal Attempts
Kelly 1st 00:00 39 yds Good
Kelly 4th 06:35 42 yds Good
 
Defense T TFL S Int. FF FR
Connor 7-6-13 3.5-23 2.0-21 - 1 -
D. Johnson 6-2-8 2.0-4 - - - -
Posluszny 4-3-7 - - - - -
Lee 3-3-6 1.5-4 - - - -
Davis 3-2-5 - - - - -
Starting Lineups
TEAM STATISTICS
  AKR PSU
FIRST DOWNS 18 13
Rushing 5 4
Passing 11 8
Penalty 2 1
NET YARDS RUSHING 33 76
Rushing Attempts 34 27
Yards Gained Rushing 89 110
Yards Lost Rushing 56 34
NET YARD PASSING 192 206
Passes Attempted 43 32
Passes Completed 23 16
Had Intercepted 2 0
TOTAL OFFENSIVE PLAYS 77 59
TOTAL NET YARDS 225 282
Avg. Gain Per Play 2.9 4.8
Fumbles: No. - Lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties: No. - Yds. 8-57 5-33
No. of Punts - Yards 7-233 4-138
Avg. Per Punt 33.3 34.5
Punt Returns: No. - Yds. 1-1 3-44
Kickoff Returns: No. - Yds. 5-90 3-114
Interceptions: No. - Yds. 0-0 2-35
Fumble Returns: No. - Yds. 0-0 0-0
Miscellaneous Yards 0 0
Possession Time 37:29 21:43
3rd Down Conversion 5 of 18 7 of 15
4th Down Conversion 4 of 4 0 of 2
Sacks By: No. - Yds. 0-0 5-44
 
PSU PARTICIPANTS (58) - 1 King, 2 Williams, 3 Butler, 4 Golden, 5 Hayes, 6 Johnson, 7 Scirrotto, 8 Kinlaw, 9 Ganter, 10 Quarless, 10 Sargeant, 11 Davis, 12 Wallace, 13 Alford, 14 Morelli, 19 Bell, 19 Kubic, 20 Shaw, 21 Timmons, 22 Hardy, 23 Kelly, 24 McCready, 24 Norwood, 25 Perretta, 26 Hunt, 31 Posluszny, 34 Hahn, 36 Kapinos, 37 Ridenhour, 38 Lawlor, 40 Connor, 43 Hull, 45 Lee, 46 Sales, 47 Gaines, 48 Evans, 51 Cianciolo, 53 Roach, 57 Shipley, 58 Harrison, 60 Weber, 64 Ohrnberger, 65 Price, 67 Brown, 73 Landolt, 76 Cadogan, 78 Shaw, 79 Auletta, 80 Rubin, 84 McDonald, 87 Rogers, 88 Darling, 89 Lyons, 91 Odrick, 92 Johnson, 93 Baker, 94 Golarz, 99 Shaw