Sunday, November 11, 2007

Penn State - Temple post-game notes

• Penn State (8-3) shut out its second opponent this season, as the Nittany Lions defeated Temple, 31-0 at Lincoln Financial Field. The Nittany Lions have recorded four shut outs in their last 17 games. The shut out was Penn State's 39th under Coach Joe Paterno.
• The Nittany Lions have won 30 of their last 38 games, dating to the final two games of the 2004 season.
• The Penn State defense and has allowed 19 touchdowns in the last 17 games, posting a total of four shut-outs during that span. Penn State has held 12 of those 17 opponents to just one TD, only field goals or shut them out.

• Penn State held Temple to four yards rushing marking its third opponent on the year held below 10 yards on the ground and seventh below 70.

• Senior All-America LB Dan Connor equaled his career-high with 18 tackles (11 solo, 7 assists) equaling the mark he set two weeks ago vs. Ohio State. He also recorded his 1.5 sacks, giving him 6.5 sacks and 13.5 TFL on the year.
One of three finalists for the Butkus Award, Connor leads the team with 123 tackles in 2007 and ranks second in sacks and TFL. His 123 tackles are the seventh best single-season mark in PSU history and most since Shawn Mayer posted 144 in 2002. For his career, he now has a PSU record 397 tackles.
• Junior LB Sean Lee posted his eighth double-digit tackle game in the last nine games with 10 stops and recovered a fumble for the second straight game and a team leading third time on the season. His 114 tackles this year rank second on the team and are the 11th best single-season total in PSU history.

• Senior TB Rodney Kinlaw became the 11th Penn Stater to rush for over 1,000 yards on a season and posted the 17th 1,000-yard rushing season in Penn State history. He ran the ball 27 times for a career-best tying 168 yards vs. Temple and now has 194 carries for 1,061 yards on the year, the 12th-best single season total in Penn State history. Kinlaw’s 1,000-yard season is the third straight for a Penn State player and the fourth in the last six seasons. The 100-yard rushing game marked his fourth of the season and of his career. Kinlaw also made a career-high five receptions on the day and had 27 yards receiving for 195 all-purpose yards.

• Junior WR Derrick Williams went over 100 yards receiving in a game for the first time in his career in the third quarter. He ended the game with a career-best 104 yards on seven catches, his second straight game posting a career high receiving. Williams had a career-best 10 receptions for a then career high tying 95 yards last week in a victory over Purdue.

• WR Derrick Williams' 52-yard reception on Penn State’s 4 play, 72-yard, 1:50 scoring drive in the first quarter was the team’s longest play from scrimmage on the season.

• Junior WR Deon Butler’s fourth quarter touchdown catch was his second on the year and gave him 40 receptions on the season. He joined fellow wide receivers Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams in going over 40 receptions for the second straight season. The group became the first trio in Penn State history to each post 40 receptions in the same season last year.

• Butler moved into a tie for second all-time in career reception with O.J. McDuffie (1988-92) with 125 in his career.

• WR Jordan Norwood’s two first quarter TD catches (15 & 22 yards) marked a career game high for the junior. He leads the team with five TD catches on the year.

• QB Anthony Morelli recorded his seventh 200-yard passing game of the season and the 11th of his career moving him into a tie for third place all-time for career 200-yard games at Penn State with Chuck Fusina (1975-78) and Tony Sacca (1988-91). He also threw three or more TD passes for the third time on the season. He moved into a tie for sixth all-time with Tom Shuman (1972-74) with 28 career TD passes. His 17 TD passes on the year are tied for sixth all-time in a season with Mike McQueary (1997), Zack Mills (2002) and Michael Robinson (2005).

• Morelli moved into fifth all-time in career passing yardage (4,944) passing Todd Blackledge (4,812, 1980-82) and sixth in season passing yardage (2,320) jumping four players from 10th. He is 104 yards shy of the 2,424 yards he posted last season, the third-best total ever, and within 360 yards of breaking the single-season mark of 2,679 yards set by Kerry Collins in 1994. Morelli’s 203 completions and 336 attempts on the year both rank second behind his single-season records of 208 and 386 set last season.

• Morelli started the game 6-of-7 for 115 yards and two touchdowns (15 & 22 yards) leading Penn State on TD drives of 80 and 72 yards and a 14-0 after its first two possessions.

• Penn State went 4-of-5 in the red zone and is now 47-of-53 (88.7%) in the red zone on the year with 30 touchdowns and 17 field goals.

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