Penn St. controls Rose Bowl destiny

A win over Michigan State will send the Nittany Lions to a BCS contest.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — After a confidence-boosting win over Indiana, it didn’t take linebacker Josh Hull long to think about what lies ahead for No. 7 Penn State.

A win over No. 17 Michigan State in the regular season finale would send the Nittany Lions (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten) to the Rose Bowl.

“It’s huge. Our whole season is resting on one game,” Hull said after his seven tackles and a sack paced a tenacious Nittany Lions defense in a 34-7 win Saturday over injury-depleted Indiana.

Penn State remains in control of its Big Ten destiny — much like the Nittany Lions controlled the second half against the Hoosiers after a sluggish first half.

The offense showed semblance of its big-play self after some struggles the previous two games on the road. The defense dominated all over the field, holding Indiana just 36 yards and one first down in the second half.

It was special teams where the Nittany Lions especially gained separation from Indiana.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Nate Stupar, who has become a force around the edge on the punt coverage team, blocked a punt late in the first half that set up a field goal to give Penn State a 10-7 lead at halftime.

“We stuck it to them in the second half, but every game is big to us and I think we’re even more excited now for Michigan State coming into our house,” Stupar said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Kicker Kevin Kelly, the school’s career points leader, missed a 40-yard field goal but nailed two others and had a nice pooch punt that nailed Indiana deep in its own territory.

The actual punter, Jeremy Boone, only punted twice but averaged 51.5 yards. The holder on field-goal attempts, Boone even downed Kelly’s pooch punt near the goal line and made a tackle on another return.

For all the talk this year about the versatile Spread HD offense, coach Joe Paterno always makes it a point to talk up special teams and field position — and the Hoosiers on average had to start drives from their own 22.

“I thought that was where the game was probably turned around,” Paterno said about special teams.

JoePa gained his 382nd win, putting him two ahead on the career victories list for major college coaches over Florida State’s Bobby Bowden. The Seminoles lost Saturday night to Boston College.

Of most concern to Paterno may be another sluggish first half by the offense against the Hoosiers. A better team like Michigan State may take better advantage of slow-starting Penn State.

The veteran trio of Derrick Williams, Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler each did their jobs with some big plays and solid catches over the middle. Clark came up with some clutch third-down throws.

“Each and every person on this team has worked hard,” Clark said. “It’s all about bouncing back. This game was important for us as well as next week.”