Penn State downplays smashing success of O

Ursuline graduate Daryll Clark made his first start as Nittany Lions quarterback.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The scoreboard showed a smashing success for Penn State’s offense, but quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno sought to temper some of the enthusiasm following the season-opening 66-10 blowout of Coastal Carolina.

The opponent, after all, was a Championship Subdivision school playing its first game against a major college program. No. 22 Penn State was just too strong and too fast for the winded Chanticleers.

“Both sides of the ball, they got a little tired, so you have to guard against a little overconfidence,” Paterno said. “There will be bigger challenges.”

One comes Saturday, when the Nittany Lions (1-0) face the toughest non-conference opponent on their schedule, Oregon State, at Beaver Stadium.

First, though, there was some game footage for the team to review — and there were few lowlights.

“I’ll let you know when I look at the tapes,” said Paterno’s father and boss, head coach Joe Paterno. “I thought that in most cases the kids had some poise and did some things really well.”

Start up front, where the veteran offensive line kept new starting quarterback Daryll Clark (Ursuline High) and backup Pat Devlin virtually untouched all afternoon. The line pushed around the Coastal Carolina defensive front like rag dolls, helping Penn State gain 334 of its 594 yards of total offense on the ground.

Evan Royster was the prime beneficiary of the blocking, scoring three of the Nittany Lions’ seven touchdowns.

“Just a well-oiled machine,” Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett said.

In the offseason, Jay Paterno said Penn State was returning to a spread-style offense dubbed the “Spread HD,” similar to the one used successfully in 2005 under the direction of dual-threat quarterback Michael Robinson.

Clark won the competition to start the season opener over Devlin. The cool, collected senior from Ursuline has shown he could scramble in the past, so much of the attention Saturday was on his passing ability.

In his first college start, Clark didn’t need to run, though he finished 11-of-14 passing for 146 yards and a 5-yard TD toss to Jordan Norwood.

With such a physical advantage over their opponent, the Nittany Lions didn’t have to dip too far into the playbook.

“Not very much,” Norwood said. “We go week-by-week planning. I would say it was very basic.”