PSU overwhelms ISU

Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

Penn State’s season opener featured the unusual sights of a two-quarterback rotation and Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno calling the shots from the press box.

The running attack and an aggressive defense, though, were trademark Penn State.

Chaz Powell set the tone by returning the game’s opening kickoff 95 yards for a score and Silas Redd led an overwhelming ground game with two rushing touchdowns in a 41-7 win Saturday over Indiana State.

Paterno coached from the press box more than three weeks after suffering shoulder and pelvis injuries from an accidental collision in practice, though the Nittany Lions didn’t miss a beat against the Sycamores — an FCS team.

“Overall, it was a good effort. Obviously, Indiana State is not a great team, but they’re a bunch of kids that did a good job scrapping,” Paterno said afterward, clutching a crutch. “Overall, I thought it was a good day for us.”

Redd ran for 94 of his 104 yards by the second quarter, including a 4-yard score for a 28-0 lead. Rob Bolden started at quarterback, splitting time with Matt McGloin.

Indiana State managed 170 yards of total offense. They got brushed past and pushed around by a Penn State team anxious to rebound from last year’s 7-6 campaign.

Michael Zordich (Cardinal Mooney High) displayed the Nittany Lions’ early physical superiority on back-to-back plays in the first quarter, throwing a devastating block up the middle to spring Redd loose for the tailback’s first score, from 9 yards.

On the ensuing kickoff, Zordich leveled Sycamore return man Leonard Riston near the sideline for a violent end to a 21-yard return.

“I just kind of went back to the second grade, just go where the ball’s at and run through it,” Zordich said. “That’s what you’re taught from Game 1. Just go where the ball’s at and make a play.”

Paterno, who made “toughness” the keyword for preseason camp, surely relished what he witnessed from the press box. He had pronounced himself “50-50” this week to coach from the sideline.