The Penn State Nittany Lions beat 20th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats in a thriller for their first victory of the season. The win gave legendary coach Joe Paterno his 323rd all-time Division I-A win, tying him for the lead with another coaching legend, Bear Bryant.
Paterno had been waiting for this victory since last year and had not anticipated waiting this long for the mark. Paterno knows his football career was already defined as great with or without this win. He also knows that Bobby Bowden of Florida State is only four wins behind him, has a better program these days, and will probably coach longer than Paterno.
Paterno's humble style did not let his record get in the way of the true significance of this game; his team finally won its first game. After the game he sited that the win may be able to ignite his team and turn the season around since his players know knew the feeling of victory.
Even without the record-tying by their win, Penn State's victory was notable for the way in which they achieved it. Each team scored four touchdowns in the first three quarters. Both offenses played spectacularly, with Northwestern losing one fumble for the game's only turnover.
In the fourth quarter Penn State took their first lead with a 24-yard field goal and only three minutes left in the game. This field goal looked to be the game winner, but Northwestern and quarterback Zak Kustok thought differently. The Wildcats drove down the field in six plays within close to a minute to score on a one yard touchdown run.
Paterno's victory appeared to be stripped from him, especially when quarterback Matt Seneca, who was having a career day, was knocked out of the game on Penn State's final possession. But redshirt freshman Zack Mills stepped into his first collegiate game, and the Lions offense did not miss a beat. Mills lead the team on a game winning 69-yard drive with a touchdown pass to top to secure the Lions win.
While Northwestern (4-2, 2-2 Big Ten) needed this win to stay competitive in the conference, Penn State needed the win to earn self-respect. In the end the Lions' desire proved stronger than Wildcats'. When people look back at the record-tying win, they will remember a great game to go along with the great coach's achievement.
In the Pacific 10 Conference, the Stanford Cardinal surprised the number five Oregon Ducks 49-42. This game again featured a backup quarterback leading his team to victory as Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis replaced injured Randy Fasani in the second quarter. Lewis and the Stanford special teams guided the Cardinal back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit.
After blocking a punt and scoring on the ensuing drive, the Cardinals were down 42-35 with nine minutes left to play. They then surprised the Ducks by attempting and converting an onside kick. They scored on this possession as well, but failed the tying extra point and were left one point behind Oregon.
On their ensuing drive, Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington threw an interception on third and one on his own 30-yard line. Stanford converted this turnover into a touchdown with a two-point conversion to go up by seven. Harrington, nicknamed Captain Comeback, could not create a miracle for Oregon, as four straight incompletions at the Stanford 39 ended the game.
This win brought Stanford into a tie with Oregon and Washington for second in the Pac-10 with a 3-1 conference record. Only two teams remain undefeated in the conference, Washington State and UCLA, leaving a tight race for the second half of the year.
Today the first Bowl Championship Series ranking comes out. The BCS consists of five categories used to measure a team's performance. These categories are an average of the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, an average of six other polls, strength of schedule, total loses, and "quality wins" against top-15 teams. The BCS was created to pit the number one and two teams in the country against each other and determine an outright National Champion.
Though Miami is ranked first in both major polls, either number three Nebraska or number two and reigning National Champion Oklahoma is expected to be ranked first in the BCS. Ironically next week Oklahoma and Nebraska face off in what could determine who will the number-one team for the remainder of the year.
