Penn State Football: Brett Brackett's TD Catch Helps Catapult Joe Paterno to 400

It seemed harmless enough, an end of half touchdown score to bring a team back from the brink of embarrassment. At least, that's what the fans of the Northwestern Wildcats might have been thinking when they saw Matt McGloin connect with Brett Bracket for six points with less than :06 seconds left to go before the half.

Brackett's touchdown catch, however insignificant it might have seemed at the time, became just the momentum grabber the Nittany Lions needed to go from zero to 100—on both sides of the ball.

Or perhaps, better still, ol' Joe Paterno might have delivered one helluva halftime rally cry to his guys. Might he have told them they were better than their play showed? Perhaps he let them know that the play they had exhibited to that point was unacceptable and sub par?

Maybe he just said, "win this damn game, I don't need the press stretching out this 400 nonsense".

Whatever he told his players in the locker room, it worked, because the Penn State team we saw in the second half was very different than the one that was overrun in the first half. They came onto the field and lit up the third quarter with 21 unanswered points and stymied the Northwestern offense the rest of the way.

It was a win befitting of a coach that so many have come to love and respect, not only for his longevity in a game that has become more about "lately" than "history", but for his honesty. Paterno has always been a straight-shooter. Perhaps the Brooklyn boy in him wouldn't allow him to be anyone else.

Joe Paterno is now the winningest coach in FBS history and, quite frankly, it's an honor that no other coach is ever likely to have again anytime soon.

Congrats to Joe Paterno!

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• Penn State rallies for Joe Paterno's 400th win (sportingnews.com)

College Football: Dan Persa Leads Northwestern To 21-7 Lead Over Penn State at Halftime

At the half of the Penn State/Northwestern game, it has been all Northwestern as the Wildcats lead 21-7 going into halftime of the game in Happy Valley.

Dan Persa has run all over and through a porous Penn State defense for 88-yards and two touchdowns—even adding a passing touchdown to the mix when Drake Dunsmore made a phenomenal one-handed grab on their last possession of the half:



Persa's Penn State counterpart, Robert Bolden was largely ineffective in the first quarter and has, all but, been replaced by former walk-on, Matt McGloin—who has been more productive for the Nittany Lions.

McGloin led the team on a nine play, 82-yard, scoring drive to end the half—bringing Penn State within two touchdowns.



The game isn't over yet and the Nittany Lions still have an opportunity to secure win number 400 for Joe Paterno, but the defense will need to tighten up and get a handle on the talented Persa.

College Football: Michigan State Remains Undefeated Behind The Arm of Kirk Cousins

You have to give a lot of credit to both teams, Northwestern for showing up from snap one to push the Spartans to the very brink of upset and to Michigan State for finding a way, yet again, to stave off defeat.

From the very start, it seemed the Spartans were shell-shocked. After a failed first possession, Dan Persa and his Northwestern Wildcats moved the ball with ease, on their second possession, converting two key third-down plays inside the 30-yard line before Persa tucked the ball and ran in for the score—7-0 Northwestern.

By stark contrast, Kirk Cousins and company found little room to breathe against the Wildcats—early—committing two three-and-outs before Edwin Baker fumbled in Spartan territory to return the ball to a rabid Wildcat team that was ready to pounce.

While that was by no means the only opportunity the Wildcats would have on the day, it was the best point for them to make a major statement. Instead, the goal line challenge was met by the Spartans, and the Wildcats would have to settle for three.

The latter point is a valid one, given the missed opportunity Northwestern left on the table to really place Michigan State squarely behind the eight ball—by entering the half with a 21-point lead instead of a 10-point one.

By the start of the second-half, Michigan State remembered their top 10 ranking and started to play like a team that actually wants to be taken seriously by the BCS. They finished the game on a 28-10 run—capped off in the final seconds by a 25-yard touchdown run by Edwin Baker.

The Spartans escape the State of Illinois undefeated and a valiant effort by Dan Persa, who rushed for three touchdowns on the game, is all but erased by defeat.