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posted 7:35 pm Sat August 30, 2008 -
(Sports Network) - Evan Royster and Stephfon Green
combined to score five rushing touchdowns to lead the 22nd-ranked Penn State
Nittany Lions to a 66-10 demolition of the overmatched Coastal Carolina
Chanticleers at Beaver Stadium.
Royster finished with 64 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, while Green
led the ground attack with 89 yards and a pair of scores for the Nittany Lions
(1-0), who have won seven straight and 16 of their last 18 season openers.
Penn State, which has won 32 of its last 41 games overall, was facing Coastal
Carolina for the first time.
The victory was the 373rd in Joe Paterno's career, as he tied Florida State
coach Bobby Bowden for the all-time lead among major college coaches.
"I haven't even thought about it and I'm not going to," said Paterno. "I can
only say it so many times. It's not a big deal to me. I just can't seem to get
that across."
Daryll Clark, who beat out Pat Devlin for the starting quarterback position in
the spring, threw for 146 yards and a touchdown on 11-of-14 passing. Devlin
saw action on the day as well, ending 5-for-8 for 83 yards. Jordan Norwood
came down with four catches for 74 yards and a TD for Penn State.
"I always told myself to set goals," said Green. "My goal was to get three
(touchdowns) and I got two. I tried to catch up with Royster when he got
three. Two was my real goal, and I got that."
Chanticleers quarterback William Richardson passed for 131 yards on a 13-of-22
clip, while fellow signal-caller Zach MacDowall ended 5-of-9 through the air
for 67 yards, including a 33-yard scoring strike to Trent Usher. Usher had 50
yards on three receptions, as Coastal Carolina (0-1) opened its sixth football
season in school history. A Big South Conference contender, Coastal Carolina
was playing against its first Football Bowl Subdivision foe.
"I didn't want to get embarrassed," said Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett.
"We didn't do as well as we should have, but we were outmanned. Nine starters
on offense, seven on defense. They are a good football team. They are one of
the best in the country. I think they will be top ten in the country."
Penn State jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdown runs by Royster.
He opened the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown run at 11:02 of the first
quarter, then wiggled his way into the end zone from two yards away with about
six minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
After Coastal Carolina cracked the scoreboard on MacDowell's 33-yard touchdown
strike to Usher early in the second quarter, the Nittany Lions turned the
contest into a lopsided affair by scoring 52 straight points for a commanding
66-7 advantage.
An 89-yard kickoff return for a TD by highly-touted wideout Derrick Williams
gave PSU a 21-7 cushion just seconds after Usher's score. Clark then fired a
five-yard scoring pass to Norwood before a seven-yard touchdown run by Green
and a 21-yard field goal from Kevin Kelly pushed the Penn State lead to 38-7
at halftime.
Royster's 10-yard touchdown run followed by Green's seven-yard scoring scamper
and Chaz Powell's 55-yard burst into the end zone pushed the mark to 59-7 with
less than two minutes to go in the third quarter.
Brandon Beechum's one-yard scoring plunge with 4:23 to go in the fourth
quarter made it a 66-7 contest. The Chanticleers, however, finally answered
again on Justin Durham's 31-yard field goal as time expired.
Game Notes
Penn State enters the 2008 campaign having won three straight bowl games,
including an Alamo Bowl victory over Texas A&M last December...The Lions
scored 24 points in the second quarter...Former Penn State running backs
Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell were in attendance...Penn State is 101-19-2
in the first contest of the season...The Lions improved to 36-7 in season
openers under Paterno, who improved to 373-125-3 as head coach in Happy
Valley...Paterno is in his 43rd season as head coach of Penn State and 57th as
a member of the coaching staff...In its brief history of 57 games, the
Chanticleers have yet to be held scoreless, the longest current streak in the
Big South Conference...Bennett is 39-18 at the university...Penn State had
334 yards rushing to Coastal Carolina's 52 yards on the ground.
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