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Williams, Stingy Defense Lift Penn State To Victory

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By GENARO C. ARMAS, The Associated Press

Published: September 9, 2007

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - All the talk was about Notre Dame freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen. Penn State's defense and Derrick Williams took the spotlight.

The 14th-ranked Nittany Lions bottled up Clausen in his starting debut, Williams had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown and Austin Scott ran for two second-half scores in a 31-10 win Saturday night against the Irish.
Anthony Morelli threw for 131 yards and a touchdown, though Penn State's offense looked shaky much of the day.

The Irish were worse, in almost every way.

Notre Dame opened the season 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when it lost its first three.

The much-ballyhooed Clausen finished 17-for-32 passing for 144 yards and an interception. Most of the freshman's completions were on swing passes or screens as Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis went conservative until midway through the fourth quarter.

A raucous crowd appeared to lead to numerous communication problems for the Irish offense, which was whistled for several offside and delay-of-game penalties.

'It's tough for a freshman to be successful with this crowd,' Penn State coach Joe Paterno said.

'I thought our crowd was phenomenal.'
Darrin Walls staked the Irish to a 7-0 lead, returning an interception 73 yards for a touchdown and quieting a raucous crowd dressed almost entirely in white.

Williams brought them back to life.

The junior, who runs track in the offseason, caught Geoff Price's punt down the right sideline and navigated through early traffic before making a cross-field dash to the end zone. Teammate A.J. Wallace delivered a key block and Notre Dame's Rasheon McNeil missed a tackle.

Morelli hit Jordan Norwood for a 10-yard TD pass midway through the second quarter to give Penn State a 14-7 advantage, and a relentless defense took over from there.

Scott finished with 28 carries and 116 yards along with his two scores. Morelli was 12-for-22 passing and had an interception.

Notre Dame's offensive line, which was battered for nine sacks in the season-opening loss to Georgia Tech, couldn't contain the Nittany Lions most of the game.

Trailing 17-7 early in the third quarter, Notre Dame had a golden opportunity after Tom Zbikowski returned a punt 43 yards to the Penn State 7. But Penn State's defense held firm.

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