Penn State 38, Southern Miss 20

Sunday, November 04, 2001 Page: 6C

Scoring Summary





FIRST QUARTER

awayne Woods 19-yard run (Brant Hanna
kick), 7:47. The Golden Eagles drove 58 yards in eight plays and 2:38 on their
second possession. QB Jeff Kelly completed 5-of-6 for 36 yards, and was


mar Easy 11-yard run (Robbie Gould kick),

Johnson’s 31-yard reception to the USM 11. The Lions were 1-for-1 on
third-down conversions.

SECOND QUARTER:



ould 32-yard field goal, 14:56. After a
turnover, the Lions drove 12 yards in six plays and 2:31. LB Shamar Finney’s
interception off a ball tipped by DE Bob Jones set up the drive. Finney
returned the pick 16 yards.

ack Mills 8-yard run off fake field goal
(Gould kick), 9:33. 32-yard field goal, 14:56. The Lions drove 65 yards in
seven plays and 3:11. Key play: TE R.J. Luke’s 29-yard reception to the USM


ryant Johnson 3-yard pass from Mills
(Gould kick), 0:04. The Lions drove 72 yards in 11 plays and 1:44. Mills’ pass
bounced off the hands of Tony Johnson to Bryant Johnson, who caught the ball
right against the end line. Key play: Tony Johnson’s 9-yard reception to the
USM 8 on third-and-5. Mills was 6-of-8 for 55 yards.

THIRD QUARTER:

ony Johnson 3-yard pass from Mills (Gould
kick), 13:33. The Lions drove 80 yards in five plays and 1:23. Mills was

yards.

arry Johnson 40-yard return with blocked
punt (Gould kick), 12:46. Johnson broke free and batted away Mark Haulman’s
boot, then scooped up the loose ball and rambled untouched to the end zone. It
was Johnson’s second touchdown off a blocked punt this season, the other
coming at Iowa.

FOURTH QUARTER:

oods 6-yard run (Hanna kick), 14:47. The
Golden Eagles drove 60 yards in seven plays and 2:34. Key play: A 15-yard
facemask penalty against Lion DE Michael Haynes.

oods 3-yard run (pass failed), 1:40. The
Golden Eagles drove 99 yards in 14 plays and 1:53. Key play: Chris Johnson


USM PSU



First downs 27 26



Rushes-yards 28-151 23-145



Passing 252 298



Comp-Att-Int 26-47-1 25-39-0



Return Yards 12 87



Punts-Avg. 8-40 7-42



Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0



Penalties-Yards 4-27 4-32



Time of Possession 28:03 31:57





















RUSHINGSouthern Miss., Woods 21-126, Handy 1-11, Walley 5-11, Kelly 9-3.
Penn St., Mills 10-36, Easy 3-25, L.Johnson 6-23, McCoo 7-19, Upton 1-16,
Drummond 3-15, Jefferson 3-14, Gilmore 1-8, Senneca 2-(-5), Team 1-(-6).

PASSINGSouthern Miss., Kelly 26-47-1-252. Penn St., Mills 23-33-0-280,
Senneca 2-6-0-18.

RECEIVINGSouthern Miss., Handy 10-101, C.Johnson 6-61, Garner 4-41, Woods

T.Johnson 4-71, McCoo 3-17, Jefferson 2-8, Blosser 1-9.







Player of the Game





Zack Mills (who else?). The red-hot redshirt junior was 23-of-33 passing
for 280 yards and two TDs. He also rushed for 36 more yards with a score – the




Play of the Game





Mills’ run off the fake FG was executed to perfection by the Lions.





Defensive Player of the Game





Senior DE Bob Jones had perhaps his best game as a Lion. He had five
tackles, with a sack, and deflected a pass into LB Shamar Finney’s arms for an
interception.



Best Pass





Mills softly laid a 13-yarder right into the arms of tight end R.J. Luke in
the second quarter.



Best Catch





Bryant Johnson’s over-the-shoulder 28-yard grab in the third quarter.



Coverboys They’re Not





The Golden Eagles’ secondary was ravaged for 298 yards.



Best Run





Omar Easy went airborne for the final four yards of his 11-yard TD run in
the first quarter.



Best Effort





Larry Johnson’s punt block and TD return in the third quarter.



Best Effort II





Tony Johnson’s downed punt at the 1-yard line.



Interested Spectator





New York Giants General Manager Ernie Acorsi watched the game from the
press box. A Penn State grad, Acorsi started his career in the university
sports administration department.



Best Sign





“It’s Mills-er Time”



Johnson & Johnson

& Johnson & ...





Eight players named Johnson were on Saturday’s rosters – four on each side.



He said it





“Was that a long game or am I just getting old?” – Joe Paterno



Between the Lions





PSU has won three consecutive games for the first time since starting the

Zack Mills’ 8-yard TD run off the fake field goal was Penn State’s first since
Joe Nastasi accomplished the feat against Michigan in the “Snow Bowl” in

second half. ... Larry Johnson’s punt block was the Lions’ sixth blocked kick
this season. ... Bryant Johnson’s 10 catches are a career high. He had his
fourth 100-yard-plus receiving game. ... Shamar Finney recorded his
fifth-career interception.