STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- Penn State once againlooked like a real contender in the Big Ten Conference.Conversely, Notre Dame looked like anything but a nationalpowerhouse. Austin Scott rushed for two touchdowns and the 14th-rankedNittany Lions stymied Notre Dame's sputtering offense en routeto a 31-10 victory Saturday night. With the win, Penn State (2-0) exacted a measure of revengeagainst the Fighting Irish, who rolled to a 41-17 triumph whenthese teams met last year in South Bend. The Nittany Lions beatNotre Dame for the first time since November 6, 1991, andimproved to 9-9-1 all-time against the Irish. "This is definitely a big win," said senior wide receiverTerrell Golden, who had two catches. "Notre Dame is a greatteam and we just wanted to come out and see where we stackedwith them. "It just feels good. We went to South Bend and did not havesuch a hot time, but starting the season off (this year) 2-0 isgreat." Penn State was impressive in last weekend's season-opening 59-0victory over Florida International. With Michigan falling to 0-2 on Saturday and Ohio State lookinglethargic in a 20-2 win over Akron, the door is wide open forthe Nittany Lions to contend for the Big Ten title. But Saturday night's contest certainly started in inauspiciousfashion for Penn State, as Notre Dame jumped out to a 7-0 leadon cornerback Darrin Walls' 73-yard interception return for ascore. But Penn State remained resolute, limiting Notre Dame (0-2) tojust 144 yards of total offense while sacking freshmanquarterback Jimmy Clausen six times. The Nittany Lions alsostuffed Notre Dame's ineffective ground game, which was heldwith without a rushing yard. "I thought we played well," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said."It's tough for a young quarterback to come in here with thecrowd. I thought the crowd was phenomenal and made it tough toplay. "When you have a freshman quarterback, there are certain thingsyou don't want to try, so they kind of limited themselves withhim." The Irish have managed a total of minus-eight rushing yards overtheir first two contests and are 0-2 for the first time since2001, when they finished 5-6. "As the game went on, I was disappointed with how manythree-and-outs we had," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "Itwasn't just the three-and-outs, because sometimesthree-and-outs don't kill you when you are being conservative." Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions moved the ball methodically behindScott, who finished with 116 yards on 28 carries. Rodney Kinlawchipped in 49 yards on just nine carries for Penn State, whichfinished with 164 yards on the ground. "It felt great getting that many carries," Scott said. "I amthankful that the coaches called that many running plays. Itwas a nice number to get into a rhythm." "(Scott) is a good, solid back and he's learned to wait for theopening and then accelerate," Paterno added. "He's a strongback. He'll get better as he goes on. He's got to stayhealthy, though, which I hope he will." After throwing the first-quarter interception to Walls, PennState quarterback Anthony Morelli directed the offenseefficiently and finished 12-of-22 for 131 yards and one TD. Penn State forged a 7-7 tie with 52 seconds left in the openingquarter when Derrick Williams reeled off a 78-yard punt returnfor a score. "I think everything was set up right," Williams said. "Theother guys on the touchdown return did a great job. I had theeasy part of just running. One thing that the coaches alwaysstress is just getting the ball down the field." The Nittany Lions took the lead for good with 6:37 left in thefirst half when Morelli found Jordan Norwood on a crossing routefor a 10-yard scoring strike to make it 14-7. The teams exchanged field goals early in the third quarterbefore Penn State took a commanding 24-10 lead on Scott's firstTD of the game, a one-yard plunge with 4:47 left in the period. Clausen looked shaky in his first career start, completing17-of-32 passes for 144 yards and one interception. "You want the kid to leave with a decent taste in his mouth,"Weis said. "And if you go from the middle of the first quarterright through the third quarter, the offense was just sputteringand sputtering, then you don't want to leave the field and feelthat you have nothing going."
