Victory #408 for Penn State football coach Joe Paterno!

Penn State's victory at Northwestern was significant in the short-term because it kept the Nittany Lions atop of the standings in the Big Ten's Eastern Division.

It was also significant in historical terms, as Joe Paterno tied Eddie Robinson for the all-time lead in Division I coaching victories with #408...

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We had the pleasure of attending yesterday's game and have the following observations...

• During the band break we thought we might be looking at a hundred-point game, reminiscent of Northwestern's classic 54-51 victory over Michigan in November 2000.
• It's really hard to believe we shut them out in the second half. (We caught a break when a Northwestern wideout dropped a perfect would-be touchdown pass from Bethlehem Liberty's Dan Persa.) It's sweet to win when the other team has more First Downs and more Total Yards.
• The attendance was the biggest we've ever personally witnessed at Northwestern, 40,004. It was a beautiful, sunny Homecoming day, it was a night game, and Penn State always travels well. The parking lots along Sheridan Road were lousy with Blue & White tailgaters. We estimate there were 7,000-10,000 PSU fans in attendance at Ryan Field.
• Hats off to the Knoxville Penn State Alumni Association for hooking us up with tickets in the parking lot.
• Devon Smith is making a believer out of us. We'd thought he was too small for Division I-A football, but they are getting him the ball in space. Yesterday he tore it up with six receptions for 110 yards and a score. Northwestern didn't have anyone who could run with him.
• We were glad to see Matt McGloin start and go the whole way, a couple of head-scratching throws notwithstanding.
• Defensive End Jack Crawford played his best game of the season.
• We look forward to a couple more years of Silas Redd, who had a career-best 164 rushing yards yesterday, including a game-changing burst that set up a touchdown late in the first half.
• Check out the Big Ten East standings...
  
  1. Penn State (4-0)
  2t. Wisconsin (2-1)
  2t. Purdue (2-1)
  4. Illinois (2-2)
  5. Ohio State (1-2)
  6. Indiana (0-4)
  
  
• If Joe gets #409 against Illinois, we head into November as the team to beat in our division following a much-needed bye week. The closing stretch is daunting, but a victory over Illinois and a split of the Nebraska and Ohio State games would mean the trip to Madison could be a de facto Big Ten semi-final.

Joe's post-game presser is embedded below. The lighting is awful, but it appears that his leg is still hurting and he's still fighting the cold that he spoke about after last week's victory over Purdue.

Joe's wit is still as sharp as ever though. Someone was knocking on the door and Joe quipped, "Is that my wife?," (about 4:45 into the video) to the great delight of the assembled media...



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