Penn State holds off Purdue 23-18

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A Purdue extra-point attempt bounced off the upright. Two tipped passes landed in the hands of Penn State defenders for interceptions.

The Boilermakers offense gashed Linebacker U., but special teams miscues, three picks for Penn State's defense and Silas Redd's 131 yards and a touchdown helped the Nittany Lions hold on for a 23-18 win on a windy Saturday afternoon in Happy Valley.

Another close call in a season full of tight games for Penn State (6-1, 3-0).

"Any time you win a game, I feel fortunate," coach Joe Paterno said. "Fortunate? Yeah, that we got a couple bounces, and unfortunately that we had a couple closer than they should have been ... I just want to enjoy this one."

Akeem Shavers had a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:08 left but Purdue was stopped on a 2-point conversion attempt to keep the deficit at 20-18. A missed field goal and extra-point attempt earlier in the game also haunted Purdue (3-3, 1-1 Big Ten).

Chaz Powell returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards to the 3, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed Penn State (6-1, 3-0) back. The Nittany Lions settled for Anthony Fera's 29-yard field goal with 6:24 left and a five-point lead.

Nate Stupar intercepted a tipped pass at the Purdue 19 with 1:59 left, though the Boilermakers still had one last chance to make a play defensively.

On fourth-and-1 from the 10 with about 1:30 left, Paterno elected to run a play instead of kicking a field goal. Matt McGloin's 5-yard run on a quarterback sneak and a first down finally had the homecoming weekend crowd breathing a collective sigh of relief.

"We were hoping to get a couple takeaways. On defense, we felt like we needed to come out and stop the run," Purdue coach Danny Hope said.

Redd did most of the damage, pounding away at Purdue for 28 carries. It was the third straight game of at least 129 yards for the sophomore tailback.

But Penn State also benefited from Purdue's special teams mistakes.

Carson Wiggs missed a 44-yard field goal, then an extra-point attempt banged off the right upright after Caleb TerBush found O.J. Ross from 14 yards for a touchdown to leave the deficit at 13-12.

Wiggs said afterward he thought he heard a whistle before the kick, potentially from the student section.

"So I don't know, it's a little bit of a distraction on my way to the ball, but there's no reason," Wiggs said. "I should've been able to put that in."

The ensuing kickoff from Wiggs landed out-of-bounds for a penalty that gave Penn State the ball at its own 40. McGloin, coming on in relief again for Rob Bolden in the Nittany Lions' two-quarterback system, set up Redd's third-quarter touchdown run with three straight long passes for first downs to the 9.

The hard-running Redd backed into a defender and bowled him over at the goal line for a touchdown on the next play. He's turning into a nice option in the red zone for a team that has struggled inside the 20 most of the year.

"I was just tired of people saying we couldn't score down there," Redd said. "By any means, I was just trying to get into the end zone."

Behind a strong running game, Purdue gained 344 yards on Penn State — roughly 90 more than the Nittany Lions' season average entering the day.

Paterno's worries of a letdown following an emotional 13-3 win last week over Iowa nearly came true. Still recovering from an injured right shoulder and pelvis suffered after getting bowled over in practice Aug. 7, Paterno coached from the press box.

Anthony Fera's 69-yard punt to the 2 put Purdue in a tough spot for a potential game-winning drive with 2:36 left. Forced to go for it on fourth down, a tipped pass from Caleb TerBush was snagged by Stupar for the linebacker's second pick of the day.

TerBush finished 12 of 25 passing for 162 yards with two interceptions, while Ralph Bolden led the Boilermakers' ground game with 97 yards for 13 carries.

The former pass-happy school has found success this season with a run-first mentality. It was nearly enough to give Coach Danny Hope's crew its first victory over the Nittany Lions since a 20-13 win in 2004.

Good call by Hope, too, to run the ball given winds at Beaver Stadium that had hot dog and candy wrappers swirling all over the field all day.

"The wind was a factor in decision-making," Hope said. "I don't know how much of a factor it was in the outcome of the game."

Devon Still and the Nittany Lions front line turned up the heat in the red zone to hold Purdue to two first-half field goals by Wiggs, who otherwise struggled on the afternoon.