SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 6, 2010
Dan Persa ruled the first half, but Matt McGloin and the Penn State defense made sure Joe Paterno ruled the day.

McGloin replaced an ineffective Rob Bolden late in the first quarter and threw four touchdown passes and the Nittany Lions defense kept Persa under wraps in the second half as Penn State gave Joe Paterno his 400th career victory with a 35-21 victory on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

Carried off the field by his team when the clock ran out, Paterno become the first coach in FBS history to record 400 career victories. He joins legendary coaches Eddie Robinson (408) at Grambling State of the FCS and John Gagliardi (476) at Division III St. John’s, Minn. to reach 400 victories as a college football coach.

For two quarters it looked like it would be more of a coming out party for the Pennsylvania native Persa than a celebration for Paterno. Persa helped stake the Wildcats (6-3, 2-3 Big Ten) to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter by completing 9-of-13 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown and 88 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Penn State took a little momentum into the locker room after McGloin threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brett Brackett with seven seconds left in the second quarter. Little did Northwestern know that it was the beginning of the end.

Penn State scored four touchdowns in its first four possessions of the second half. McGloin threw two touchdown passes and Silas Redd added a 4-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter as Penn State (6-3, 3-2) took a 28-21 lead. McGloin, who completed 18-of-29 passes for 225 yards, added a 13-yard touchdown pass on a screen to Evan Royster early in the fourth quarter to make it 35-21.