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Penn State looks for revenge against struggling Notre Dame

Sep 8, 2007 - 10:28 AM Notre Dame (0-1) at No. 14 Penn State (1-0) 6:00 pm EDT

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- Notre Dame is reeling from the worst season-opening loss in the program's storied history. But the Fighting Irish won't get any sympathy from Penn State.

The 14th-ranked Nittany Lions look to avenge last season's loss to the Fighting Irish when the teams meet Saturday in Happy Valley.

Penn State suffered a 41-17 loss at South Bend last year in the first meeting between the traditional powers since 1992.

Penn State (1-0) rolled in its season opener last week, drubbing Florida International, 59-0, for Joe Paterno's 38th shutout as Nittany Lions' coach.

Senior Anthony Morelli enjoyed the best day of his career, completing 23-of-38 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Morelli set a school record by passing for 231 yards in the first half.

The Nittany Lions' defense recorded seven sacks and forced five turnovers - stats that do not bode well for the Irish, who were held to just 122 total yards in their 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech.

That prompted coach Charlie Weis to make a quarterback change, as highly touted Jimmy Clausen will start against the Nittany Lions. A true freshman, the 6-3 Clausen played in the fourth quarter against the Yellow Jackets, completing 4-of-6 passes for 34 yards.

Saturday's contest will mark the first time a true freshman quarterback starts for Notre Dame since Brady Quinn got the nod against Purdue on September 27, 2003. It will be the earliest start in a season for a Notre Dame freshman since 1951.

"I think that the best thing that happened was (Clausen) got into the game last week," Weis said. "I would be more concerned if his first reps were in front of 107,000 in Happy Valley. But I think we got that out of the way in the fourth quarter last week."

Sophomore Demetrius Jones got the start against the Yellow Jackets but struggled throughout the first half, fumbling twice. He was replaced by junior Evan Sharpley, who was equally ineffective.

Notre Dame's inexperienced offensive line yielded eight sacks as the Irish were held to minus-eight yards rushing.

Notre Dame is hoping to avoid its first 0-2 start since 2001, when the Irish opened 0-3 in Bob Davie's final season as coach.