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No. 22 Penn State rolls over Coastal Carolina

Aug 30, 2008 - 9:58 PM STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- In what turned out to be a glorified scrimmage, No. 22 Penn State opened coach Joe Paterno's 43rd season Saturday with a 66-10 drubbing of Coastal Carolina of the Football Championship Subdivision.

Replacing Anthony Morelli, senior Daryll Clark played well in his first career start for the Nittany Lions (1-0), completing 11-of-14 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Paterno used all three quarterbacks, and backup Pat Devlin also looked good throwing the ball, completing his first pass for 40 yards to Jordan Norwood in the second quarter. Devlin finished 5-of-8 for 83 yards. Thirteen receivers caught at least one pass for Penn State.

"It was very exciting," Clark said. "It was the first day and wanted everything to go right. We got a lot of plays and executed a lot. It was great. I don't think I got tested, though. We just put points on the board."

The Nittany Lions also overpowered the outclassed Chanticleers (0-1) with a bruising ground attack that amassed more than 300 yards. Overall, Penn State gained nearly 600 yards, moving the ball at will.

The Nittany Lions scored seven of their nine touchdowns on the ground, led by Evan Royster, who rushed for 84 yards and three TDs on just eight carries. Stephfon Green added 89 yards and two TDs on 10 carries off the bench.

"My goal was to get three (TDs) and I got two," Green said. "I tried to catch up with Royster when he got three. Two was my real goal and I got that. I just wanted to help my team anyway I could, and I was itching to get in the game in the beginning. When they put me in, I made sure I didn't disappoint."

Penn State scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions and got another one on Derrick Williams' 89-yard kickoff return en route to a 38-7 halftime lead.

"We have tons of depth at every position," Penn State wide receiver Jordan Norwood said. "We didn't get a chance to see all of our running backs. I feel like we have a lot of depth and that helped us today and it will help us in the future."

Coastal Carolina kept it close for a quarter and pulled within 14-7 on Zach MacDowall's 33-yard TD pass to Trent Usher 82 seconds into the second period. But the Nittany Lions answered on Williams' kickoff return, then turned the contest into a rout.

"I'm just glad to get the first one," said Paterno, who won his 373rd game to tie Florida State's Bobby Bowden on the all-time wins list. "I think the kickoff return broke things open."

William Richardson completed 10-of-18 passes for 105 yards for Coastal Carolina, which kicked a 31-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

"I didn't want to get embarrassed," Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett said. "We didn't do as well as we should have, but we were outmanned. They are a good football team. They are one of the best teams in the country. I think they will be top 10 on the country."

Usher said the Chanticleers will try to use the game as a learning experience.

"None of us on this team get to play in front of 110,000 people," he said. "It is a great learning experience. It is Big Ten football, the big, the fast, and the strong."

Penn State averaged nearly eight yards per carry on the ground, rushing for 334 yards on 43 attempts and converting 9-of-11 third downs to sustain drives.

"It's always tough the first game of the year to get things working out," Penn State center A.Q. Shipley said. "But we were able to get the looks we wanted and went over it in practice. It didn't matter who was in there, we were able to run the ball."