• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Clark leads Penn State in rout of Syracuse

Sep 14, 2008 - 1:16 AM SYRACUSE, New York (Ticker) -- Three weeks into the season, the Penn State offense has not shown signs of slowing down.

Daryll Clark threw for two touchdowns as 17th-ranked Penn State cruised to its third blowout victory, a 55-13 blitz of Syracuse on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions (3-0), who have outscored their opponents, 166-37, used a stifling defensive effort and four touchdowns through the air en route for a 38-6 halftime lead.

"It's always a good thing when you score early," Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said. "I'm just not sure how good we're going to be yet. We can be a pretty good team, I think, if we stay healthy. We haven't faced any adversity yet, so we'll see."

Clark finished 10-of-21 for 163 yards and a pair of first-quarter scoring strikes to Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler.

With Penn State leading 21-0, Pat Devlin replaced Clark and picked up right where the senior left off. Devlin, who was 8-of-13 for 130 yards, also teamed up with Norwood and Butler for second-quarter touchdowns to help the Nittany Lions build the 32-point lead

"They came out in no-back, which they've done before. The way that they were set up was totally different and we have some players who really were not recognizing what was going on," Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. "They did a number of things, motion, and other things. We had to get the group off the field and kind of coach them up. Once we got that settled, we had a little better feel for things."

Syracuse (0-3) totaled minus-one yard of offense in its first five drives, which included four three-and-outs and a lost fumble.

Cameron Dantley, who started at quarterback in place of Andrew Robinson, struggled throughout, completing 13-of-32 for 112 yards. He connected with Marcus Sales on an 11-yard strike late in the third quarter to account for the Orange's only touchdown.

Norwood had five catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns, while Butler added seven receptions for 110 yards and two scores for the Nittany Lions, who racked up 560 yards of total offense.

Evan Royster carried 13 times for 104 yards for Penn State, but did not find the end zone after tallying three touchdowns in each of the first two weeks. Stephon Green added 52 yards on 10 carries, including a 2-yard touchdown.

"I mean it is always good mentally when you win on the road" Green said. "You know coming in here they paint it as a big rivalry between Syracuse and Penn State. You know Coach Paterno said they are a good team don't sleep on them just because of their record. So you know we put those thoughts into our practices this week and we went to work in the Carrier Dome."