PSU Nittany Lions

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Bill O'Brien has stressed the importance of walk-ons this season -- and today's weekly news conference was no different.

Penn State will hold open tryouts Wednesday evening at Holuba Hall, and O'Brien said he hopes to unearth a handful of contributors.

"I'd say, positionally, hopefully there's some DBs in the crowd there," O'Brien said. "That's the position right now that we're looking for. Other than that, I just want to get out there and see if we can go out and find some good football players."

Thirteen players have left the team since July 23, when the NCAA levied unprecedented sanctions against Penn State, and those departures have created depth issues. O'Brien has just two place-kickers on the roster following Matt Marcincin's departure last week.

On defense, true freshman Da'Quan Davis played in three games and now boasts more experience than most of the secondary's backups.

"Males or females, I'm not sure how many will show up," O'Brien said. "But we'll see after practice tomorrow."

Injuries: O'Brien remained mostly mum on injuries to his tailbacks, but he said Derek Day was slightly ahead of Bill Belton in terms of recovery. He said they're both day-to-day.

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One of the key questions lingering from the NCAA sanctions against Penn State was how the $60 million fine levied against the school would be used.

The NCAA announced on Tuesday that it has set up a 10-member task force to determine the guidelines for applying that $60 million toward child sexual abuse prevention and victim treatment programs. That task force will also appoint an independent third-party administrator to choose which groups get funding.

Under the sanctions, Penn State must pay $12 million annually over a five-year period. The NCAA said Tuesday that at least 25 percent of those annual payments will go toward organizations in Pennsylvania, and that those programs will receive the first round of funding. Pennsylvania House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody has said all of the money should stay in the state.

No Penn State-run programs are eligible to use the money, but the school will have some say in where the fines go. That's because Penn State was allowed to appoint two of the 10 members on the task force. They are Dr. Craig Hillemeier, vice dean for clinical affairs in the college of medicine, and Nan C. Crouter, dean of the college of health and human development.

University of California-Riverside chancellor Tim White will serve as chairman of the task force.

Paying out $60 million is a painful sanction for Penn State. But if anything good can come from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, it could be that this money funds programs that prevent or comfort child abuse victims.

There are only 14 weeks in the college football regular season. This is one of them.

That's about the nicest thing I can say about this week's slate of Big Ten games, which makes me yawn every time I scroll through it. But that's not to say there aren't any interesting contests on tap. Here's a quick preview of what's coming on Saturday in order of most to least interest (all times ET):

No. 18 Michigan (2-1) at No. 11 Notre Dame (3-0), 7:30 p.m., NBC: No doubt this is the headliner of the week, a game that has taken on even more prestige given the strong start this season by the Irish. Can the Wolverines do what Purdue and Michigan State couldn't and topple the Golden Domers? They do have Denard Robinson, who has caused more nightmares in South Bend than the bogeyman. With the game under the lights at Notre Dame Stadium, this should be a whole heap of fun.

Syracuse (1-2) at Minnesota (3-0), 8 p.m., Big Ten Network: A game that didn't seem all that interesting in the preseason now looks like maybe the second-best option for Week 4. The Gophers look to get to 4-0 but will have to do so without the injured MarQueis Gray. The Orange are 1-2 but played Northwestern close and hung with USC, and they rank third in the nation in passing yards behind Ryan Nassib. This will be a real test for Minnesota.

Temple (1-1) at Penn State (1-2), 3:30 p.m., ABC: The Nittany Lions finally got a win last week against Navy and need that mojo this week to avoid losing to Temple for the first time since 1941. The Owls didn't inspire a lot of confidence in losing to Maryland last week, but they nearly pulled off the upset of Penn State last year in Philly.

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Penn State's first victory resulted in a pair of Big Ten player honors this week.

Michael Mauti was named the conference's defensive player of the week, and Deion Barnes earned his first freshman of the week honor.

Mauti finished with a game-high 12 tackles -- two of which came behind the line of scrimmage -- and a fumble recovery. This was his second career player-of-the-week honor and Penn State's first since Gerald Hodges won the award on Oct. 31, 2011.

Barnes remains on pace for a memorable rookie season. He had a career-high five tackles against Navy and added another sack, which caused yet another fumble. He's tied for No. 2 in the Big Ten with sacks this season (3) and is tied atop the conference in forced fumbles (2). He shared the honor with Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld.

The last PSU freshman to win the award was quarterback Rob Bolden on Sept. 6, 2010.

Run it back ...

Team of the week: Penn State. No matter what you might think about the school and the football program after the Jerry Sandusky scandal, it was hard not to root for the current Nittany Lions players to finally get a win after so many obstacles. Penn State busted out with an easy, feel-good 34-7 win over Navy. The Midshipmen are hard to root against as well, but this one time was OK.

Game of the week: You might have missed it, because it ended late and was on at the same time as much bigger games. And, OK, it was Indiana. But the Hoosiers' game against Ball State was the most exciting Big Ten contest of the weekend. The teams traded touchdowns in the first half, with Ball State leading 25-24 at the break. Indiana looked done when it trailed 38-25 late in the fourth quarter and starting quarterback Cameron Coffman went out with a hip pointer. But freshman Nate Sudfeld threw a 70-yard touchdown pass and then led the team on another scoring drive with 49 seconds left. Ah, but the Hoosiers made the PlayStation mistake of scoring too fast. Ball State completed a controversial, hard-to-believe pass to the IU 25 with one second left, and Steven Schott booted the game-winner as time expired. It was a tough, tough loss for Kevin Wilson's team, but a fun game to watch.

Biggest play: If it's late in a close game, the last thing a defense wants to see is Braxton Miller scrambling. The Ohio State quarterback burned Wisconsin with a long touchdown throw after things broke down last year, and he did so against Cal on Saturday with a 72-yard strike to an unbelievably open Devin Smith for the game with 3:26 left. Safeties have to respect Miller's explosive running ability, but they get can burned when they leave their receivers. That's why the Miller scramble is becoming one of the most dangerous late-game plays to defend.

Best call: Wisconsin was supposed to be in punt safe mode in the third quarter against Utah State, and its returners would usually call for a fair catch in the situation Kenzel Doe found himself in. But Doe, who was only returning punts because Jared Abbrederis was injured, saw a small opening on the sideline and decided to go for it. He was in the end zone 82 yards later, finally giving the Badgers the spark they needed to eventually beat the Aggies 16-14. Doe? More like Woo-Hoo!

Big Men on Campus (Offense): How about some love for the backups this week? Minnesota's Max Shortell stepped in for the injured MarQueis Gray and threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Gophers fend off Western Michigan for a 3-0 start. And as Iowa's running back curse reached new, ludicrous heights, walk-on Mark Weisman came out of nowhere to run for 113 yards and three touchdowns as part of the Hawkeyes' much-needed win over Northern Iowa.

Big Man on Campus (Defense): Minnesota cornerback Michael Carter had an 18-yard interception return to set up a touchdown early. He also broke up Western Michigan quarterback Alex Carder's pass late to help preserve the 28-23 victory.

Big Man on Campus (Special teams): It's hard to run 99 offensive plays before scoring your first touchdown, but that's what Northwestern did against Boston College. Luckily, they had kicker Jeff Budzien, who made all five of his field goal attempts to give the Wildcats all the points they'd need in a 22-13 victory.

Worst hangover: Michigan State, by a mile. The Spartans were carrying the banner for the Big Ten for one week before they tripped, broke the pole and set the flag on fire against Notre Dame. Although Michigan State bounced back from a bad loss to the Irish last year, Saturday's offensive showing was so inept that it makes you wonder if this team can overcome those limitations going forward. Just a bad, bad performance on a national stage.

Strangest moment: Playing UMass is good for your offense, and just about everyone got involved in Michigan's 63-13 win. That included left tackle Taylor Lewan, who got to live out an offensive lineman's dream by recovering a Denard Robinson fumble for a touchdown. Or did he? At least one teammate claimed that center Elliott Mealer actually recovered the ball. And Robinson said Lewan was mad about his score because the play broke down and he didn't get to complete his block. But the box score says it was a Lewan touchdown, and that's something we probably won't see again.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Stephon Morris just knew.

He knew before the final whistle, before the 20-0 halftime advantage and before opening the first quarter with a two-touchdown lead. He swore, before the opening kickoff, he knew this was Penn State's day.

Once he boarded one of the blue buses at Toftrees, a place surrounded by green firs and blue skies, he knew. He turned toward his teammates, and something just seemed different. They were relaxed, focused and confident. This wasn't like the bus rides with Virginia and Ohio.

"That bus ride, it was just special," the cornerback said, smiling. "Coming off the bus, it was just like a whole new air, and you'd never thought we were an 0-2 team. It felt different."

Morris said the practices Monday and Tuesday were OK. But, when Bill O'Brien spoke with the team and told his players his mind was filled with confidence instead of doubt, those players pressed all the more for a win.

Forget the crowd, forget the win/loss column. Players even forgot themselves Saturday. This win, they said, was for O'Brien.

"It's more important for us to get it for Coach O'Brien than ourselves," Matt McGloin said. "He's been through a ton so far. ... We have his back 110 percent."

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- With its two starting tailbacks sidelined with injuries, the Nittany Lions were expected to struggle running the ball.

Instead, the two bruising backup tailbacks -- Michael Zordich and Curtis Dukes -- combined for 22 carries and 98 yards. Maybe that number isn't all that impressive, but the duo averaged a full yard more on each carry than Penn State's rushing attack managed in the first two games.

Dukes and Zordich grinded for about 4.5 yards a carry Saturday. Entering the game, PSU averaged about 3.3 yards per rushing attempt.

Bill O'Brien said Zordich, who usually plays fullback, was in his ear constantly this week about his ability to run the ball. "I used to the run the ball in high school, coach," O'Brien said Zordich kept reminding him. "I used to run the ball in high school, coach."

"He's like Ferris Bueller's teacher," O'Brien said with a laugh.

Zordich ran 11 times for 50 yards, and Dukes had 11 attempts for 48 yards. The statuses of starter Bill Belton and backup Derek Day remain uncertain.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- A week after a 1-for-5 kicking performance, Sam Ficken struggled again Saturday.

He pushed an extra point wide right, and Bill O'Brien didn't seem to put a lot of trust into the sophomore kicker. The coach opted to throw in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play -- instead of kick -- from the 8-yard line. The pass fell incomplete.

"I just felt good about the play call," O'Brien insisted. "It had nothing to do with Ficken."

Fans continued to show support for the scholarship kicker. Two signs near the end zone were dedicated to him. One read, "Stickin' with Ficken" and was positioned behind the south field goal posts.

And, on his first two extra points, the crowd roared when the the refs raised their arms to signal they were good.

Still, Penn State is starting to feel the sting from Anthony Fera's transfer to Texas. Ficken is making just 20 percent of his field goals, and he's nailed just 77 percent of his extra points this season.

Ficken was not made available to the media for the second consecutive week. He finished 4-of-5 on extra points Saturday and did not attempt a field goal. With walk-on Matt Marcincin's surprise departure this week, Kevin DiSanto is Penn State's only other option at placekicker.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Deion Barnes is fast becoming the Nittany Lions' most feared pass-rusher.

Initially pegged as a situational defensive end, the redshirt freshman's time on the field has increased because of a variety of injuries to starter Pete Massaro. And Barnes has made the most of the added playing time.

Barnes recorded his third sack of the season Saturday and now leads the team. For the second consecutive game, he also forced a fumble by reaching for the ball when going after the quarterback.

"I'm very confident right now in my ability to be a big pass-rusher," Barnes said after the game.

Only one other Penn State player has more than one sack this season. Anthony Zettel recorded two Saturday and is No. 2 on PSU's sack list. But Barnes said he plans to remain the team leader in that statistical category.

"We all battle about it every week who's going to get the most sacks," he said. "I definitely did think before the season I was going to have the most."

Barnes has seven tackles this season and a team-high two forced fumbles.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Allen Robinson stared at his hands last week when they failed him against Virginia. Twice he dropped the ball, and he mentioned all week he needed to maintain his focus.

Consider that mission accomplished.

On Saturday, the sophomore became the first Penn State player in three years to haul in a trio of touchdown catches. He finished with five receptions for a career-high 136 yards -- and enough big plays to splice together about a two-minute highlight tape.

"I just go out there and try to play football," Robinson said. "And Matt [McGloin] was able to hook up with me early."

Matt McGloin found Robinson twice in the first quarter on a pair of 45-yard passes. On one throw, McGloin found the 6-foot-3 wideout 20 yards downfield. Robinson juked one defender, cut inside and sprinted another 25 yards for the score.

He averaged 27 yards a catch. Before the game, Penn State's longest pass traveled 30 yards.

"Usually if you're 6-3, you're not going to run a 4.3," receivers coach Stan Hixon said, "but with his route-running, he can create separation."

The 201-pound wideout entered this season as an unheralded player with just three career receptions next to his name. He's now fast becoming one of best receivers in the Big Ten.

Entering Saturday, he led the conference in receptions -- outcatching the No. 2, Purdue's O.J. Ross, by half-a-dozen. Robinson now has 24 receptions for 322 yards and four touchdowns.

Robinson said he spent the offseason working with any quarterback who would throw to him -- starter Matt McGloin, backup Steven Bench, QB-turned-TE Paul Jones -- to rehearse his route-running. Because of the constant repetition, Robinson said he made the jump from above-average route runner to a great one.

Cornerback Stephon Morris said a few weeks ago Robinson was his favorite receiver to line up against. He had trouble picking up the wideout's tendencies when he ran routes.

"I told you," Morris said Saturday." He's going to be hard to cover."

Robinson's final big play might have been the most impressive. Late in the third quarter, McGloin tossed a slightly high spiral over the middle to Trevor Williams. The true freshman deflected the ball into the air, and Robinson pulled down the volley about five yards deep in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown.

That was his third touchdown, the most for a PSU receiver since Graham Zug hauled in three in 2009 against Michigan.

Robinson was told his phone would likely be ringing every few minutes from coaches hoping for an end-of-the-season transfer. But he said going elsewhere isn't a consideration.

"I'm definitely here with Coach O'Brien and Penn State," he said. "It's not really about playing in the Big Ten championships or playing in a bowl game."