The No. 5/7 Penn State Nittany Lions got three touchdown passes from Daryll Clark and rode the defense to a 28-7 win over the Syracuse Orange Saturday in Beaver Stadium. The Orange were held to 200 yards of total offense in the game, as Sean Lee collected 13 tackles, three for loss and a sack to lead the Nittany Lions defense.

Penn State opened the game with a seven play 79 yard drive, capped with an Evan Royster 49 yard touchdown reception from Clark. Royster was split out on the play and made a nice cut to elude the safety before being off to the races.

The Nittany Lions then went 17 plays and 94 yards on their second possession, before being stuffed on four goal-line plays by the Orange. On the fourth down try Clark fumbled the ball on the center exchange to turn the ball over.

Royster would cap the first half scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run, making it 14-0 once Penn State got the ball back.

Syracuse (0-2) only had 82 yards in the half and punted four times before missing a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

After the Orange went three-and-out on the first possession of the second half, Penn State (2-0) would drive 76 yards on nine plays for a touchdown. Graham Zug caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Clark, giving the Nittany Lions a 21-0 lead.

That is the way the score stayed until midway through the fourth when Mickey Shuler caught a one-yard TD from Clark. Penn State had to turn to a play-action pass from the one-yard line to punch it in because of the offensive line struggles.

The Orange only scored after Penn State’s backup QB Kevin Newsome fumbled, giving Syracuse the ball on the Nittany Lions 16-yard line. Greg Paulus hooked up with Dante Davis on the very next play to put Syracuse on the board with four minutes left in the game.

Penn State’s defense was solid throughout, and in the second half picked off two Paulus passes. The first was by Nate Stupar and the second by Josh Hall, both on balls that were deflected first.

Jared Odrick had another solid game up front for Penn State. He had six tackles and half a sack. He also was the one to tip the ball at the line on the one that Stupar intercepted. Hall made 11 tackles, as he gained playing time with Navarro Bowman being sidelined for the game with an injured groin.

Paulus never could get the ball down field against Penn State, going 14 for 20 for 105 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. Ryan Nassib saw some snaps at QB for Syracuse, going 4-5 for 30 yards as would spell Paulus from time-to-time on every series.

The Orange only gained 2.2 yards per rush and 65 yards for the game against Penn State’s front seven. Delone Cater ran 15 times for 40 yards.

Offensively for Penn State, they gained 318 yards of total offense. The Offensive line continued to struggle, as their run blocking was not any better than last week. Penn State only averaged 2.2 yard per carry, gaining 78 yards on 35 carries.

Royster ran 12 times for 41 yards and only has 102 yards in the first two games on the ground. Stephfon Green ran eight times for 26 yards. For the Nittany Lions to be successful in Big Ten play they are going to need to develop their run game.

Clark went 20 for 31 for 240 yards, with three TD’s and one interception. His interception came on a deep ball to Derek Moye, which was taken away by Kevyn Scott.

The receiving core didn’t look as impressive as against Akron but Zug played well once again. He caught six balls for 79 yards and a touchdown. Moye caught three for 35 and Chaz Powell brought in one for 12 yards.

Andrew Quarless had a nice game from the tight end position, posting four receptions for 35 yards. The other tight end, Shuler, caught a touchdown. It was nice to see the tight ends be successful, as Joe Paterno said they would be a bigger part of the passing game this season.

With Temple up next, Penn State will need to continue to work on their run blocking and a cohesive offensive line unit. That, along with cutting down on turnovers, are the major concerns right now for Penn State.

The defense has not been tested through the air much yet, but there can’t be too many complaints from this side of the ball. The only two times they have been scored against this season came one play after the offense turned the ball over.