The No. 14/15 Penn State Nittany Lions possessed the ball and dominated on defense to defeat the Minnesota Golden Gophers 20-0 Saturday at a cold and wet Beaver Stadium. The defense allowed only 138 yards of total offense to Minnesota.

The Nittany Lions scored on two Colin Wagner field goals to take a six point lead with 14:55 left in the second quarter. Derek Moye caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Daryll Clark with 35 seconds left in the first half to put Penn State up 13-0.

Penn State (6-1, 2-1) never looked back from there and with the way the defense was dominating the game’s conclusion did not feel like it was still up in the air. In the first half the defense only allowed 38 yards to the Golden Gophers.

Minnesota (4-3, 2-2) could never get anything going on offense and the young Penn State secondary shut down Eric Decker, one of the nation’s best wide receivers. Decker only got loose once for a 42 yard catch.

Sean Lee returned to the Penn State lineup but re-aggravated his knee injury near the end of the third quarter. He was then in and out of the game after that but did not look 100 percent.

Clark’s 1-yard touchdown dive with 1:41 left in the third quarter made it 20-0 for Penn State.

The shutout was preserved with a goal-line stand when A.J. Wallace and Navarro Bowman stopped the Minnesota back at the goal-line on fourth and one in the fourth quarter.

Clark was 21-32 for 287 yards and two total touchdowns. Evan Royster carried the ball 23 times for 137 yards to lead the Nittany Lions. Moye led Penn State with six receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Adam Weber was only 10-22 for 101 yards and an interception for Minnesota. The Golden Gophers only rushed for 37 yards in the game on 18 attempts.

Penn State collected 21 first downs compared to only seven for Minnesota. It was an all-out dominant game for the Nittany Lions and arguably the best 60 minutes of football Penn State has put together this season.

The Nittany Lions will look to keep things rolling next Saturday when they head to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines. Minnesota’s next contest is Saturday at Ohio State.