Evan Royster

With Michigan susceptible to the pass, many expected Penn State to come out firing. But on its first two plays, it was Austin Scott off left guard and fullback Matt Hahn off right guard. At the half, pass calls slightly favored the run, 16-13. "You don't go in there with the idea you're going to throw the ball 100 times or 40 times," coach Joe Paterno said. With the Lions stacking the line against Michigan running back Mike Hart (44 carries for 153 yards), freshman quarterback Ryan Mallett was able to complete some key third-down passes.

Penn State cornerback Willie Harriott was cited by State College police with driving with a suspended license the morning before the backup was kicked off the team. A university police log lists Harriott, 21, as having been pulled over early Thursday morning. Coach Joe Paterno said on his weekly radio show Thursday night that Harriott was dismissed from the team for an unspecified rule violation. In November, Harriott was charged with driving under the influence and speeding.

Senior running back Evan Royster from Chantilly, Va., has committed to playing football at Penn State. The 6-foot, 190-pound Royster is nationally rated as high as 26th at his position, according to recruiting services. He was Virginia AAA Northern Region offensive player of the year, averaging 9.5 yards a carry this season. Royster's oral pledge gives Penn State 19 solid commitments leading up to national signing day on Feb. 1. The Nittany Lions are after running back LeSean McCoy of Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg)

Pottsgrove High's Brent Carter, a first-team all-Southeastern Pennsylvania pick at running back by The Inquirer, yesterday made an oral commitment to attend the University of Virginia. Carter had struggled trying to choose between Virginia and Penn State. The Nittany Lions have received commitments from two other running backs, Travis McBride, who led McKeesport to the PIAA Class AAAA championship, and Evan Royster, the top player in the metro Washington area last season; he had more than 6,300 career rushing yards.

Temple and Rutgers announced a four-game football scheduling agreement, with the first game in 2015. Temple will play at Rutgers Stadium in 2015 and 2017 and the Scarlet Knights will visit Lincoln Financial Field in 2016 and 2018. "We are very excited to renew the series with Rutgers," Temple coach Al Golden said in a statement. "It is a great game for our fans as it renews a regional rivalry. " Temple and Rutgers first met in 1948, with Rutgers holding a 19-15 series lead.

Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark and defensive end Aaron Maybin were named Big Ten players of the week yesterday for their performances in the Lions' 48-7 win over Wisconsin. Clark threw for a career-high 244 yards and a touchdown on 16-of-25 passing and rushed for two TDs in earning offensive-player-of-the-week honors. Maybin, who had six tackles, 3 1/2 tackles for loss, a sack and two forced fumbles, shared defensive-player-of-the-week honors with Minnesota's Willie VanDeSteeg.

Whatever momentum had been gained by supporters of Daryll Clark urging that his name be included in the Heisman Trophy conversation was stopped as if it had run into a brick wall. Penn State's senior quarterback again performed poorly in a game of national significance, completing 12 of 28 passes for 125 yards, an interception, and no touchdowns yesterday in the Nittany Lions' 24-7 loss to Ohio State. Clark acknowledged that his inability to lead the Lions to victories over the only two ranked teams - Ohio State and Iowa - on their schedule is "something that will hang over my head unless we finish the season the right way, which I'm very confident we'll do. " Asked, however, whether it's unfair to judge him on those two games, Clark replied, "That may be the case.

The immediate status of Penn State freshman tailback Silas Redd is expected to be addressed today by coach Joe Paterno following a disorderly conduct citation Redd received from university police for public urination. Redd was briefly detained by campus cops for allegedly urinating near the Agriculture Engineering Building at 4:13 a.m. Sunday morning, hours after the team returned from Columbus, Ohio, where it lost to Ohio State, 38-14. Such violations usually result in a fine, but Paterno also might elect to impose some form of team discipline.

MINNEAPOLIS - For Evan Royster , the slow and tortuous climb to the top of Penn State's career rushing chart has turned a little frustrating. Royster gained 62 yards on 10 carries Saturday and scored a touchdown in the Nittany Lions' 33-21 victory over Minnesota. He moved into second place on the all-time list with 3,368 yards and now stands 31 yards away from breaking Curt Warner's school record, a number he should reach Saturday at home against Michigan. "It's not like my first concern right now," Royster said.

Evan Royster sounded as if he wanted to come back for his senior season at Penn State after the victory over Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl. It took less than one week for Royster to make it official. The first-team all-Big Ten tailback announced yesterday that he would pass on the NFL draft and return to the Lions next year. "I wanted to return to finish my degree and for my final year at Penn State," Royster said in a news release issued by the university. Royster had said he was going to go over his evaluation from the NFL draft advisory board before making a decision, but an athletic department spokesman said the running back made his choice without knowing what his draft prospects would be. Royster, of Fairfax, Va., will have a chance at becoming Penn State's all-time leading rusher.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State teased its fans all season. Sometimes the Nittany Lions showed flashes of greatness. Sometimes they looked as if they didn't belong on the same field with their opponent. It averaged out to a regular-season finish at a level slightly above mediocrity. The Lions played uninspired football for much of a cold, blustery Saturday against Michigan State at Beaver Stadium, atypically hurt themselves with penalties, and fell too far behind to capitalize on a frantic three-touchdown fourth quarter.

Penn State has spent the 2010 season playing ragged football one moment, inspired football the next, a style that has kept its fans from sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the games. But the bottom line is this: If the Nittany Lions can knock off No. 11 Michigan State Saturday at Beaver Stadium, they will finish the regular season 8-4 and have a chance at finishing alone in fourth place in the Big Ten. The Lions moved to 4-3 in the conference Saturday with a 41-24 victory over Indiana at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Somehow, that 33-13 loss to Illinois a little more than six weeks ago in Happy Valley is almost one of those did-it-really-happen images.

LANDOVER, Md. - Matt McGloin had been on a giddy high for about 12 consecutive quarters, fulfilling a lifelong dream to quarterback Penn State while leading the Nittany Lions to three straight wins and a solid halftime lead over Ohio State. Then it all came crashing down on him and the Lions in last weekend's second half at the Horseshoe. He completed two passes to his receivers, and two to the Buckeyes, with Ohio State returning both of theirs for touchdowns to fuel a 38-14 thumping.

The immediate status of Penn State freshman tailback Silas Redd is expected to be addressed today by coach Joe Paterno following a disorderly conduct citation Redd received from university police for public urination. Redd was briefly detained by campus cops for allegedly urinating near the Agriculture Engineering Building at 4:13 a.m. Sunday morning, hours after the team returned from Columbus, Ohio, where it lost to Ohio State, 38-14. Such violations usually result in a fine, but Paterno also might elect to impose some form of team discipline.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - For one half Saturday, Matt McGloin was living up to his newfound fame, dissecting the opponent's secondary and giving Penn State an unlikely 11-point lead at a stunned Ohio Stadium. Then reality reared its head. Ohio State played like the nation's No. 8 team in the second half while the Nittany Lions played like the team that had started the season 3-3. And McGloin crashed back to earth, throwing a pair of interceptions that the home team returned for touchdowns.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - One week after he anchored the second-half defensive effort in Penn State's comeback win over Northwestern, linebacker Michael Mauti spent the second half Saturday on the sideline for all but a couple of plays. Coach Joe Paterno said Mauti's shoulder "had gone out of place. " He added that Mauti "has been having troubles with that shoulder," although that had not been known previously. "That hurt," he said. "Mauti's been playing really well. " Mauti, a redshirt sophomore, posted six tackles - five unassisted and two for losses, including a sack - against Northwestern, the game that gave Paterno his 400th career win.   Tailbacks down In the span of back-to-back plays in the third quarter, Penn State went from three available tailbacks to one. Stephfon Green was knocked woozy on a kickoff return and stayed down for about five minutes before standing and going off on a cart.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - No one knows the exact moment it happened, the time when Penn State players, individually and collectively, decided they had had enough of being mediocre this season and wanted to do something about it. There is general agreement, with the Nittany Lions trying to erase the sour memories of an Oct. 9 home loss to Illinois - a game in which coach Joe Paterno lamented his team "really showed a lack of enthusiasm, a lack of intensity"...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - It looked as if all of the planning at Penn State to celebrate Joe Paterno's 400th career victory would go for naught Saturday during a long, gloomy first half in which Northwestern took a three-touchdown lead with about a minute remaining. But good fortune shone through the twilight when the Nittany Lions took possession of the football at their 9-yard line with 50 seconds to go and two time-outs left. Rather than run out the clock, the Lions blew through the Wildcats' defense and scored their first touchdown with three seconds to play.

STATE COLLEGE - In a game rife with natural story lines - Joe Paterno moving to the verge of 400 career victories, Evan Royster breaking the Penn State career rushing record and another electrifying performance turned in by Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson - perhaps the most compelling among them is that old standby. A quarterback controversy. With true freshman Rob Bolden presumably able to play but held out for precautionary reasons after missing much of last week's victory at Minnesota with "concussion-like symptoms," Paterno tabbed former walk-on Matt McGloin for his first career start in the crucible of a nationally televised "whiteout" game Saturday night in Beaver Stadium, against a high-scoring Big Ten Conference opponent and 108,539 spectators and potential critics in the stands.

Before they turn the lights on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, the Penn State electricians may want to install a couple of spotlights to shine on the lush green grass. One of them could be directed at Evan Royster, who needs 31 yards to end his extended pursuit of Curt Warner's career rushing record for the Nittany Lions. The other would be trained upon the offensive line, an often maligned unit that may hold the fate of the game against Michigan in its meaty hands. The Wolverines (5-2, 1-2 Big Ten)