I missed the first 10 minutes or so of this Saturday’s game. It was poor planning to think we could run an errand on Route 7 out of Alexandria on a Saturday afternoon. In the end, it probably worked out rather well given how poorly Penn State was playing. It was already 7-0 in favor of Northwestern when we arrived at my parents house in Vienna. It got worse as Northwestern went up 21-0 with only a minute left in the half. Then, it got a lot better in a hurry. Former walk-on Matt McGloin, who replaced true freshman Rob Bolden at quarterback after two ineffective series had been equally ineffective up until that point. In fact, the stats flashed on the screen after two drives were almost exactly the same. Being late in the half though, no sense of changing back to Bolden. Staring at the 9 yard line with under a minute to play, McGloin drove the Nittany Lions down the field. With under 10 seconds to go and no timeouts, one having been needlessly burned seconds earlier, McGloin found Brett Brackett in the back of end zone for Penn State’s first score. They went in down 21-7 at the half. I’m sure I remarked that Michigan State had fallen behind 17-0 to the Wildcats before coming back. I was hoping for the same.

At halftime, I built a fire in my parents fireplace and the Nittany Lions did the same to Northwestern defense. The crowd, on fire itself after the late first half touchdown, was starting to hurt Northwestern. The momentum continued as McGloin lead Penn State on 4 consecutive 2nd half touchdown drives. Evan Royster and Silas Redd tore apart the Wildcats defense as well, both rushing for over 100 yards. McGloin was calm and made much better decisions than the week before against Michigan. For whatever reason, the team responds when he is behind center.

McGloin is kind of a throwback quarterback — he has no economy of movement when he’s playing. While most college quarterbacks have sturdy pocket presences and a strong economy of movement, McGloin is moving his arms, shoulders, head and legs seemingly needlessly, but completely in control at the same time. It brings an sense of urgency and excitement to most plays. Thus far, it has worked, especially on third down which seems to be McGloin’s strong suit. He’s earned the job.

The defense adjusted quite well at half-time. After playing in nickel for the first half, the Nittany Lions came out with a standard alignment for the second half which neutralized Northwestern QB Dan Persa who had run all over Penn State in the first half. Persa is a talented signal-caller, but as soon as Penn State focused on his running more than his throwing, he was not very successful. LBs Mike Mauti and Chris Colisanti both had 11 tackles, but Mauti was a beast, getting behind the line of scrimmage and pushing people back. Mauti it would seem will be the next great Penn State linebacker if he can stay healthy. He is the soul of the defense and a future captain. he plays with a fire has been lacking this season.

Some other thoughts:

Seeing Redd get more carries is good news for the Penn State offensive attack. He has great moves and better speed the Royster, who still excels and yards after contact.

Once McGloin started throwing to people other than just WR Derek Moye, the offense started moving.

WR Graham Zug continues to improve.

My 2 year old was really into the game. He is beginning to understand it, or at least that when his parents go nuts, he can too. He was jumping around, screaming and running all over the place. The entertainment he provided really made the game more fun.

You know what would have been nice? A single shot of Persa’s mom in the stands. The succeeding 16 shots of her were excessive. Seriously, I was ready to call ABC and complain.

Somebody (a motor oil brand, I think) finally used “Moving in Stereo” in a commercial. All I could think about was Phoebe Cates.

The comeback was reminiscent of Joe Paterno’s 324th win, which broke Bear Bryant’s record, in 2001. This one tied for the biggest come from behind win by Paterno. Seeing him hit 400 wins was awfully special, he’s unique and I’m cherishing him being there because it won’t last forever.

Of course, I was thinking that when I was a student which is longer ago than I might care to remember.

I did not expect this three game winning streak, but happily take it. The season has rebounded well since the disaster against Illinois. Next week is a HUGE challenge though, playing Ohio State in Columbus is a lot different than playing Northwestern or Michigan at home.