Oct 3, 2005 4 min read

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – When he wasn’t being swarmed by Penn State tacklers, Minnesota running back Laurence Maroney could often be spotted on the sidelines sitting on an exercise bike while talking to teammates. Maroney took off his helmet to expose hair that draped down to his neck and shoulders and at times shook his head side-to-side while looking out to the field. It was one of the few places on Saturday where he couldn’t be touched by the Nittany Lions’ dominating defense.

Between the sidelines, No. 16 Penn State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) quieted the Heisman Trophy hype about Maroney in a 44-14 rout of Minnesota that vaulted them into The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday. The Nittany Lions also entered the USA Today coaches poll at No. 18.

Coach Joe Paterno said the defense “didn’t do anything fancy.” Safety Calvin Lowry called his team’s effort “basic defense, everyone playing hard and everyone hustling to the ball.”

That plain-Jane effort held Maroney to 16 carries and 48 yards, 126 below his Division I-A leading season average coming into the contest. He had his streak of 100-yard rushing performances snapped at six games.

The humbled Golden Gophers (4-1, 1-1) dropped out of the poll after a one-week stint at No. 18.

“I don’t want to classify it as a total breakdown, but I’m surprised we weren’t able to run more effectively,” Minnesota coach Glen Mason said. “Sometimes we make it look easy, but it’s not easy. I knew it wouldn’t be easy against Penn State.”

Penn State is ranked in the AP poll for the first time since finishing at No. 16 in 2002, the only winning year in the previous five seasons. A sputtering offense held Penn State back the last two losing years as unrest grew among the “Joe (Paterno) Must Go” crowd.

JoePa finally appears to have playmakers on offense and an athletic, confident quarterback in Michael Robinson to accompany a swarming “D.” The Nittany Lions look like contenders for the Big Ten crown for the first time in years.

But Penn State fans shouldn’t be punching tickets to the Rose Bowl just yet. No. 6 Ohio State visits Beaver Stadium for a prime-time showdown this Saturday, and Penn State visits No. 21 Michigan the following week.

“We’ve got to prove that we can be a great football team week in and week out,” defensive end Tamba Hali said. He and his linemates often got penetration against the Gophers’ vaunted zone-blocking scheme.

Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley credited long, run-dominated drives by the Penn State offense for helping his unit stay fresh.

Penn State finished with 35 first downs, the second- highest total in Paterno’s 40 seasons as head coach.

They held Minnesota to three-and-outs on its first two drives and the Gophers’ third drive ended with a missed field goal. The Gophers didn’t get a first down until midway into the second quarter, when Penn State already had 12.

“Now against a big physical group like (the Minnesota offensive line), they wear you down,” Bradley said Saturday. “But today we had a lot left in our tank at the end of the game.”

The Nittany Lions even dished out big hits on offense. Early in the second quarter, Robinson ran to his right and up the sideline and was bounced out of bounds after a big collision with Minnesota’s Brandon Owens. The safety laid motionless on the field for a couple minutes before being helped off. He did not return.

Gophers quarterback Bryan Cupito is optimistic his team can stay in the conference race despite the loss.

“But that’s all right because I don’t think anyone in the Big Ten Conference will go undefeated this year,” Cupito said. “This hurts us but we can still bounce back.”