Aug. 30, 2008

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• Penn State is now 101-19-2 in season openers, (winning its last seven and 16 of 18). The Nittany Lions are 36-7 in season openers under Joe Paterno and 109-12-1 in home openers overall.
• The Nittany Lions have won 32 of their last 41 games, tied for eighth-best in the nation over that span.
• Penn State is now 6-2 all-time in the month of August.
• The Nittany Lions are now 53-11 in non-conference games since starting Big Ten play in 1993.
• Penn State's 66 points today are the most in a game for the Lions since scoring 67 against Louisiana Tech in 2000.
• Penn State's 66 points today are the most for the Lions in a season opener since defeating Susquehanna, 82-0, on Sept. 25, 1926.
• The Lions' margin of victory was the most since the 59-0 win over Florida International in the 2007 season opener and tied for sixth-largest under Joe Paterno.
• The Nittany Lions are now 4-1 against teams from South Carolina (2-0 vs. South Carolina, 1-0 vs. Furman, 1-0 vs. Coastal Carolina and 0-1 vs. Clemson.)
• Penn State's 594 yards of total offense are its most since gaining 661 yards in a 59-34 win vs. Rutgers at Giants Stadium in 1995.
• The Lions' 334 rushing yards are their most since gaining 389 yards on the ground vs. Youngstown State in 2006.
• The 24 points scored by the Nittany Lions in the second quarter are the most points scored by Penn State in a quarter since recording 28 in the third stanza of last year's season opener against Florida International.
• Penn State scored 38 points in the first half today, the most points in a half for Penn State since the Nittany Lions scored 56 in the first half at Illinois in 2005.
• The Nittany Lions scored seven rushing touchdowns in a game for the first time since rushing for seven scores against Michigan State in the 2002 regular season finale.
• Evan Royster's three rushing touchdowns today are a career-high and the first time that a Nittany Lion has had three rushing touchdowns in a game since Tony Hunt recorded the feat against Temple in 2006.
• Daryll Clark threw his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter, a 5-yard toss to Jordan Norwood.
• Stephfon Green notched his first career touchdown on a 7-yard rush in the second quarter.
• Derek Williams's 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter was the first kickoff return for a touchdown of his career. Williams also has two punt returns for touchdowns in his career (Temple '06 and Notre Dame '07). It was the first kick return for a touchdown by a Nittany Lion since A.J. Wallace had a 97-yard kick return for a touchdown against Ohio State last season.
• Redshirt freshman Chaz Powell scored the first touchdown of his career on a 55-yard rush in the third quarter.
• True freshman Brandon Beachum scored the first touchdown of his career late in the fourth quarter.
• Bani Gbadyu's interception in the second quarter was the first of his career.
• Pat Devlin's 40-yard pass completion to Jordan Norwood, on his first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, marked the first completion of his career. Devlin was 0 for 1 passing in 2007.
• Derek Moye, Joe Suhey, Andrew Szczerba, Stephfon Green and Brent Carter all recorded their first career catches today.
• Aaron Maybin tied a career-high with two sacks today. He had two last year against Buffalo.
• First-time starters for Penn State included QB Daryll Clark, TB Evan Royster and WR Brett Brackett on offense and MLB Josh Hull and OLB Bani Gbadyu on defense.
• True freshmen who played for Penn State today included Brandon Beachum, Jack Crawford, DeOn'tae Pannell and Michael Mauti.
• Penn State will take on Oregon State next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ABC, with coverage on ESPN or ESPN2 outside of the ABC coverage area.