[November 22, 2009] PSU overwhelms Michigan State: Lions' regular-season finale win adds intrigue to selection process for BCS games. Tweet Nov 22, 2009 (The Morning Call - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Daryll Clark was in bed in his hotel room Saturday morning when analyst Todd McShay appeared on ESPN. When McShay called him "an interception machine," Clark's ears perked. "I was like, wow, that was a low blow," the Penn State quarterback said. "But, whatever. I get a lot of criticism from a lot of people, but I don't play for them." Motivation comes from all directions, and Saturday morning it arrived, once again, in the form of doubt about the Lions' fifth-year senior quarterback. Four touchdown passes and three Penn State records later, Clark felt like he trumped such a claim. In a game that ranks among his best at Penn State, Clark went 19-for-27 for 310 yards and four touchdowns as the Lions overwhelmed Michigan State 42-14 in their regular-season finale. Penn State scored 28 points (a single-quarter high this season) in the third, during which Clark went 6-for-6 for 130 yards and three scores. With that, the Lions (10-2, 6-2) left East Lansing tied with Iowa for second in the Big Ten, which will add intrigue to the selection process for the BCS games. A representative of the Orange Bowl attended the game, met with Penn State President Graham Spanier and Athletic Director Tim Curley in their suite and took pictures during Joe Paterno's post-game press conference -- during which Penn State's head coach was asked to make his case for an at-large invitation. "What do you want me to say? 'Pick us, pick us, pick us'?" Paterno said. "If I could get on the phone and call some people, I could say, 'You owe me. Or, if not, you'd better watch out. There might be a horse's head in your bed.' I think we can play with anybody. Whether somebody take us, I don't have any control over that." Fidgety early on, the Lions began moving the ball with some precision late in the second quarter, then turned on the jets in the third. Penn State scored 35 unanswered points in the second half, including three touchdowns that required just 2:44 of elapsed time in the third quarter. Included in that run were two plays the Penn State offense introduced just this week: an option pass from freshman receiver Curtis Drake to tight end Andrew Quarless and a downfield throwback to fullback Joe Suhey. Penn State figured it could sneak Drake, a former high school quarterback playing in place of the injured Chaz Powell, past the Spartans. Quarless, who caught two touchdown passes, said the play worked every time in practice. At the center of it all was Clark, who set Penn State single-season records for passing yardage (2,770) and touchdowns (23) and the career record for touchdown passes (42). Irritated by what he saw on TV, Clark brought even more fire to this game, and it showed early. He began the game 2-for-7 and, after a late-second-quarter sack forced a fourth down, irately stomped the sideline and vented to teammates Navorro Bowman and Jerome Hayes. "You can't go out and play angry as a quarterback," Clark said. "If you get so mad that you say, 'I'm going to throw this pass, I'm going to throw that pass,' you end up turning the ball over even more. I had to make sure that didn't happen today." Michigan State entered the game having allowed 24 passing touchdowns, tied for second-most in the FBS, so Penn State knew it could throw deep. After Drake's pass bewildered the Spartans, Clark went to work. On consecutive passes he hit Suhey on a wide-open, 30-yard throwback, then fired a 32-yard laser to Graham Zug on a skinny post. It was the first time all season Clark checked down to Zug on that play. "The kid has lost four games in two years," Joe Paterno said. "He's a darn good quarterback." [email protected] 610-820-6588 To see more of The Morning Call, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mcall.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]