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BOX SCORE
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- This one was for Adam Taliaferro.
|  | | Penn State tailback Eric McCoo helped his Nittany Lions upset Purdue, which hasn't beaten PSU since 1951. |
Penn State, off to its worst start in
36 years, took advantage of three special teams errors by Purdue (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP)
and beat the Boilermakers 22-20 on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions dedicated the game to Taliaferro, a freshman
cornerback who seriously injured his spinal cord last week against
Ohio State.
"When you play with heart and emotion, this is what happens,"
senior Justin Kurpeikis said. "Adam had a hand in it somehow. We
can't help him back. But we can make his road easier."
Taliaferro remains in a Philadelphia hospital after successful
spinal fusion surgery Monday in Ohio. The Nittany Lions wore No. 43
on the back of their helmets to honor their fallen teammate.
"As a coach, it was my toughest week," said Joe Paterno, who
moved within five victories of breaking Bear Bryant's Division I-A
record of 323 wins. "It was a struggle not knowing how to handle
the squad."
Travis Dorsch missed a 46-yard field goal that would have given
Purdue the lead with 2:32 left, allowing Penn State to beat a
higher-ranked opponent for the first time since 1996.
Earlier, two botched punts by Dorsch led to two short Penn State
touchdown drives.
"Special teams have to think about it for us to have a better
chance of winning," Purdue quarterback Drew Brees said. "Special
teams have to clean it up. Guys need to start taking pride."
Brees tied the Big Ten record with his 74th touchdown pass and
also caught a touchdown, but failed to beat Penn State for the
third time. His desperation pass fell incomplete as time expired.
Purdue (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) hasn't beaten Penn State since 1951.
The Nittany Lions (2-4, 1-1) took the lead for good on a 1-yard
TD run by Paul Jefferson that made it 15-13 with 2:15 left in the
third quarter. The extra-point attempt was blocked.
A 3-yard TD run by quarterback Rashard Casey built the lead to
22-13 at the end of the third quarter.
Both of those two drives -- 11 and 6 yards -- were set up when
Penn State's Derek Wake came through the middle and nearly blocked
Dorsch's punts.
Dorsch, forced to keep the ball and run on both plays, was
tackled behind the line of scrimmage by Wake for losses of 7 and 13
yards.
"We practiced going after the punter hard all week in
practice," Wake said. "The rest of the punt return team opened
the hole for me. I was working off adrenaline on the second one."
Brees, the Big Ten's career leader in attempts and completions,
tied Iowa's Chuck Long for the conference record for touchdown
passes on a 39-yard TD pass to Vinny Sutherland that cut it to
22-20 with 11:30 left in the game.
Brees also caught a 5-yard TD pass from Sutherland that gave
Purdue a 13-6 lead minutes into the third quarter. He finished
23-of-50 for 281 yards and rushed for 43 yards.
"There's only so many things you can do on 3rd-and-long,"
Brees said. "They knew what the routes were going to be."
Penn State, which avoided its first 1-5 start in 69 years, took
a 3-0 lead on Ryan Primanti's career-best 46-yard field goal about
two minutes into the game.
It was the first time the Nittany Lions scored on their opening
possession this season, and it gave them a lead for the first time
since a 67-7 victory over Louisiana Tech three weeks ago.
Eric McCoo ran for 106 yards on 16 carries, and Casey was
11-of-25 for 109 yards and one interception.
"This is a big relief," Paterno said. "They know they can
play a good team and hang in there."
Dorsch had field goals of 44 and 25 yards in the first half.
On its second possession, Penn State used the shotgun formation
for what might have been the first time in Paterno's 35 years as
coach. Casey, though, was sacked for a 7-yard loss. He then gained
9 yards rushing on third-and-16, and Penn State didn't use the
shotgun again.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Purdue Clubhouse
Penn State Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Penn State's Rashard Casey dives in for the TD on this 2-yard run.
avi: 1499 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Penn State's Paul Jefferson runs in the 1-yard touchdown.
avi: 1406 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
PSU's safety James Boyd levels Purdue's quarterback Drew Brees.
avi: 1189 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Joe Paterno and his team remember a fallen teammate.
wav: 161 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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