STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) _ No. 2 Penn State's 70-24 victory over Akron turned into milestone Saturday for the Nittany Lions.

Rashard Casey got his first college touchdowns, one rushing and one passing. John Gilmore, Eddie Drummond and Bryant Johnson each caught their first TDs at Penn State. Mick Blosser ran for his first score and Askari Adams returned an interception for his first TD.

"It feels good to get them out of the way," Casey said of his first TDs. "I hope more will come _ and soon."

The Lions (2-0) scored 70 points for the first time since beating Maryland 70-7 in 1993. Akron (0-1), a 45-point underdog, remained winless in 10 games against Top 25 teams since joining Division I-A in 1987.

Mike Cerimele added two TDs, while Eric McCoo and Omar Easy had one apiece as Penn State outgained the Zips 553 yards to 281.

But Akron didn't roll over right away, scoring 10 points in the second quarter to pull within four.

"I think we were a little nonchalant today," said Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington, who had just one tackle. "I don't think we had a real big letdown, but it took them punching us in the face a couple of times for us to wake up and start playing a little bit."

Wake up Penn State did, picking off two Akron passes and scoring three times in seven minutes to lead 35-10.

Kenny Watson returned a kickoff 53 yards and McCoo gained 25 yards on two shifty runs to set up Cerimele's second score, a 3-yarder. On the next series, linebacker Maurice Daniels intercepted Greg Gromek's pass and returned it to the Akron 10. Casey found Gilmore for the 10-yard TD three plays later.

Gromek had another pass picked off two series later, this time by Askari Adams, who slid up the right sideline 59 yards for the TD.

It was a relief for Adams, still trying to win back his starting job after a drunken driving arrest this summer.

"The team was struggling a bit and to have a defensive play like that, it meant a lot for me," he said. "I'm fighting for my life _ I make one mistake and I could be done."

Kevin Thompson threw two long scoring passes to put the Lions ahead 49-10 early in the second half. He found Drummond for a 71-yard TD, then hit Johnson, a freshman, for a 65-yard score.

Thompson finished 5-of-8 for 188 yards, while Casey was 2-of-2 for 29 yards as coach Joe Paterno rotated his quarterbacks from series to series in the first three quarters.

"We're winning," Casey said, "so I assume it's working."

Paterno, who has never played two quarterbacks for a whole season, remained vague about whether he would continue the rotation or whether he is auditioning someone before the Lions get to the meat of the schedule Sept. 18 at No. 8 Miami.

"I don't know. They were both pretty good today," Paterno said. "I'm not trying to create any problems for myself by trying to establish one guy as quarterback."

After giving up two quick touchdowns in the first quarter, Akron struck back.

Jimmie Gray's 51-yard kickoff return set up a 39-yard field goal by Zac Derr. When Penn State fumbled a botched handoff at its 32 on the next series, Brandon Payne ran in from 5 yards and the Lions' lead was only 14-10.

The Zips added two late TDs, on Butchie Washington's 5-yard pass to Tim Ritley and his 31-yard pass to Lavel Bailey.

Coach Lee Owens could take some comfort: At least the Zips scored more than No. 15 Arizona, which managed a single TD against the Lions last week.

"I think we executed a little better offensively," he said, "but this wasn't the same Penn State team. I think they were down a little bit, emotionally."