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Gameday: PSU vs. Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Nittany Lions moved to 3-0 on the season with a 55-13 win over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.

Cory Giger's blog from the press box

End 3Q: Penn State 48-13

Stephfon Green scored from 2 yards out with 5:19 left in the third quarter for a 45-6 lead.

Syracuse put together a nice drive and scored a touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Cameron Dantley to Marcus Sales with 1:23 left in the third.

Penn State answered with a quick drive that resulted in a 43-yard field goal by Collin Wagner for a 48-13 lead with 16 seconds left in the quarter.

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End 2Q: Penn State 38, Syracuse 6

The Lions took over at their own 15 with 45 seconds left in the half and drove into field goal range. Kevin Kelly came on for a 52-yard attempt and nailed it for a 38-6 lead.

Pat Devlin entered the game with 13:17 left in the half and drove the Lions to a three-play, 74-yard TD drive. He hit Deon Butler for 20 yards on the first play, then Evan Royster broke off a 30-yard run. Devlin finished the drive with a 15-yard fade pass for a touchdown to Butler to make it 28-0.

Syracuse got on the board after its first solid drive as Patrick Shadle kicked a 44-yard field goal to make it 28-3.

Devlin finished off another impressive drive with a 24-yard TD to Jordan Norwood over the middle for a 35-3 lead with 2:32 left in the half. Devlin has looked outstanding, possibly once again creating a quarterback controversy.

Anthony Scirrotto fumbled a punt deep in PSU territory, setting up Syracuse for a 43-yard field goal by Shadle to set the halftime score.

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End 1Q: Penn State 21-0

Penn State's offense is very good, but Syracuse has one of the worst defenses in college football. The Orange can't stop anything.

The Lions just went up, 21-0, with 2:54 left in the first quarter on a 1-yard score by fullback Dan Lawlor. That capped a 62-yard drive that included a 20-yard run by Evan Royster.

The game got off to a crazy start as both teams fumbled on their first play from scrimmage. Daryll Clark coughed it up on PSU's first play, then the Orange threw a lateral pass and fumbled.

The Lions took over at their own 45. Clark connected with Jordan Norwood, who shook away from a tackle and rambled over the middle of the field to the end zone for a 55-yard score.

Penn State held the Orange three and out, then drove 56 yards for a TD that made it 14-0 with 7:45 left in the first. Clark threw a gorgeous fade pass that Deon Butler made a diving catch on in the right side of the end zone.

Clark kept the drive alive earlier by hitting Norwood for a 23-yard gain over the middle to convert a third-and-17.

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3:15 p.m.

Kickoff is just a few minutes away. Be sure to check back for scoring updates throughout the game.

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3:05 p.m.

Joe Paterno and former Syracuse/New England Patriots head coach Dick MacPherson just spent several minutes chatting on the field. That's a part of the PSU-Syracuse rivalry that is missed -- the relationships between some of the big names in each school's history.

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2:50 p.m.

Syracuse is wearing its blue tops and orange bottoms, not a bad look. Good thing because the all orange uniforms SU sometimes wears are about as ugly as any uniform in the country.

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2:40

The pregame music at the Carrier Dome is really loud. Kanye West is playing right now.

Quoting Neil Rudel: "The music is ridiculously loud and has no place in the game. I can't stand this, so I'm sure Joe can't stand this."

Also, the wireless Internet in the Dome is almost as bad as the Orange football team. It's taking forever to load pages, which is terribly frustrating.

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2:10 p.m.

Greetings from the Carrier Dome, where the Nittany Lions are set to renew their rivalry with Syracuse in about 90 minutes.

Penn State is favored by 27 points for two reasons:

1. The PSU offense is very good, and

2. Syracuse is horrible. Horrible.

The Orange program is way down, going 7-30 in coach Greg Robinson's four seasons.

My prediction is Penn State 47-13. What's your prediction? Post a comment below.

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Here are my five keys from today's paper:

Five things to look for as No. 17 Penn State plays its old rival, Syracuse, for the first time since 1990.

No. 1: Orange squeeze

Syracuse's poor defense stands little chance of stopping the Nittany Lions' high-powered offense, which has scored 111 points in two games. This is a defense, keep in mind, that served up 42 points to Akron last week.

Penn State will get to show off its superior team speed on the Carrier Dome's fast artificial surface. Look for the Lions to break off at least a couple of long runs, with quarterback Daryll Clark having one himself.

One player who has been quiet so far, Deon Butler, could have a big game. Butler has only three catches, but he might be turned loose on some post patterns that will give Clark a chance to prove he can throw the long ball.

No. 2: Test for D-line

Syracuse has a decent running game, led by senior Curtis Brinkley, who has averaged 96 yards per contest.

The Lions will be without defensive end Maurice Evans and defensive tackle Abe Koroma once again -- neither player made the trip -- so the Orange should try to exploit that. Oregon State had success running against PSU last week, and Syracuse surely took notice.

The Orange traditionally have had a good running quarterback - going back to Don McPherson, Marvin Graves and Donovan McNabb - but that's not the case with Cameron Dantley.

No. 3: Extra motivation

The Syracuse players and crowd will be geared up for this weekend for two reasons.

First, it's the renewal of an old rivalry. Also, the Orange are celebrating the life of legendary running back and Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, whose tragic story was made into a movie called ''The Express'' that premiered Friday in Syracuse.

Jim Brown, Floyd Little and other famous Orange alums are expected to be on hand, so the Lions need to be prepared for a fired up, emotionally charged opponent.

SUBHD: No. 4: Will JoePa rub it in?

Joe Paterno may want to crush Syracuse as the rivalry renews, getting some revenge against the Orange for turning down his Eastern conference idea in the 1980s.

However, Paterno knows the Syracuse program is way down, so he may not want to run up the score and humiliate the Orange on their big weekend.

SUBHD: No. 5: Fighting for his job

Penn State and Syracuse will play again next season, but don't expect Orange coach Greg Robinson to be on the sideline for that game.

Robinson inherited a solid program but has gone just 7-30 in four years. He likely will be fired unless the Orange put together a strong season, which is doubtful.

Prediction: Penn State 47, Syracuse 13

Cory Giger is at 949-7031.