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Talk about your deceptive final scores.
Penn State beat Northwestern 34-13 at Ryan Field Saturday. That'll look, to those not playing close attention, like a routine win for the now 8-1, BCS-12th ranked Nittany Lions.
And it is true that the Lions dominated the second half. They made adjustments, got used to the speed at which Northwestern's offense plays, and wore the Wildcats down.
They won the fourth quarter, 21-0.
But when it was over, Joe Paterno was as candid as he will ever be.
"The biggest adjustment we made," he said, "was their quarterback got hurt."
Said QB, Mike Kafka, caused Penn State tons of problems early and, if nothing else, gave the offensive coaches of future Lion opponents some engaging film to watch.
Northwestern runs a short passing game, mostly out of empty backfields, with no or very little time spent in the huddle.
Kafka, a fifth-year senior, gets rid of the ball in a hurry, with precision, and has superb timing with his wideouts.
When the passing game got the Lions sufficiently spread out, with Penn State's nickel personnel on the field, Kakfa proved to be a quick and powerful (he's 6-3, 220) runner.
Northwestern's first drive ended in a fumble after just two plays. The next two, which yielded a field goal and touchdown, had the Lions holding on and gasping.
"Once you get out there, you see how fast it is," cornerback D'Anton Lynn said. "It's really fast."
"We got used to it," safety Drew Astorino said. "But at first, it was pretty fast."
The Wildcats led 10-3 in the middle of the second quarter and were on the march when Kafka left, with what was later termed a lower leg injury.
His replacement, Dan Persa, wasn't bad. A redshirt sophomore from Bethlehem, who led Bethlehem Liberty to the PIAA Class AAAA final in 2006, Persa figures to eventually be a lot like Kafka.
But right now, he simply isn't as advanced in the 'Cats pass game.
"With the second quarterback, we did get more aggressive with some of our stunts," Paterno said. "The other kid [Kafka] just got rid of the ball so quick, and with such great timing."
Penn State trailed at halftime, 13-10. To its credit, it went right to work after the break.
The Lions tied it with an 11-play, 53-yard drive and a 23-yard Collin Wagner field goal. The defense was starting to find itself.
"We kept rotating d-linemen," defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "We tackled better. We changed our style of play."
"We made it into our game," said defensive tackle Jared Odrick, a senior from Lebanon who, increasingly, was hanging out in the Wildcats' backfield.
Soon, there was a sense of inevitability.
But the offense had to make some plays. It did, in a 58-yard march that started late in the third quarter. It was mostly Evan Royster runs, plus a 25-yard strike from QB Daryll Clark to Derek Moye.
Brandon Beachum, the backup tailback, banged in from the 2.
Northwestern went three-and-out, and Clark immediately threw a perfect deep ball to Moye for a game-breaking 53-yard TD.
Moye was the only real option on the play, Paterno said.
"He's faster than you think, and he has those long arms," Paterno said. "You know, you take a shot at it."
The Wildcats went three-and-out again, and Royster promptly went 69 yards, barely touched, on a perfectly-blocked play, for the final TD.
There were nearly nine minutes left, but it was over.
Clark was remarkable again, better even than his stat line (22 of 31 for 274 yards, one TD, no interceptions) suggests. Eleven Penn State players caught passes, including Moye's six for 123 yards. Royster was bottled up much of the day, but with the 69-yarder ended up with 119 yards in 15 tries.
The Northwestern QBs combined to complete 28 of 41 throws for 243 yards. Sounds good, but that's less than six yards per pass play. Ultimately, the Lions kept the receivers in front of them, avoided the big play, kept a vigil until the offense blew up.
"They certainly hung in there," Paterno said of his troops. "[They] didn't panic at halftime. I was pleased in the second half when they came out and they were all business."
Ohio State is next, at Beaver Stadium Saturday. It's a big one just because it's Ohio State, but also as the beginning of the stretch drive for a BCS bowl bid at least, and maybe more.
"For us, it's a three-week playoff, really," Lynn said. "It's a huge game.'
Mike Gross is assistant sports editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
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