Penn St at #20 Northwestern - 10/20/2001 - JoePa Win

Joe Paterno tied Bear Bryant by winning his 323rd game in dramatic fashion, with freshman backup quarterback Zack Mills coming in (8:41-mark) to replace an injured Matt Senneca and leading Penn State to the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds (11:33-mark). Entering the game with just 1 minute and 39 seconds remaining, Mills completed 5 of 8 passes, for 54 yards and the game-winning touchdown pass to Eric McCoo.

The back-and-forth affair featured 73 points between the two teams, with Penn State unveilling the Power-I formation (featuring Larry Johnson/Eric McCoo/Omar Easy) against Northwestern's explosive "Basketball on Grass" spread offense.

Northwestern QB Zac Kustok passed for 298, ran for 115, and accounted for 4 Wildcat TD's; Damian Anderson rushed for 91 yards and a TD, and Sam Simmons caught 7 passes for 168 yards, and 1 TD.

Before leaving with a concussion, Matt Senneca played his best game as a Nittany Lion, passing for 234 yards with 1 TD and rushing for 2 more TD's. Junior WR Bryant Johnson also delivered in the clutch, with 8 receptions for 129 yards - including 4 catches on the final drive.