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WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- Lombardi Award semifinalists LaVar Arrington and Courtney Brown each scored touchdowns to overcome a strong performance by Drew Brees as second-ranked Penn State remained undefeated with a 31-25 Big Ten Conference win over No. 17 Purdue. Penn State coach Joe Paterno, off to the ninth 8-0 start in his career, won his 315th career game to break a tie with Amos Alonzo Stagg for third place on the all-time wins list for Division I-A coaches. Paterno can catch Pop Warner (319) this season, but needs at least one more year to catch Paul "Bear" Bryant (323). Arrington, a junior linebacker, tied the game, 7-7, 95 seconds into the second quarter when he knocked the ball out of Brees' hands and ran two yards into the end zone. The 6-3, 233-pounder sacked Brees twice for minus-27 yards. "I think LaVar Arrington played very well and you cannot overlook his contribution to this team," Paterno said. "But you can't overlook the performance of Courtney Brown, either." Brown, a junior defensive end, deflected a pass to himself and returned it 25 yards for a score to give the Nittany Lions a 28-14 lead 4:41 into the third quarter. Kevin Thompson completed 9-of-15 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns for Penn State (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten), which has won all five games with Purdue since joining the conference. Brees was 31-of-48 for 380 yards and two touchdowns for Purdue (5-3, 2-3), which has lost three of its last four games. Brees was 10-of-10 on touchdown drives and brought the Boilermakers down to the Penn State 12-yard line on the final possession of the game before throwing three straight incompletions, the last being out of reach of a diving Chris Daniels on fourth down. "They had a couple guys come up and make some plays at the end," Daniels said. "We had four shots from the 12-yard line and couldn't punch it in. If you want to beat the No. 2 team in the nation, you have to make some big plays. On the last play, I ran a fade and Drew tried to throw the ball up to me, but it wasn't even catchable. It was out of bounds." "Effort-wise, we played well," said Purdue coach Joe Tiller. "Anytime you leave all your effort on the field and don't bring it back into the locker room, you have to be pleased." Sedrick Brown gave Purdue a 7-0 lead when he capped a six-play, 80-yard drive with a two-yard run with 4:23 remaining in the opening quarter. The Boilermakers regained the lead, 14-7, when Brees threw a nine-yard pass to Donald Winston 4:18 into the second. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Thompson hooked up with Chafie Fields for a 78-yard touchdown, giving Penn State a 21-14 advantage. "I'm going against our own rules," said Fields. "I could have beat that guy (Maurice Daniels) every play. It was basically one-on-one coverage and not that hard. You just have to beat your man." Travis Dorsch kicked a 27-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 28-17 with 6:37 left in the third. Brees threw a four-yard pass to Randall Lane with 2:05 to go in the third and also found Lane for the two-point conversion as Purdue closed within 28-25. The score was set up by linebacker Willie Fells' fumble recovery at the Penn State 26 after he sacked quarterback Rashard Casey. Travis Forney kicked a 24-yard field goal for Penn State's final points with 8:01 left. Forney missed a 47-yard field goal with 46 seconds remaining and the Boilermakers began their final possession at their own 30.
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