Happy Days Again?

Two hours before Penn State's kickoff against Nebraska last Saturday, sophomore quarterback Zack Mills sat on the Nittany Lions' team bus as it motored through Happy Valley toward Beaver Stadium. On his left a red-orange sunset spilled over the Alleghenies. On his right a blue-and-white river of fans lined the road and roared as if they'd been waiting five years for this caravan to roll by. Such a sight is typical at schools that contend for national championships—which means it hasn't been typical at Penn State for the past few seasons.

"The whole scene gave me chills," says Mills, who redshirted in 2000. "Since I've been here, we haven't had a big-game atmosphere like that. But this team is bringing Penn State back to where if once was."

In pummeling eighth-ranked Nebraska 40-7, the Nittany Lions infused new life into a Penn State program that was coming off back-to-back losing seasons for the first time in coach Joe Paterno's 36-year tenure. The seeds for the swift turnaround were planted last year, when Paterno, who had long believed that first-year players were too callow to contribute, turned his offense over to the freshman Mills in Game 5. Not only that, but the conservative Paterno also installed new plays out of the shotgun and the option, trying to stretch the field any way he could.

Against the Cornhuskers, Mills ran this multiple offense almost flawlessly. Facing a blitzing defense, he calmly completed 19 of 31 passes for 259 yards and rushed for 32 yards on 14 carries. Most telling, however, was that of the Nittany Lions' 74 offensive plays, Mills either passed or ran on 61% of them. Twelve months ago it would have been unimaginable for one player to be so dominant in Paterno's offense. "Mills is gifted," says Paterno. "We'd be foolish if we didn't let him handle the ball."

After the game Mills was measured in assessing the significance of the win. "It's only one game," he said, "but we made a statement."