By DAN LEWERENZ
\nAssociated Press Writer
\nSTATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) \u2014 Before the season, defensive tackle Michael Haynes felt he was holding back Penn State\u2019s vaunted defensive line.
\nThat\u2019s not the case. Haynes had three sacks and forced a fumble that set up a touchdown as No. 19 Penn State beat Virginia 35-14 Saturday.
\n\u201cI felt last year that I was the weak link in the defensive line. I was hoping I could step it up,\u201d Haynes said. \u201cI think under the circumstances, this was a pretty good game.\u201d
\nHaynes forced Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub to fumble midway through the fourth quarter \u2014 Haynes\u2019 sixth forced fumble of the season \u2014 and Shawn Mayer recovered for Penn State (7-3). Six plays later, Larry Johnson ran 6 yards into the end zone for a 35-7 lead.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a great player \u2014 not too many players like him in the country,\u201d Virginia running back Wali Lundy said. \u201cHe\u2019s just an athlete. He gets the job done.\u201d
\nSchaub completed 30 of 38 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown for Virginia (6-4), but the Cavaliers managed just 30 yards rushing.
\nHaynes was a big reason for that, with seven tackles. His three sacks set the Cavaliers back 23 yards.
\n\u201cWe couldn\u2019t attempt to play a power game against them,\u201d Virginia coach Al Groh said. \u201cThey have a lot of power on their defensive line.\u201d
\nPenn State\u2019s offense succeeded at running and passing. Johnson finished with 188 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries. Zack Mills completed 19 of 30 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns, his first 200-yard passing game since throwing for 264 yards in a 27-24 overtime loss at Michigan on Oct. 12.
\n\u201cI think he\u2019s a big-time football player,\u201d Penn State coach Joe Paterno said of Mills. \u201cHe\u2019s a leader, he\u2019s very accurate, has a lot of poise.\u201d
\nThe win helped Penn State make up for last year\u2019s season-ending 20-14 loss at Virginia, which prevented the Nittany Lions from becoming bowl eligible.
\n\u201cThat was a huge motivating factor,\u201d cornerback Bryan Scott said. \u201cWe had guys looking at it as they knocked us out of bowl contention. They just really spoiled our season.\u201d
\nIt was the 334th career win for Penn State coach Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in major college history.
\nLundy had a 4-yard touchdown run for Virginia midway through the fourth quarter to make it 35-14, but the Cavaliers wouldn\u2019t score again.
\nOn the second play of the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions faked a field goal and third-string quarterback Chris Ganter swept around the left side for a 30-yard touchdown run. Mills ran in the 2-point conversion for a 28-7 lead.
\nRobbie Gould had two field goals for the Nittany Lions, including a 50-yarder in the third quarter to make it 20-7.
\nBilly McMullen made a spectacular play for the Cavaliers on the first play of the second half, catching a pass over the middle, then stopping \u2014 causing three Penn State defenders to collide \u2014 and spinning toward the left sideline for a 41-yard gain.
\nBut the Cavaliers lost the ball two plays later when Alvin Pearman fumbled on the Penn State 39, and Andy Ryland recovered for the Nittany Lions.
\nMills was 3-for-3 passing on the next possession, including a 10-yard shovel pass to Paul Jefferson for a touchdown and a 17-7 lead.
\nCasey Williams caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mills to tie the game at 7 late in the first quarter, and Gould\u2019s 33-yard field goal in the final seconds of the second quarter gave the Nittany Lions a 10-7 halftime lead.
\nMills fumbled and Chris Canty recovered at the Penn State 46 to set up Virginia\u2019s first score. Heath Miller made two third-down catches, including a 1-yard touchdown catch that gave the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By DAN LEWERENZ Associated Press Writer STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) \u2014 Before the season, defensive tackle Michael Haynes felt he was holding back Penn State\u2019s vaunted defensive line. That\u2019s not the case. Haynes had three sacks and forced a fumble that set up a touchdown as No. 19 Penn State beat Virginia 35-14 Saturday. \u201cI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}