Penn State vs. Northwestern: Joe Paterno Ties Eddie Robinson With Win No. 408, Nittany Lions Win 34-24

The Week 9 BCS Standings have just been released, and the Penn State Nittany Lions have climbed two spots in the rankings. Coming off a 34-24 win over the Northwestern Wildcats, Penn State is now ranked No. 19 after being No. 21 in the first iteration of the rankings that determine who will meet in the BCS National Championship Game.

The West Virginia Mountaineers, despite an awful 49-23 loss at the hand of the Syracuse Orange Friday night, find themselves 25th in the standings. West Virginia is the lone Big East team in the BCS Top 25.

The LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide maintained the first and second positions, with Oklahoma State, Boise State and Clemson rounding out the Top 5.

Here are the complete Week 9 BCS Standings:

1 LSU
2 Alabama
3 Oklahoma State
4 Boise State
5 Clemson
6 Stanford
7 Oregon
8 Kansas State
9 Oklahoma
10 Arkansas
11 Michigan State
12 Virginia Tech
13 South Carolina
14 Nebraska
15 Wisconsin
16 Texas A&M
17 Houston
18 Michigan
19 Penn State
20 Texas Tech
21 Arizona State
22 Georgia
23 Auburn
24 Texas
25 West Virginia

For more on the Week 9 college football rankings, check out SB Nation's comprehensive StoryStream.

The Wisconsin Badgers are no longer undefeated, courtesy of a Kirk Cousins to Keith Nichol Hail Mary that gave the Michigan State Spartans a miracle win Saturday night. A quick recap of the day's Big Ten slate of games:

No. 16 Michigan State (6-1, 3-0) shocks No. 6 Wisconsin (6-1, 2-1), 37-31: A tremendous game that saw Heisman hopeful Russell Wilson lead his Badgers back from a 14 point fourth quarter deficit to tie the Spartans with just over a minute left ended in heartbreak for Wisconsin and pure elation for Michigan State when Kirk Cousins' 44-yard Hail Mary pass to Keith Nichol, originally ruled not a touchdown, was overturned on instant replay, giving Michigan State a miraculous six point win in East Lansing. Cousins threw for 290 yards and three touchdown passes in the win. For more on the Spartans, visit The Only Colors. For more on the Badgers, visit Bucky's 5th Quarter.

No. 13 Nebraska (6-1, 2-1) rolls Minnesota (1-6, 0-3), 41-14: Nebraska rushed for 346 yards, and probably could have rushed for 500 if they wanted to, in thrashing Minnesota by 27. One of my favorite names in college football, Rex Burkhead, ran for 117 yards and a touchdown. For more Cornhusker news, visit Corn Nation. Golden Gophers fans should visit The Daily Gopher.

No. 24 Penn State (7-1, 4-0) holds off Northwestern (2-5, 0-4), 34-24: 164 yards from running back Silas Redd, and an efficient 192 yard and two touchdown performance from quarterback Matt McGloin got Penn State the win, earning legendary Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno his 408th win, tying him for first all-time in Division 1 history with Eddie Robinson. Nittany Lions fans should visit Black Shoe Diaries. For more on Northwestern, visit Sippin' On Purple.

Indiana (1-7, 0-4) gets routed by Iowa (5-2, 2-1), 45-24:  Hawkeyes' wide receiver Marvin McNutt caught six passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns, becoming Iowa's career leader in touchdown passes in the process. The woeful Hoosiers have now been outscored 161-61 in Big Ten games. For more on the game, Iowa fans should visit Black Heart Gold Pants. For more on Indiana, visit The Crimson Quarry.

No. 23 Illinois (6-2, 2-2) upset by Purdue (4-3, 2-1), 21-14: Ron Zook's club was unimpressive for the second straight week, losing at Purdue just seven days after falling from the ranks of the unbeatens with a 17-7 loss to a pedestrian Ohio State team. Purdue's seven point victory was it's first win over a ranked team since 2009. For more on the Fighting Illini, visit Hail To The Orange. For more on the Purdue Boilermakers visit Hammer and Nails.

Joe Paterno now stands alongside the late Eddie Robinson at the top of the all-time Division-I college football wins list.

The 84-year old coach earned victory No. 408 for his career on Saturday night when his Nittany Lions defeated Northwestern 34-24 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill. and moved into a tie with the former Grambling coach . He will look to pass Robinson next week at home against Illinois.

Probably more important to Paterno than his personal accomplishment, though, is that his Lions moved to 7-1 on the season and 4-0 in Big Ten play with the victory. They also did so on the shoulders of their much-maligned offense, playing for the first time all season with a single starting quarterback.

After starting the Lions' first seven games, Rob Bolden was forced to the bench for the duration of this game as Matthew McGloin got his first start since the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day. The redshirt junior put forth a good effort, too, coming up with a pair of touchdowns and 192 yards on 17-26 passing.

The running game worked all night for Penn State, too. Running back Silas Redd piled up a career-high 164 yards on 18 carries, good for a 9.1 yard per carry average, and senior Stephfon Green got in on the action, too, racking up 33 yards on his nine carries.

Wide receiver Devon Smith had his best game of the season while fellow starter Derek Moye missed his second straight game with a broken foot. Smith caught six passes for 110 yards.

It wasn't a great night for the defense, as it gave up 24 points, all in the first half. That's the second highest point total an opponent has put up all season on the unit yielding an average of just 11.6 points per game entering the night. The defense did come up with seven big sacks, however, and shut the Wildcats out in the second half to seal the victory. 

With the win, Penn State now stands alone atop the Big Ten's Leaders Division.

Stay tuned for more on the game tomorrow here at SB Nation Pittsburgh.

After a frantic scoring pace in the first half, things have really slowed down for both teams here in the second. The teams have been exchanging punts and there's really not been much to say as the fourth quarter clock winds.

The Wildcats start putting a drive together, though, with quarterback Dan Persa scrambling all over the place. Persa is hurt once Northwestern gets into the red zone though, and goes off the field. Kain Colter takes over and trips back near the Penn State 30 to put Northwestern in a 3rd-and-long situation. Sean Stanley knifes through and sacks him on the following play, and a promising drive for the Wildcats falls flat with 8:08 left.

After Northwestern punts, Penn State gets some momentum going on the ground. Stephfon Green is getting a lot of carries late here, so it looks like the staff is trying to get him involved after suspending him for violating team rules over the summer.

Rob Bolden still has not seen the field.

With just over four minutes left in the game, it's still Penn State 34 Northwestern 24

The Penn State defense has now strung a couple of stops together. Following an interception by Gerald Hodges, the Nittany Lions force a three-and-out to get the ball back. Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa and his teammates really gouged the Penn State defense in the first half, so that unit has to be happy to have come out strong in the second half here. We'll see if the offense can respond with another score here.

The Lions get the ball back and Matthew McGloin hits Devon Smith for a big pass to keep the drive going on third down. Smith is already over 100 yards receiving on the evening, and already has six catches, too. Smith has had a very under-the-radar season, but with Derek Moye injured, he's stepping into the void nicely.

After Smith gets the first down, though, the drive sputters and Penn State is forced to punt.

Northwestern gets the ball back and picks up a first down up to its own 41-yardline. Penn State's Malcolm Willis has to be helped off the first after the conversion, so we'll have to keep an eye on his status.

Persa picks up another first down by scrambling into Penn State territory, but Devon Still and Jordan Hill come up with back-to-back sacks, however, and Penn State gets its third straight stop to start the second half as the Wildcats punt.

Following the punt, Penn State fails to get anything going and is forced to punt right back. The score is still 34-24 Penn State with 1:06 left in the third quarter.

Silas Redd was huge for Penn State in that first half. He already has 119 yards on just 11 runs. Hard to imagine where this team would be without him as he's generated so much of the offense when the passing game has struggled.

Speaking of the passing game, it looks like Penn State might finally have a full-time quarterback. Matthew McGloin led the offense brilliantly and piled up a ton of points in the first half. His 160 yards and two touchdowns on 14-19 passing have been key in allowing the Lions to keep pace with the Wildcats and their dangerous quarterback, Dan Persa. Rob Bolden has yet to see the field for Penn State, and it McGloin keeps this up, there's a good chance he won't get into the game at all.

Northwestern starts the second half by picking up a couple of first downs into Penn State territory. The Wildcats are still deploying Kain Colter at times to run some wildcat packages. It's keeping the Lions on their heels.

The Lions get momentum back, however, as linebacker Gerald Hodges picks up a batted throw from Persa and returns it 64 yards into Northwestern territory. That's a huge play, as Penn State has pretty clearly had trouble stopped in Wildcats on downs. Playing takeaway like that is a real check on the way the Wildcats are moving the ball right now.

It doesn't take long for Penn State to get on the board here in the second half, either, as Redd takes the first play following the interception 19 yards for another touchdown. It's now 34-24 Penn State with 11:39 left in the third quarter.

Penn State Scoring Summary: 1 play, 19 yards, :05 time of possession.

Giving up big plays was a big problem for Penn State last week against Purdue, and its quickly becoming an issue again, this time against Northwestern.

For the second straight drive, the Nittany Lions give up a 46-yard bomb by quarterback Dan Persa to set the Wildcats up in scoring range. The worst part for Penn State? The play came on a 3rd-and-14. It looked like the defense finally had Persa and Co. stopped, but instead, it's stuck defending its own red zone again.

Fortunately for the Lions, they're able to stiffen up before Northwestern can get another touchdown, but they give the three points they got back on Anthony Fera's second field goal when Jeff Budzien knocks through a 25-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 24-20 lead with :46 left in the half.

Northwestern Scoring summary: 8 plays, 72 yards, 3:10 time of possession.

Penn State gets the ball back and earns good field position, too, as Adrian Amos brings the ball back to the Penn State 37-yardline. After the return, Penn State answers with a big play of its own as Silas Redd picks up 44 yards and gets deep into Northwestern territory with under a minute left in the half. The run puts him over 100 yards already on the evening.

A 10-yard pass from Matthew McGloin to Devon Smith sets Penn State up on the Northwestern 2-yardline, and Stephfon Green does the rest, cashing in with a touchdown, his first of the season, to get the lead back for his Nittany Lions. It's 27-24 Penn State with :07 left in the half.

Penn State scoring summary: 7 plays, 63 yards, :40 time of possession.

After the kickoff, Northwestern takes a knee, and that gets us to the end of the first half in Evanston with Penn State ahead 27-24.

Huge momentum boost there with the late score. Just like last season, when McGloin led Penn State to a touchdown in the final minute of the half against Northwestern after the Lions had fallen behind 21-0, the offense gets it together when it needed to to get the lead back.

After Kain Colter scored to give Northwestern a 21-17 lead, Penn State comes back and attacks the Wildcats quickly. Quarterback Matthew McGloin makes a nice connection to Justin Brown for a first down, and then the oft-injured Curtis Drake gets in on the action by making an 11-yard reception.

McGloin follows the throw to Drake up with a 21-yard pass to Devon Smith to get the Lions deep into Wildcat territory before Stephfon Green carries the ball into the end zone with an apparent touchdown. The play is called back on a holding penalty, however, and from there, Penn State's drive stalls. Anthony Fera comes on once again, and this time hits a 33-yard field goal to make the score 21-20 with 4:01 left to play in the half.

Penn State scoring summary: 11 plays, 75 yards, 4:37 time of possession.

That's now four straight scores for the offense with McGloin in at quarterback to start the game.

It's becoming a track meet in Evanston. 

Following Penn State's field goal that gave the Nittany Lions a 17-14 lead, Northwestern answers with a long drive of its own to retake the lead on a Kain Colter touchdown.

In at quarterback to run some wildcat passages, Colter netted the big gain of the drive, a 46-yard run that set him him up to finish the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Northwestern scoring summary: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:43 time of possession.

The Penn State defense really needs to step up now, and soon. The offense simply isn't good enough to keep this kind of frantic pace with Northwestern. Stops must be made, or the Wildcats are going to pull away with this thing. Penn State's defense has given up 21 points just once this season against Alabama. The Wildcats already have 21 in less than a half of football. Not good news for the Lions.

The fact and furious scoring in Evanston continues.

Following Northwestern's second touchdown of the day, the Penn State offense marches the ball down the field again, this time for a field goal that makes the score 17-14 with 12:26 left in the second quarter.

Penn State scoring summary: 8 plays, 57 yards, 3:54 time of possession.

Silas Redd had a huge 25-yard run on the field goal drive, capped with  a 37-yard kick by Anthony Fera. Redd is already posting big numbers. The ESPN box score says he has 60 yards on seven carries so far. If he keeps that up, the Penn State offense will be in business tonight for sure.

Also, give credit to Matthew McGloin for coming out poised in his first start of the season. He's now 7-9 passing the ball for 83 yards and two touchdowns. As long as he keeps scoring, by the way, expect Rob Bolden to spend some time on the bench.

Following Penn State's second touchdown of the day, Northwestern gets the ball back and moves it down the field into Penn State's red zone with relative ease. Dan Persa escapes a number of Nittany Lion rushes, and finishes the drive with a 12 yard pass to Kain Coulter for a touchdown. The play is reviewed, but the touchdown call is upheld, as Persa did not pass the line of scrimmage before throwing the ball, and just like that, it's 14-14 with 1:54 remaining in the first quarter.

Northwestern scoring summary: 10 plays, 87 yards, 3:57 time of possession.

The defense is having a spotty game now. On one drive, they just absolutely smothered Persa and the Wildcats. One two others, the unit lets Northwestern march down the field for scores without a whole lot of trouble. The Penn State offense can't be expected to score at the rate it is now all night. The defense needs to step up.

Following Penn State's touchdown, Northwestern gets the ball back and picks up a first down. The Penn State defense stiffens though, getting a sack from Eric Latimore and Jack Crawford, then another from Crawford to stop the Wildcats in their tracks as they're forced to punt.

The Penn State offense wastes no time making something happen as Matthew McGloin, out to lead the offense for the second straight drive to open the game, hits wide receiver Devon Smith for 45 yards and a touchdown to put Penn State up 14-7 with 5:51 left in the opening quarter. Smith used his speed to blow by Northwestern's corners, and he was wide open down the seam when McGloin hit him in the end zone.

Penn State scoring summary: 1 play, 45 yards.

Beyond the lapses by Chaz Powell on the opening kickoff and the defense following the fumble, Penn State looks great tonight. The offense is off to one of its best starts all season with McGloin at quarterback, so we'll see if they can keep it going as the game wears on.

Following Northwestern's touchdown, Chaz Powell returns the kickoff 51 yards into Northwestern territory. Not exactly redemption for the fumble on the first kickoff, but a good rebound nonetheless.

Matthew McGloin has taken the field as the starting quarterback for Penn State. That's his first start since last year's Outback Bowl. This is the first time this season that Rob Bolden has not started.

Silas Redd picks up 13 yards on his first carry of the night. We'll see how he, his fellow backs and the offensive line handle this porous Northewestern defense on the ground as the game goes on.

Brandon Moseby-Felder is in at wide receiver for the injured Derek Moye. He catches a ball for a first down from McGloin to get himself on the board.

After entering the endzone, Penn State faces a fourth down as Northwestern did on the last drive. The Lions convert, though, as McGloin sneaks ahead to pick up the first down and keep the drive alive.

After the fourth down conversion, Penn State answers Northwestern's touchdown with one of its own, a 4-yard pass from McGloin to Justin Brown. With 8:44 left in the first quarter, the score is now tied as seven.

Penn State scoring summary: 10 plays, 44 yards, 3:33 time of possession.

Penn State's game at Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. is underway and not off to a good start for the Nittany Lions. On the game's opening kickoff, cornerback Chaz Powell fumbled and the Wildcats recovered the ball deep in Penn State territory.

With Northwestern in control of the football, quarterback Dan Persa completes a pair of passes for first downs to get his team down inside the Penn State 5-yardline. The Lions stop three straight rushing attempts by the Wildcats inside the five, but Northwestern goes for it on first down and Dan Persa punches the ball in for a touchdown, the first score of the game.It's 7-0 with 12:17 left in the first quarter.

Northwestern scoring summary: 7 plays, 34 yards, 2:43 time of possession.

Not a good start at all for the Lions. Not only did they cough up the fumble, but the defense didn't exactly bail Powell out, either, letting Persa and the Wildcats march right in for a touchdown.

There were only two early Big Ten games this weekend with only one team being ranked, No. 24 Illinois taking on Purdue. The other match up was between Iowa and Indiana. 

Indiana (1-7, 0-4 ACC) gets routed by iowa (5-2, 2-1), 45-24: The game looked like it would be competitive early as the teams traded touchdown drives, putting the score at 14-14 early in the second quarter. Iowa and wide receiver Marvin McNutt busted the game open to the tune of a 35-14 lead at half time. McNutt set the Iowa school record for career receiving touchdowns with 23. He ended the day with 6 catches for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns. For more on the game, Iowa fans should visit Black Heart Gold Pants. For more on Indiana, visit The Crimson Quarry.

No. 23 Illinois (6-2, 2-2) upset by Purdue (4-3, 2-1), 21-14: Two late touchdowns in the fourth quarter by Illinois wasn't enough to overcome the early 21-0 lead Purdue built up in the first half. Purdue quarterback Caleb TerBush led the way with two passing touchdowns in the first half, as Illinois' offense did too little too late. For more on the Illinois Illinis, visit Hail To The Orange. For more on the Purdue Boilermakers visit Hammer and Nails.

In addition to No. 21 Penn State’s game against Northwestern at 7:00 PM, there’s a ton of Big Ten action taking place on Saturday. There will be two games at noon. Iowa vs. 1-6 Indiana (Big Ten Network) probably won’t attract two much interest outside the heartland, but the other game features No. 23 Illinois against Purdue (ESPN2/ESPN3). The Boilermakers kept it close against Penn State last week, but with losses to Notre Dame and Rice in addition to PSU, they’re underdogs against the Illini, who were undefeated until losing to Ohio State last week.

At 3:30, No. 13 Nebraska plays at Minnesota (ABC/ESPN2/ESPN3) in what should be an easy win for the Cornhuskers. The really marquee matchup, though, is at 8:00 PM, as No. 6 Wisconsin takes on No. 16 Michigan State (ESPN2/ESPN3). The Spartans are riding high after an upset win over Michigan, while the Badgers are undefeated, with a blowout win over Nebraska to their credit.

SB Nation has a blog for every team.

No. 21 Penn State 6-1 (3-0) is looking to improve their ranking and add to the woes of the Northwestern Wildcats 2-4 (0-3) who have lost four straight.

Who: No. 21 Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1, 3-0) Vs. Northwestern Wildcats (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten)

Where: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois

When: 7:00 p.m. EST

TV Information: Tom Hart and Derek Rackley are on the call. Lisa Byington is doing sideline coverage. Big Ten Network.

Spread: Penn State by 3.

Last game: Penn State held on to beat the Boilermakers of Purdue 23-18 in Happy Valley, staying undefeated in the Big Ten. Northwestern lost 41-31 on the road at Iowa. The Wildcats have lost four straight.

Last season: Penn State beat Northwestern 35-21 in Happy Valley behind four TD passes by Matt McGloin and another 100-yard effort by RB Evan Royster. Northwestern QB Dan Persa had over 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the loss.

Key absences: TE Garry Gilliam, DE Pete Massaro, LB Michael Mauti, RB Pat Zerbe all have knee injuries and are listed as out.  WR Derek Moye is listed as out with a foot injury. For Northwestern, sophomore WR Tony Jones is listed as doubtful. He has yet to play this year. RB Jacob Schmidt is listed as doubtful. RB Scott Concannon is out with a hip injury. Offensive lineman Doug Bartels is also out with an injured shoulder.

Penn State is dealing with a number of key injuries heading into its game at Northwestern on Saturday night, and coach Joe Paterno addressed the situation at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Paterno said quarterback Matthew McGloin has been practicing normally despite taking some heavy hits last weekend against Purdue. He expects the junior to be ready to go.

The news wasn't quite so good for wide receiver Curtis Drake, however, as Paterno said his status remains up in the air as he continues to nurse his leg injury.

"We have to be careful how much we depend on him because he is still not 100 percent," Paterno said. "[If] you watch him run he's got a slight limp."

Wide receiver Derek Moye, who broke his foot last Tuesday in his apartment, has been at practice without football gear this week according to Paterno, but there's a chance he might not make his return in the two-week time frame the school announced last week.

"Derek...he's anxious to get in there," Paterno said. "I don't think we're going to have him for another couple weeks."

That timeline would have Moye falling short of returning for next week's game against No. 23 ranked Illinois at Beaver Stadium, a game that could have serious Big Ten Leaders Division ramifications. We'll see if Penn State offers any further updates on his status this week.