With Chaz Powell injured, many figured that Curtis Drake would be more involved in the offense this weekend, maybe more so than ever before.

But a touchdown pass from the true freshman?

Of course, the kid was a high school quarterback, but he's been strictly a receiver since arriving in State College his past summer.

But early in the third quarter today Drake took a pitch right, ran a couple of steps and stopped.

He then looked to the end zone and lofted a nice pass to big tight end Andrew Quarless, who reached up and pulled it down in traffic for the go-ahead, 14-yard TD catch.

To be sure, the Penn State coaches know about Michigan State's not-so-good pass defense.

That's why Daryll Clark and teammates have been trying to get things going through the air in the first half, which ended at 7-7.

But, meanwhile, tailback Evan Royster has been putting up some good numbers on the ground in limited opportunities.

He carried only eight times in the first half but gained 71 yards with a couple of 20-yard breakaways.

Remember that the Lions have never lost when he's broken the 100-yard mark.

Slowly, bit by bit, the Penn State offense seemed to be gathering some momentum.

And with 2:10 left before halftime Daryll Clark found a wide-open Andrew Quarless sprinting down the left sideline, hitting him in stride for the 29-yard touchdown.

The Lions got the first lead of the day, 7-0.

The score came one play after the Lions were hit with a false start penalty to sophomore guard DeOn'tae Pannell.

It's safe to say that Penn State's kicking game has been a significant disappointment this season.

Collin Wagner just missed a 38-yard field goal midway through the second quarter that would have given the Nittany Lions a 3-0 lead.

For the season, Wagner has made only 11-of-17 attempts.

It's the middle of the second quarter and Penn State's Navorro Bowman continues to build his NFL resume.

With the Penn State offense unable to sustain anything, Bowman has led the defensive charge to keep things scoreless.

Already, the junior linebacker has three tackles for loss, including a sack that dropped quarterback Kirk Cousins for a key 9-yard loss.

Bowman, expected to leave early for the NFL Draft, also made a nice pass defense play, breaking up a third-down throw.

The Nittany Lions will be without two starters today in the regular-season finale against Michigan State.

Starting receiver Chaz Powell, a Susquehannock High grad, suffered a sprained AC joint in his shoulder last week and did not make the trip.

Starting cornerback A.J. Wallace made the trip to East Lansing but did not dress for the game after suffering an apparent concussion against Indiana.

True freshman receiver Curtis Drake expects to replace Powell; freshman Stephon Morris should replace Wallace.

We just arrived at Spartan Stadium, about 90 minutes before kickoff.

And the most interesting thing so far is the weather. Rarely, have the Nittany Lions seen the sun on their previous eight trips to East Lansing since joining the Big Ten. Often, a bitter wind and some light precipitation accompanies the gray.

But today is beautiful, perfect, whatever bad adjective you find fitting. Sunny skies and temperatures in the low- to mid-50s, at least.

Of course, we're not sure what that means for the Lions, who have always struggled here, no matter of weather. Both teams would like to throw the ball, especially the Spartans. Should be good conditions for that.

The big question could be quarterback Daryll Clark and his offensive line. If the line gives him some time and he doesn't get too ansty and try to do too much, Penn State's offense will be a handful to deal with.

If not? The Lions might not even be in striking distance by the beginning of the fourth quarter. That's how drastically this one could turn.

It was supposed to be the final game of the strangest regular season.

Go back to 2001 and the Nittany Lions were supposed to end things here, possibly launch themselves to a bowl game in East Lansing, Mich. on Thanksgiving weekend.

But after the 911 terrorist attacks happened the season was pushed back for everyone in the nation.

And, of course, Joe Paterno's Lions then somehow started 0-4, some figuring that they wouldn't win a game all season.

That's when the really weird stuff started happening, much of it pointing to East Lansing.

Just as bad as they were to begin things, the Lions turned it all around just as dramatically by winning four of their next five -- a streak that should have been five-straight if not for coughing up a 14-point lead at Illinois.

That brought things to Michigan State with the Lions' season on the line -- and still one more game to play, the makeup game on Dec. 1 at Virginia.

Lose to the Spartans and bowl dreams and a full recovery would be gone.

And, sure enough, with super frosh quarterback Zack Mills on the bench with a bad ankle, the Lions fell behind by 17 points quickly to MSU.

Enter Mills in a rainy, raw Spartan Stadium. All he did was produce 28-straight points and lead one of the wildest victories in the season, a 42-37 thriller.

Somehow this team had evened its record at 5-5 and seemed squarely set on going to the Alamo Bowl with a victory the following week over the Cavaliers.

We all remember how that worked out, though.

But that Thanksgiving weekend eight years ago, the one with thunderstorms pounding all around on the flight back home?

At least, then, these guys still had one more week to enjoy one of the greatest season turnarounds in school history.

Back on the road with the Nittany Lions means returning to the one place we're still just not sure about after all these years.

East Lansing, Michigan.

We do try to make this work, we really do. And so do the folks at the team hotel, a former Sheraton property that is now the Lexington Lansing Hotel by Vantage.

There's a very friendly, outgoing hotel staff. Glass elevators. And the best part? A small INDOOR basketball court that's good enough for games of two-on-two.

Maybe that's enough to save the trip.

The problems?

Last weekend the Nittany Lions earned a 31-20 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers. Instrumental in that win was Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman, who ran an interception back for a touchdown.

Take a look at this Big Ten Network video as Bowman talks about last week's play against the Hoosiers, reflects on Penn State's season and looks ahead to this week's matchup against Michigan State.