Joe Paterno jogged out of the Penn State tunnel instead of his usual routine — running out in front of his team.
It was something new, a theme throughout Saturday's 66-10 win over Coastal Carolina at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State was powered by all sorts of new toys, including a "three-headed monster" at running back.
Evan Royster got the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard early, with 7-yard and 2-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter. Royster finished with 64 yards on eight carries and three touchdowns.
He gave way to Brent Carter and Stephfon Green, both running behind an experienced offensive line for a combined 156 yards on 19 carries.
"A three-headed monster, you know," Carter said. "I think we're doing really well at it. In practice we look good, today we looked pretty good."
Eight different Lions carried the ball Saturday. Wide receivers Derrick Williams, Jordan Norwood and Chaz Powell all had carries. Powell's second carry went for a 55-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Penn State finished with 334 yards rushing.
With three running backs, it would appear that each one brings something different to the table, especially Green, who some point to as a change-of-pace back.
Not so.
"Evan's a change-of-pace back, Brent is a change-of-pace back and [Brandon] Beachum is a change-of-pace back," Green said. "I mean, we just contribute to the team in every way that we can. We don't put roles on ourselves, that's up to the guys upstairs."
The other new toy may have been the one that everyone was waiting to see.
Quarterback Daryll Clark stated he was nervous before Saturday's game while on the phone with his father. His father, also named Daryll, told Clark "don't make me smack you through this phone. There's nothing to be nervous about."
His words rung true. If Clark was nervous, it didn't show. From the beginning, Clark would check down to his receivers, go to second targets and fire strong, accurate passes.
He finished 11-14 for 146 yards and a touchdown. Clark did not run the ball during the debut of the Spread HD, though it was more like a sneak preview of the Spread HD.
The Spread HD did put a receiver in the backfield, with Williams and Powell both seeing time there, but there were no two-running back backfields nor did any of the quarterbacks run with the ball.
"It was pretty scaled back," Clark said. "There's a lot of things that we did over the preseason that you guys have not even seen yet. I don't really know if we'll unravel it next week or save it until the Big Ten. I don't really know what's going to happen."
Clark gave way to Pat Devlin in the second quarter before returning in the third. Devlin, too, had a solid game, going 5-for-8 for 83 yards. Paul Cianciolo played the fourth quarter and was 3-for-4 passing.
"I think Clark has earned the job," head coach Joe Paterno said. "I'm not going to back away from that but I think Devlin is very close, Devlin's a good player. And if something happened to those two, I'd have a lot of confidence in Cianciolo. I know I'm repeating myself, but that's what I believe."
The 66 points were the most Penn State has scored since a 67-7 win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 9, 2000.
The win was No. 373 for Paterno, tying him with Florida State's Bobby Bowden for the most wins by a Division I coach, a feat that Paterno predictably dismissed.
"I haven't even thought of that stuff and I'm not gonna," he said. "I can only say it so many times, it's not a big deal to me."
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