Penn State 38, Southern Miss. 20

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Zack Mills threw for two touchdowns and ran for another Saturday as Penn State continued its revival with a 38-20 win over Southern Mississippi.

After the first 0-4 start in the school's storied history, the Nittany Lions have won three straight games. A trip to a bowl game, once considered all but impossible, is now a reasonable scenario for Penn State if it wins its last four games.

The comeback also has marked redemption for coach Joe Paterno, who set the all-time record for Division I-A wins last week with a triumph over Ohio State. Paterno did not stop there, winning his 325th game Saturday.

Penn State (3-4) overcame a strong game from Dawayne Woods, who carried 21 times for 126 yards and three scores.

Mills scored on an eight-yard run with 9:33 left in the second quarter to give the Nittany Lions a 17-7 lead. He added touchdown passes of three yards to Bryant Johnson with four seconds left in the second quarter and 42 yards to Tony Johnson 1:27 into the third quarter.

Less than a minute later, Larry Johnson returned a blocked punt 40 yards for a score to increase Penn State's lead to 38-7.

Woods had touchdown runs of 19 yards in the first quarter and six and three yards in the final period.

Mills completed 23 of 33 passes for 280 yards. Johnson caught 10 passes for 132 yards.

Jeff Kelly completed 26 of 47 for 252 yards for the Golden Eagles (4-3). LeRoy Handy caught 10 passes for 101 yards.

Omar Easy had an 11-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for Penn State.