STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Maybe Pitt-Penn State is a rivalry after all.

	Penn State's LaVar Arrington (11) extends his arm to block the kick of Pittsburgh's Nick Lotz on the game's final play.

Pittsburgh, 34-point underdogs, gave No. 2 Penn State a scare on Saturday for the second straight year. Travis Forney kicked a tiebreaking 24-yard field goal with 1:20 left and LaVar Arrington blocked a 52-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining to preserve a 20-17 victory for the Nittany Lions.

"If they didn't make a statement that this is a rivalry," Arrington said, "then I don't know what a rivalry is. It was too close, but we still came through."

Penn State coach Joe Paterno was glad to see his team tested after two blowouts.

"We knew a game like this would come for us because things have come so easy for us," he said. "You've got to be able to win a game like this if you've got aspirations."

Eric McCoo had a 7-yard TD run and Mike Cerimele caught an 11-yard TD pass for Penn State (3-0), which visits No. 8 Miami next Saturday.

Penn State started the winning drive on its own 16-yard line. Kevin Thompson's 51-yard pass to Eddie Drummond put Penn State on Pitt's 11, setting up Forney's go-ahead field goal.

Hank Poteat ran the kickoff to the 50 and John Turman hit Latef Grim for a 25-yard gain, but David Fleischhauer sacked Turman and Nick Lotz's field goal attempt was blocked by Arrington.

"I should have thrown it away," Turman said of the sack on third down. "It's tough, but the whole team showed a spark. Now we know we can play."

KEYS TO THE GAME
	Penn State	Pitt
First downs	15	22
Passing	318	320
Fumbles-lost	0-0	3-0
One-way street: Penn State has faced Pittsburgh 94 times, more than any other opponent. Saturday's win gave Penn State its seventh straight win in the series. Paterno now has defeated Pitt 23 times, second-most of any team. Paterno has beaten Maryland 24 times.
Historical day: Pitt QB John Turman posted one of the best days in Panther history against Penn State. He threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns in defeat. The best day by a Pitt quarterback against the Nittany Lions belongs to Alex Van Pelt, who passed for 324 yards in a 1991 game.

Pittsburgh (1-1) lost to Penn State for the seventh straight time, but thanks to great defensive line play, stuck with the Lions for the second year in a row.

"It was an old-fashioned bar fight out in the back alley," Cerimele said.

Last year, Penn State narrowly beat their long-standing rival 20-13, but that didn't lead the two schools to sign a new contract. The 107-year-old series has turned lopsided over the past decade, prompting debate about whether it should continue.

Their last scheduled meeting is next September.

Penn State had just 65 yards rushing and Kevin Thompson threw two interceptions, first to defensive end Bryan Knight, then to defensive tackle Nigel Neal.

"Doggone it, look at the pound-per-man size comparison," said coach Walt Harris, whose starting linemen gave up 29 pounds a man to Penn State's offensive line. "Our guys played their butts off."

Turman was 19-of-35 for 316 yards and threw two touchdowns, including a 42-yarder to Julius Dixon to make it 17-17 with 4:34 left.

On that drive, Turman had three passes nearly picked off. Two of them bounced off Arrington's hands, and Latef Grim snared the second pass and took it 45 yards. The TD pass went through cornerback David Macklin's hands.

McCoo's touchdown run put Penn State ahead 17-10 with 14:15 left. The big play on the 78-yard drive was Eddie Drummond's 37-yard gain on Thompson's screen pass.

On Pittsburgh's next series, Arrington picked off a pass and returned it to the 8-yard line, but Neal intercepted Thompson's pass over the middle and Penn State came away empty-handed.

Pittsburgh trailed 10-7 at the half, but tied the game with 5:55 left in the third on Lotz's 35-yard field goal. Knight set it up with his interception at the Penn State's 17.

Pittsburgh held the Lions to 22 yards rushing. Penn State, usually content to stay on the ground, passed early and often. Thompson was 17-of-29 for 232 yards and Casey 4-of-5 for 88 yards as Penn State outgained Pittsburgh 385 yards to 373.

Casey led the Lions to their only first-half TD, finding Cerimele for the score one play after he scrambled to his left and hit Tony Stewart for a 47-yard gain.

Turman led Pittsburgh right back with a 16-yard TD pass to Antonio Bryant. Forney's 43-yard field goal gave the Lions the 10-7 lead.

Arrington drew two personal foul penalties on one play in the second quarter, hitting punter Greg DeBolt, then laying on top of him. After the first flag, he jumped up and, with referees in his face, shoved DeBolt a second time.

DeBolt, who wrestles at 185, said he gave Arrington what wrestlers call the "low single," a shot to the shins with his shoulder.

"They were Big East officials. Maybe that's why," Arrington said of the flags.

The display didn't seem to upset Paterno, either, who left Arrington in the game after calmly discussing the incident with him.

"We don't have to nitpick all of the time. He should have walked away, but it was a good lesson for him," Paterno snapped.

Courtney Brown broke Penn State's record with his 46th and 47th career tackles for losses.

Grim caught eight passes for 127 yards for Pitt.