Injuries to two key defensive players overshadowed Penn State’s sun-soaked victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday, but the atmosphere did provide for some interesting topics of conversation.

• Mike Mauti hobbled past us on his way to the locker room arm in arm with a trainer and a towel covering his face. I had a flashback to when Jerome Hayes tore his ACL (again) in 2008 and rode past us on a cart trying (and failing) to hold back tears. It’s really difficult to watch, and I can’t imagine how those guys must feel at that moment.

• As someone who stands behind the “D’Anton Island” banner, D’Anton Lynn’s injury was also very difficult to see. Like Mauti, Lynn is a great guy and a great representation of what Penn State football is all about. Get well soon!

• The setting was far from funny, but tell me you didn’t laugh when that guy fell off the cart carrying D’Anton off the field.

• Was it me, or did we hear a lot more from the Blue Band? Hmm…

• We finally saw a passing touchdown! Prior to this game, we were one of just three FBS teams without one.

• Curtis Drake caught his first pass since the 2010 Capital One Bowl.

• Daryll Clark hasn’t lost any swagger. He was on the sidelines again hyping up the team.

• The kids from Keystone Little League, who represented the Mid-Atlantic in the 2011 Little League World Series, were honored during the first quarter. They came out to Paternoville on Friday night and played trashcan football with us. Great bunch of kids and parents.

• About seven or eight of the Keystone boys came back out later in the game to get their picture taken with the Penn State cheerleaders. Smart kids.

• A friend told me that JoePa flipped out at some cameramen who got a little too close during pregame warmups. I’ve witnessed this before, and it is absolutely hilarious.

• The student section, and crowd as whole, filled up better than I’d anticipated. Still, as I said after the Indiana State game, no more bashing the student section for empty seats.