PORTLAND — It’s one thing to take a stunning loss in what was supposed to be an easy win. It’s another thing to have to follow that up with a trip across the country to play a formidable foe.

Oregon State can’t catch a break.

The Beavers opened the season last week with a mistake-prone 36-28 loss to Stanford. Now they head to Happy Valley to face No. 19 Penn State on Saturday.

So, in addition to the X’s and O’s, the Beavers found themselves focusing on two things this past week: Recovering from the Cardinal and preparing for the Nittany Lions.

“We’ve got a great opportunity and a daunting task ahead of us,” coach Mike Riley said.

Perhaps what will most be remembered about Oregon State’s season opener is the final minute.

With Stanford ahead 36-28, Darrell Catchings caught a pass and tried to stretch the ball over the goal line. But Taylor Skaufel poked the ball out of Catchings’ hands and out of the end zone for a touchback that sealed the victory for the Cardinal.

“There was absolutely no need to put the game at risk with 47 seconds left and a time-out on the 1-yard line. It’s a very hard lesson to learn, but it’s our lesson to learn and it comes in a hard way,” Riley said.

But that was just the most glaring of the Beavers’ mistakes. In the third quarter a backward lateral from quarterback Lyle Moevao went out of the end zone for a safety that gave the Cardinal the lead for good, and Moevao also threw two second-half interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.

Despite Moevao’s misfires, he threw for 404 yards and three touchdowns. And he had two proficient targets: Shane Morales caught 13 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown, and Sammie Stroughter had 12 catches for 157 yards and two TDs.

Moevao attempted a staggering 54 passes, hitting on 34.

Oregon State was emphasizing more balance this week after rushing only 120 yards against the Cardinal.

“We had an unusual game for the Beavers, in, I hope, a lot of ways because we made enough mistakes in that game to count for a while,” Riley said. “But we did have some good play.”

Oregon State will be challenged on the ground by the Nittany Lions, who ran for 334 yards in their opener, a 66-10 victory over Coastal Carolina. Stephfon Green, Brent Carter, Evan Royster and Chaz Powell all had at least 60 yards on the ground.

Stanford managed 238 yards rushing against Oregon State in the opener, and the Beavers were ineffective in stopping running back Toby Gerhart.

“A lot of mistakes in the first game are just simple things that we probably won’t do again,” Moevao said.

The Beavers never have played the Nittany Lions. So they’ll be introduced to the more than 107,000 fans that descend on Beaver Stadium, and see legendary coach Joe Paterno standing on the opposite sideline.

Penn State is 22-11 all-time against Pac-10 opponents.

Paterno said he was up until 1 a.m. back in University Park watching the Beavers’ opener. He said he was impressed with Moevao and the receivers, and thought the loss might be a fluke.

“You know, (if) the kid doesn’t fumble it in the end zone, they might be in an overtime game,” Paterno said. “They gave Stanford a lot, and they really beat themselves. Oregon State beat themselves.”

The Beavers have won three of their past four road games against ranked opponents: At No. 18 Oregon in 2007 (38-31 in overtime), at No. 2 California in 2007 (31-28) and at No. 24 Hawaii in 2006 (35-32).