BleacherCoaches.com

The Nittany Lions could be staring at an 0-2 conference start if they can't get their offense cranking Saturday at Illinois. Four trips into the red zone at Michigan produced only three field goals in a 14-9 loss, leaving everyone on offense frustrated and looking for answers. Head coach Joe Paterno appears not to trust quarterback Anthony Morelli to throw the ball downfield in big games, thus wasting the one distinct personnel advantage -- depth at wide receiver -- that Penn State enjoys over every team in the league. Jordan Norwood, Derrick Williams, Terrell Golden and Deon Butler don't do Penn State any good if Paterno won't let Morelli throw it to them. Morelli has thrown just five touchdown passes in 278 attempts in his last nine Big Ten games.

• Was the Penn State offense that put up 59, 31 and 45 points in its first three games a mirage? Maybe so. After all, Florida International, Notre Dame and Buffalo have one combined victory between them. The Michigan defense that allowed 34 points against Appalachian State and 39 against Oregon held Penn State to three field goals in the Lions' fourth loss in their last six Big Ten road games.

• It looks like Paterno has lost faith in senior tailback Austin Scott, with good reason. Scott's lost fumble at the Michigan 9-yard line ended a crucial possession. Scott didn't play after that, with Paterno turning to redshirt freshman Evan Royster as a backup to Rodney Kinlaw thereafter. Scott fumbled just once on his first 40 carries this season, but has fumbled on three of his last 17 attempts.

Juice Williams is a threat on O
and J Lehman is a good LB

The Lions are not looking at an easy game Saturday

I agree and I'm a PSU fan. It wouldn't surprise me if PSU loses 2 or 3 more games. The offense is horrible and predictable. They have the talent, but the offensive coaching staff needs overhauled or they need to use the whole playbook instead of the 5 same plays that never work.

Sadly we are looking like the PSU offense of old, and I'm not talking about the good years.

What happened to putting Morelli in shotgun formation?

And WHY did they run the ball 2 of 3 downs on nearly every series against Michigan. The Passing game was doing pretty well, not to say Morelli is a good QB, just to say that he wasn't bad through the air on Saturday.

Illinois is a threat, I think we'll split the Ohio St./Wisky games, just because Michigan lost early doesn't mean they aren't the team everyon thought they were (to quote Denny Green).

I'm already looking at next season.

That article from ESPN.com is important, and that's why I posted it. It's one of the few times you'll see backhanded criticism of Paterno, which needs to be much more prevalent. That guy said everything we've been saying all season. For as much as I hate the sports media world, you have got to give them credit for keeping their mouths shut about Paterno. I guess it is a testament to his respect, but you'd think that with all the trouble PSU has had off the field and on, and how Paterno has obviously lost touch with this team, AND how the offensive staff STILL manages to evade criticism, that Penn State would be getting slaughtered in the media. They probably should be.

There is no logical reason why Joe Paterno said that he's happy with where that offense is right now. If that's the case, that right there is complete proof of how this athletic department is now viewing the football program: we're content with 9 wins, and we'll make sure 4 of them are guarantees.

It is absolutely disgusting.