While it certainly looks like Joe Paterno and his offensive coaches lost their nerve against Michigan -- believing it was too risky to open things up and spread out Wolverine’s defense -- a look at the numbers since Anthony Morelli has been the starting quarterback seems to indicate that their hesitancy may be well founded.

In nine career starts versus Big Ten opponents, Morelli has directed the Lions to just 11 offensive touchdowns. And in the last six conference outings dating back to the Michigan game in 2006, the total drops to four TDs. And if you are talking about touchdown throws, Morelli has just two in the last half-dozen Big Ten games, heading into the clash at Illinois.

Since the senior’s first Big Ten start a year ago, PSU has settled for 15 field goals from kicker Kevin Kelly. That means that the offense is averaging about 13 points per league contest when Morelli is at the helm. If that seems low, that’s because it is very low.

Granted, a lack of offensive production isn’t solely the fault of the quarterback, but it certainly contributes to the growing notion that the Penn State offense is not getting the job done – for whatever reasons – while Morelli is in there. And there is no guarantee that things would improve if backups Daryll Clark or Pat Devlin were thrown into the mix instead.

These numbers show why the coaching staff appears to be so afraid to attempt anything remotely risky against decent opponents, like throwing the ball downfield to one of the deepest receiving corps in the country. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.