Do you want to know what the Penn State football team's problem is?

Well, join the masses.

Fans, television analysts and other coaches think they can pinpoint the problem, which spread like a cold in a kindergarten class after the throttling at USC's hands.

But Nittany Lions quarterback Rashard Casey knows. And, Joe Paterno knows.

Certain team members in important positions have no heart.

And they're correct.

"There's some guys out there, who, it's not in their eyes," Casey said. "You can look in their eyes and see they don't want it as bad as I want it or Eric McCoo or Kenny Watson and Tony Stewart. There's guys that want it so bad. You're only as strong as your weakest link, and some people are holding us back."

Both Casey and Paterno have been burned by the weak links.

The quarterback constantly eludes 300-pound men who break into the backfield easier than a trained car thief breaks into a Honda. His pass protection breaks down, but Casey must make a play somehow.

The experienced coach consistently shapes talented recruiting classes into perfect components to perpetuate the Penn State football dynasty. He finds ways to put people in the necessary places and make the concoction work.

Until this year.

No matter what combinations Paterno has tried, especially on the offense, the results have been poor. Paterno and his staff (at least most of it) are experienced and talented football coaches.

Some players just don't have the desire to live up to what is expected of them when they arrive in Happy Valley.

"I have to take a good look at people," Paterno said. "I'm not sure some people belong in a Penn State uniform. I'm not sure some people have the moxie to play the amount of football we have to play."

That accounts for the plethora of penalties the team incurs on offense.

That accounts for the dropped passes by wide-open receivers.

And that accounts for the wasted talent that the majority of the team possesses.

"Guys tend to slack up at certain times instead of giving 110 percent," Casey said. "I don't want to go out without going to a bowl and I think we're capable of doing that if everyone just puts their heads together and plays hard."

The message is being sent to the players who gave up. Whether they choose to process the information into results remains to be seen.

Casey and the other workhorses of the team are tired of the weak links. So is Paterno, the coaches and the fans, for that matter.

And surprisingly, what seems like an overly optimistic attitude about going to a bowl game could help. If the team unites and finds its missing heart, the season might not be the disaster it's becoming.

If certain people do not, then they do not belong at Penn State, playing beside those who do care.

"It's a pride thing," defensive lineman Michael Haynes said. "If we can't go to a bowl game, we're going to spoil someone's season."

But only if certain people realize that the term heart involves much more than the vital organ in their chest.