Zack Mills heard the good news last Thursday that he would be starting in the place of injured quarterback Matt Senneca.

The redshirt freshman, who has played considerable amounts of time in place of Senneca in previous games, was going to get his first start for the Penn State football team.

He was going to lead the Nittany Lions onto the field against the Michigan Wolverines and show the Beaver Stadium faithful just what Penn State's offense is
capable of.

Mills did just that.

On the first series, the Ijamsville, Md., native hit Bryant Johnson, Eddie Drummond and John Gilmore for what should have been completions. All three passes were dropped.

"Those were three great passes that were catchable," Gilmore said. "Even though they were great passes, we have to make the play.

But Mills was still optimistic. Even if the passing game wasn't working early on, Penn State's bread and butter running attack would be on point.

With tailbacks like Eric McCoo, Larry Johnson and Omar Easy in the backfield, the Lions' ground game could slice right through the Michigan defense.

But that didn't bode well for Mills' offense either.

With an offensive line that has more holes than Swiss cheese, the Lions gained only 25 yards on 26 carries.

McCoo, Penn State's three year rushing leader, had five carries for one yard.

Even though Penn State's offense was held scoreless for the first time under Joe Paterno, and no one except Mills did anything on the offensive side of the ball, the freshman still put up impressive statistics.

He threw for 244 yards, completed 21 passes and sustained a couple drives that blossomed into possible scoring opportunities. The quarterback position is pretty solid, it's just the rest of the team Paterno needs
to work on.

"I thought the kid played an outstanding football game," the Lions coach said. "I thought he did well."

Paterno was reluctant to declare Mills the starting quarterback, but his players sure seem to like him.

Although he is a withdrawn and shy kid, Mills showed he can take charge in the huddle and be a leader on the field.

"Zack Mills played a really good game," Johnson said. "Sometimes you forget that he's just a freshman. Zack is a true, born leader. He's always trying to get guys fired up."

Mills showed a lot of poise against the Wolverines, as he was flushed from the pocket and had to run for his life on many occasions. Every time he was knocked down, Mills got right back up and huddled around his offense.

The next 10 days will be crucial for Mills and Senneca to see which quarterback will play against Northwestern. The Lions are idle this weekend, but travel to Evanston, Ill., the weekend of Oct. 20.

Paterno might play one, might play both, or hasn't ruled out the possibility of inserting true freshman Michael Robinson to provide a much-needed spark to a terrible offense.

Any of the three possibilities cannot make the team worse as they have stumbled out to the worst record in the history of Penn State football.

But on Saturday, against the Wolverines, despite dropped passes, injuries and no running game, Mills persevered.

He played much wiser than a redshirt freshman in the Big Ten usually does and he showed he can hit receivers with pinpoint accuracy. Now, it's just a question as to whether the receivers can catch the ball.

"He did a good job," Wolverines senior linebacker Eric Brackins said. "Any time for a freshman to come in there it's difficult, but he stayed in the pocket and delivered the ball."