As far as college football offenses go, there may be no two that are more different than those of Central Florida and Nebraska.

Which bodes well for a Penn State team with inexperience at the linebacker position and throughout the secondary.

A green Penn State secondary left plenty of wide-open green for the Golden Knights' speedy receivers to roam through this past Saturday. The loss of Yaacov Yisrael, last year's starting hero, was made most evident when the Penn State zone broke down.

The young group was burned by a high-flying UCF attack that often featured four receivers running hook and wheel routes, meaning they settled in front of the zone. As the game wore on, Penn State's safeties and corners began playing more aggressively and were burned deep on fly routes.

"For me, specifically, I think it's a matter of learning things from experience," nickle back Paul Cronin said.

"You can go over things in practice, but you can't simulate it."

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno likened the process of dealing with the zone defense to learning to drive a car.

Young drivers notice everything and are usually distracted by it, Paterno said. As they drive more and more, dealing with everything that might happen on the road becomes second nature.

"Toward the end of the game, the pace really started slowing down," Cronin said.

"You really start to see where you are supposed to be in relation to the re-ceivers and the quarterback."

Yet Cronin, and other young players like heroes Chris Harrell and Calvin Lowry, are still light-years away from where they need to be experience-wise. Yisrael had a full 11 games worth of starts in his experience bank.

Sophomore outside linebacker LaMar Stewart indicated that Central Florida's fourth-quarter outburst -- a seven-minute span that netted 14 points and 130 passing yards -- was a result of a dangerous offensive attack finally coming through, not a Nittany Lion let-down.

"Coming into the game, coach told us they were going to hit a couple of passes and that we just had to endure that," Stewart said. "I think at the end, they just broke into us."

It may have taken that long for UCF to identify Penn State's mistakes. A zone defense is based on players finding their exact area and making quick transitions to what's going on around them -- a skill that comes with time.

"The problems are easily corrected," Stewart said. "It's a matter of taking a better drop and knowing the scheme better."

Nebraska's scheme is not tough to figure out. Quarterback Jamaal Lord has been the Cornhuskers' leading rusher in two wins so far, but has thrown for just 147 yards. Lord has gained 235 yards on a team-high 40
carries, but his top receiver has
caught just seven passes for 39 yards.

"I think we're a team that likes to stop the run," said sophomore linebacker LaMar Stewart, referring to Nebraska's option-based attack.

"It's like an intangible ... teams don't usually like to stop the run. This team goes after it."

Stewart saw significant playing time in the Indiana game last season, when Penn State used quick outside linebackers to stifle slippery Hoosier play-caller Antwaan Randle El, who is now playing wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"We're going to have to go after (Lord) just like we'd go after any other player," Stewart said.

"We played Randle El last season and did well, and he's one of the quickest guys you'll see. With that background, I think we can stop them."