Three tailbacks, one big problem.

While the Penn State football team continues to find itself offensively, the coaching staff has employed a running back-by-committee system that rotates the team's tailbacks in during the offensive drives. This system, despite its presumably good intentions, has generated issues among the Penn State tailbacks, the most prevalent of which is the lack of rhythm.

"We're still trying to find the right combination," Penn State football coach Joe Paterno said. "Two games maybe isn't going to do it for us, I don't know. We've got a pretty good idea what we can do, it's just trying not to give them too much until we get them comfortable."

In the loss to Boston College on Saturday, four running backs including Michael Robinson, Austin Scott, Tony Hunt and Ricky Upton took turns taking hand-offs. Not one of them carried the ball more than 10 times the entire game, with Scott running 10 times for 60 yards. In fact, in the Lions' first six plays of the first two offensive drives, not one back carried the ball on consecutive downs. More importantly, not one of them looked like they were able to establish a sense of rhythm on offense as they came in and out.

"It is very frustrating, the fact that you can't really get a rhythm," senior tailback Ricky Upton said. "There's times when I get a run and I'm feeling ready to go, then I see they call a trio or three wideouts or two tight ends. It's just hard to get a feel for the game when you're just coming in and out."

Upton, one of the team's few tailbacks with carries at the collegiate level prior to this season, saw only three carries for 11 yards against the Eagles. He said that the rhythm a running back gets into as the game progresses is essential for top performance.

"For a running back, that's really important," Upton said. "The more you're in there the better the pace is for you, the more you feel how the defense is going to play. Then you can prepare better."

In the 2000 and 2001 seasons, both losing campaigns, for Penn State football, the team employed a running back-by-committee including Larry Johnson, Eric McCoo, and Omar Easy. While the rotation came to its peak usage in 2001, not one of the three backs was ever able to run for more that 700 yards in a season.

The season average of the three ball carriers in those two years was a mere 367 yards. Possibly the more telling statistic was that in 2001, Johnson led all rushers with 337 yards.