Embroiled in a situation in which no one is happy, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno said he still has no timetable for naming a number one tailback.

Cries have come from all corners for tailback Austin Scott to take the job, while others say Ricky Upton's experience and his better pass-blocking skills necessitate that he be named the starter.

And while quarterback Michael Robinson isn't listed at running back on the three-man depth chart, he still is the only player to start at the position this season.

Instead of naming one player the starter, however, Paterno bemoaned the inability of any back to distinguish himself.

"I'm not happy playing two, three, four different guys in there," Paterno said. "But until we have one who can do everything a little bit better than anybody else then I'm obviously reluctant to say 'hey that is the guy that is going to be in there every play.'"

While Paterno wouldn't go into detail about which back played which role, the various strengths and weaknesses of the three players have become evident in the season's first three games.

Upton has obviously become the blocking back, seeing action primarily on passing downs and as a decoy on some running plays. After the game against the Cornhuskers last Saturday, the fifth-year senior was wondering if he would ever get enough carries to get into a rhythm in the backfield. With just eight rushes -- the third fewest on the team above Tony Hunt's six and Donnie Johnson's one -- the answer seems to be no.

Paterno also took time yesterday to say that Robinson wasn't getting enough time at his official quarterback position and that the sophomore would most likely see a diminished role as a running back.

That begs the question: Is Scott having that much trouble picking up the system? After the games against Temple and Boston College, Paterno said the team uses a simple playbook when the true freshman is in the game.

But Scott has had an entire summer and fall practice to learn the playbook. He has clearly distinguished himself as the primary running threat, leading the team in both carries, with 28, and rushing yards, with 148. When asked about the difficulty of the Penn State system, Upton said it he readily adapted to it.

"I felt comfortable in about a year, but I graduated early and it helped me out a lot," Upton said. "The offense has changed twice since my freshman year, but they keep all the basic plays."

Whether any back has an opportunity to seize the job this season is still uncertain. However, the offense hasn't looked nearly as consistent this year as it did with Larry Johnson as the feature back in 2002.

If no one is happy with the current situation, it's hard to imagine it running smoothly in the near future, but, for the moment, that's the reality.