For a team that Penn State football coach Joe Paterno still calls young and inexperienced, play calling and execution can make all the difference.

The two factors certainly accounted for the score Saturday.

In a 20-14 loss to Minnesota, the Nittany Lions struggled at the end of each half with a game-turning score just beyond their grasp. Dooming Penn State on both drives were quizzical coaching decisions and poor play on the field.

Down by six points, the Lions got the ball at their own 20-yard line with 2:21 remaining in the game and proceeded to cover 67 yards to put the team within 13 yards of the Minnesota goal line.

It wasn't necessarily a smooth drive, however, as Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson used one of the team's two remaining timeouts on a six-yard completion rather than spiking the ball to stop the clock. Robinson reluctantly signaled the team's final timeout when substitution problems left the Lions unable to run a play before the play clock expired.

When the plays and the correct personnel reached the Lions on time, specifically on the final four downs, neither seemed to fit well together. After Robinson used the team's final timeout, Penn State had four downs from the Minnesota 13-yard line to score a game-tying touchdown.

The first play went to the corner of the end zone and was followed by a draw. Offensive tackle Levi Brown and tight end Matt Kranchick each missed blocks on the running play and the ensuing confusion ate up large chunks of time that grew more valuable as each second expired.

"If we hang on the blocks then [tailback Austin] Scott is in the end zone and we had timeouts," Paterno said. "If we didn't have timeouts then it was a lousy call, but since we did have timeouts it was a brilliant call."

Which makes the decision to try a draw at the end of the first half to little-used tailback Ricky Upton even stranger. At that point, the Lions had no timeouts but ran the play anyway.

On the following play, a defender sneaked through the line and hit Robinson's arm as he threw. After the ensuing interception, the Lions could only wonder what might have happened with the game tied at half time.

Compound the play calling with the decision to supplant Scott with Upton during crucial stretches in the game, and the questions become more complicated than many answers could address.

Mistakes during the middle of the game don't necessarily destroy a team's ability to win. At the end of the game, they do.