Trailing Purdue 7-6 in the second quarter of Saturday's game, Penn State drove from its own 20-yard line to the 2-yard line of Purdue in four plays looking for the go-ahead score.

The excruciating, six-play sequence that ensued summed up the fortunes of Penn State's red-zone offense all afternoon.

First-and-goal from the 2. Michael Robinson is stopped for a loss of 2.

Second-and-goal. Deon Butler draws a penalty for pass interference. First down, again.

First-and-goal from the 2. Tony Hunt rushes for a yard.

Second-and-goal from the 1. Purdue gets called for defensive holding. First down, again.

First-and-goal from the 1. Tony Hunt is stuffed.

Second-and-goal from the 1. Robinson runs for a touchdown. Finally.

"I was like, 'Can we please get in the end zone,' " Robinson said. "What is going on?"

Despite the fact that the Nittany Lions rolled up 516 yards of total offense against a mediocre Purdue defense -- until a late touchdown salted the game away for Penn State -- their inefficiency in the red zone allowed the Boilermakers to stay within striking distance.

There is no simple answer that can explain why Penn State struggled so mightily with their red-zone offense, a facet of the game in which it has been very strong all season.

Still, the consensus among Penn State coach Joe Paterno and his players after the game was that Penn State's offensive play calling was, as Paterno would put it, "a little out of whack."

"When the plays came in we're like, 'What? What you callin' that for?' " Robinson said with a laugh. "But we still have to run it. The linemen are like, 'Mike, just check it. They ain't gonna take you out of the game; just check it. Go to another play, go to another play.' "

Robinson has been quick to praise the play calls of offensive coaches Galen Hall and Jay Paterno all season, but even Joe Paterno admitted that the plays called in the red zone could have been a little bit more straightforward.

"I think we got too cute. We ran that reverse down there on first-and-6 on the 6 and in one or two other things we got a little careless," Paterno said. "They are a good defensive team down there. They play really tough on the line of scrimmage, and they make you feel like you need to throw the ball a little more than you like to down there. I am glad we have [freshman kicker Kevin] Kelly.

Kelly was the only member of the Lions who benefited from Penn State's struggles inside the 20, padding his stats with successful chip shots from 33, 27, 25 and 22 yards.

But, even though some of the play calling might look slightly dubious in hindsight, as Paterno said, the Boilermakers defense does deserve credit for Penn State's struggles near the goal line.

Purdue made a decision to contain Robinson by rushing its ends straight upfield to keep Robinson in the pocket and then blitzing up the middle to generate pressure.

This led to Robinson looking as uncomfortable in the pocket as he has all season, which caused him to force throws without having his feet properly set on numerous occasions.

The Lions still managed to pull out a win -- albeit an ugly one -- but Robinson reiterated that they must take advantage of their opportunities much better in next weekend's showdown with Wisconsin.

"It's just one of those things where it went our way today," Robinson said. "We can't play that way against Wisconsin because we will lose."