Joe Paterno wasn't smiling Saturday.

Maybe it was the fact that tropical storm Ernesto left him so wet that the towel wrapped around his neck was worthless by the end of the first quarter.

Or maybe it was because of his team's "sloppy" play against the Akron Zips.

Whatever it was, the 34-16 win against the Zips hadn't put the Nittany Lion football coach in a smiling mood, and questions about the offensive line didn't brighten his day either.

"They got their ears kicked in," Paterno said of his line that featured four new starters. "Simple as that."

While the No. 19 Nittany Lions' revamped offensive line gave new quarterback Anthony Morelli plenty of time to throw and rendered no sacks, the unit struggled to establish the running game against a problematic Akron 3-5 defense.

With the running alleys clogged by stunting Zip defenders, senior running back Tony Hunt was stopped before reaching the line of scrimmage five times, managing just 17 yards on 13 carries after breaking a 19-yard run on his first touch. Backup tailback Rodney Kinlaw was dropped for losses twice.

Overall, Penn State gained just 76 yards on the ground, compared to 206 passing.

"They had a pretty tricky defense," offensive tackle John Shaw said. "They had a 3-5, and they were showing blitzes that I hadn't really seen in the last week-and-a-half of studying the defense. They threw a lot at us really quick."

Paterno stressed all last week that the matchup against Akron's defense would be a tough first test for an offensive line that returned only All-America left tackle Levi Brown from 2005.

Sophomore Gerald Cadogan made his first start for the Lions at left guard next to Brown and split time there with fellow second-year man Greg Harrison. Converted defensive lineman A.Q. Shipley started at center. On the right side, senior Robert Price started at guard and shared time with sophomore Rich Ohrnberger while junior John Shaw started at tackle.

At times, junior Chris Auletta spelled Shaw.

Though A.J. Wallace broke a 42-yard run on a reverse in the second quarter, the offensive line never opened enough holes to establish a traditional ground attack.

"I'm sure there were a few assignments botched," Shipley said.

But with a young and inexperienced line, every game is a learning process -- especially the season opener in the rain.

"I was expecting a lot more offsides and holding penalties and things like that, but we didn't have that many of those," Brown said of his line that never once stepped early. "Their defense was blitzing a lot, so having to pick up the blitz, a lot of guys were missing blocks or over pursuing on a block or things like that. That's the type of mistakes I expect in the first game."

Shipley said communication within the line improved as the game progressed, citing the drive during which Hunt had two carries for 11 yards, including a five-yard touchdown scamper.

On the same drive, fullback Matt Hahn picked up nine yards on two attempts.

Brown graded the line in the "C" range, saying he sensed nervousness. Asked how the line would keep confidence up, Brown gave a slight laugh.

"Everybody's not going to be perfect," he said. "You go out there, you're going to make a mistake. You just let that play go and move on to the next one. We're going to go to practice, Coach is going to kick our butt."

Hunt, who found himself quickly greeted by defenders most of the night -- understands his line needs time.

"The first game with a new offensive line, you can't expect holes to just be gigantic," he said. "Last year's team ended up to be a really good team. Holes ended up being large. But the first and second game, it's a process. It'll take time to happen."