Saturday's Penn State football season opener against Akron was nothing but miserable.

After all the anticipation and buildup coming into the game, tropical storm Ernesto dampened the festivities and the crowd. Football Eve was cancelled and many in the announced crowd of 106,505 left early for dryer grounds.

But mercifully, the Akron game is over, a 34-16 win for No. 19 Penn State, and now everyone can finally move on to this Saturday's Penn State-Notre Dame matchup.

"South Bend with Touchdown Jesus and all that," Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli said. "It's going to be an experience."

All spring and summer, Paterno and Co. refused to answer questions about the Irish, concerned more with Akron.

But that's not the case anymore. Reporters peppered players relentlessly with questions about Notre Dame immediately after the Zips had been dispatched. And this time, they answered.

"This'll be the first non-conference game that's like a really big game, playing against a traditional powerhouse team like that," running back Tony Hunt said.

Notre Dame won this weekend, too, just barely escaping an underrated Georgia Tech team in a surprising defensive battle.

With Penn State and Notre Dame winning, the hype machine that is the media should more than adequately promote this week.

Though Penn State came away with a win against Akron, it wasn't quite the performance the team would like to see with Notre Dame up next. Did you see that offensive line? Not exactly an impressive showing.

Morelli started well, completing seven of 10 passes in his first three series on his way to becoming the first Big Ten quarterback to throw for three touchdowns in his first game. On his first throw of the game, Morelli rifled a perfectly thrown ball to a leaping Deon Butler in double coverage for touchdown. Not a bad start.

Sure, Morelli did fade later; he only completed nine of his last 22 attempts while overthrowing receivers or trying to force the ball through double coverage.

But that's to be expected. This year's offense probably won't be the efficient one of last year. Rather, expect the team to score in bursts. The average time of possession on the Lions' scoring drives Saturday: 2:07.

The use of the 3-4 defense adds an extra dimension for Penn State, as it gets Dan Connor, Tim Shaw, Paul Posluszny and Sean Lee onto the field at the same time.

The loss of defensive end Jim Shaw to a high ankle sprain hurts, especially if he can't go against pass-happy Notre Dame. Shaw is Penn State's quickest and strongest pass rusher, and the Lions need a player like him to consistently pressure Quinn.

Though Josh Gaines filled in nicely, notching a sack against Akron, the line lost a step without Shaw.

Neither Notre Dame or Penn State dominated in their wins, but a loss for either team would have detracted from the atmosphere significantly.

The only problem for what should be a great weekend in college football: the weather forecast for South Bend Saturday projects to be 70 degrees with thundershowers expected