Last week is in the books. And despite Anthony Morelli's three-touchdown performance, there's still a few questions surrounding Penn State's first-year starter.

What happens if the offensive line can't pick up the pass-rush? What if Morelli struggles early? What if he can't handle the pressure?

But for every "what if," there seems to be a reason why he can succeed. Even Notre Dame co-captain Travis Thomas thought of a few.

"I see a very strong arm," he said. "I see someone who seems like he has a lot of experience even though he was only playing his first collegiate game."

According to Thomas, the Fighting Irish are likely going to put more players on the defensive line to pressure Morelli since he isn't a scrambler. And that could be problematic for Morelli since he didn't have to deal with the blitz against Akron -- he dropped back 32 times and wasn't sacked once.

Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski also mentioned the fact Morelli hasn't had to deal with a rowdy away crowd
yet this season and believed that would play a big role in the signal caller's success.

"He was very poised for his first start against Akron at home, [but] we'll see what happens when he has to go to a little more hostile environment," Zbikowski said.

The Fighting Irish return every starter in their secondary from last season, but that still may not be worth much in the end. Notre Dame was ranked No. 103 in passing defense last season.

Like with Morelli, though, some critics are wondering if last weekend's performance was just a flash in the pan or a glimpse of better games to come. The Irish limited the Yellow Jackets to 140 passing yards, and if Notre Dame keeps that up, it could be difficult for the Penn State junior quarterback to succeed.

Still, Notre Dame's apparent improvement in the secondary didn't comfort coach Charlie Weis much.

"When a guy's first throw of the season is a bomb for a touchdown, that doesn't fire me up too much as an opposing coach," Weis said.

Morelli was on fire in the beginning, going 7-for-10 with two touchdowns, but he slowed up afterward. He completed only 41 percent of his passes from there on.

"Anthony Morelli did a real good job until he started to get a little bit careless on some reads," Joe Paterno said at his weekly press conference.

"Morelli will get better as the season goes on."

Regardless of what happens later in the season, there's already plenty of hype and loads of questions just surrounding tomorrow's game. But, for fans and quarterback alike, one thing is for certain.

"South Bend with Touchdown Jesus and all that, it's going to be an experience," Morelli said.