Bumps in the road were to be expected.

What Anthony Morelli and the Penn State offense encountered at Notre Dame on Saturday, though, was a large roadblock, bringing potential scoring drives to a screeching halt.

Morelli started out poised and comfortable in the pocket, completing his first five passes for 44 yards. Like the rest of the team, though, Penn State's quarterback was less than stellar in the second quarter.

"I could kind of see it [in Morelli's eyes] toward the end of the half," Notre Dame linebacker Travis Thomas said. "He was looking kind of frustrated, getting happy feet in the pocket. Our coaches saw that and we thrived on it."

It was around this time when everything began to go wrong for the junior signal caller.

Three straight second-quarter incompletions were followed by a Victor Abiamiri sack on 3rd and 14 with 1:30 to go in the half.

"We were bringing the pressure from all angles on him and had him rattled in the pocket to where he couldn't set his feet and get comfortable when he'd throw," Thomas said.

On the second play of the third quarter, Morelli's long pass down the left sideline to Derrick Williams was perfectly placed, but fell right through the receiver's hands.

The very next play, Morelli fumbled on an option to the right, watching from the ground as Irish safety Tom Zbikowski picked up the ball and ran it in for the score.

"He probably made the wrong decision," coach Joe Paterno said. "Third and two, if he turns up in there, he's got the first down. He got a little hungry, and turned up because he thought he had a chance to pitch the ball out. It was a bad pitch."

Morelli went 21-33 for 189 yards and a touchdown, though all but 53 of those yards came in the second half when Notre Dame's defense dropped back a bit farther to avoid the big play, conceding the short passes underneath.

Down 27-3 with 7:28 to play in the third, the strong-armed quarterback fired deep down the right side - as if determined to throw to Williams regardless of the coverage - only to be picked off by free safety Chinedum Ndukwe, who had enough time to camp out under the ball and wait for it to come down.

"There were a lot of moments that could have gone either way and it went their way," Morelli said. "You just try and put it behind you and move on to the next play. We moved the ball well but couldn't put points on the board."

Indeed, the Lions wound up with only 14 yards fewer than Notre Dame, but their turnovers and mental errors shortened the field for the Irish, who were able to capitalize en route to the 41-17 blowout victory.

Notre Dame's defensive playmakers were everywhere they needed to be at the right moments, frustrating Morelli in front of a national audience.

Irish coach Charlie Weis' plan to put pressure on the inexperienced quarterback and offensive line worked almost to perfection.

"They're a solid defense and they take care of all the little things," Morelli said. "They made all the plays when they needed."