A week after All-America left tackle Levi Brown suffered a sprained left knee, the Penn State offensive line took another hit as starting left guard Robert Price injured his left shoulder.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno announced yesterday that Brown would again likely be held out of the lineup, while Price was questionable for the game after this week's injury.

"We're a little banged up," Paterno said.

Paterno said sophomore Chris Auletta will fill in for Brown again this week, and sophomore Gerald Cadogan, who began the season as the starting right guard before being moved to the bench after early season struggles, will likely return to the starting line up if Price cannot go.

"We are going to have to play some people who have really not had much experience," Paterno said. "The ones who are going to play have not had much experience, but the ones behind them have had less. We are in a tenuous situation there."

Paterno added that while Brown was dressed and available for last week's game and could play this week, he'd rather err on the side of caution and rest the senior co-captain.

The absence of Brown and Price leaves junior center A.Q. Shipley as the most experienced offensive lineman -- and he was just converted to the offensive side of the ball after last season. Shipley said that offensive line coach Dick Anderson spoke to him Monday, telling him that he's "got to step up and be a leader."

"I'm just going out and trying to help these young guys as much as I can," Shipley said.

When coaches first asked Shipley to make the transition from the defensive line to center, Shipley said he was hesitant at first. But after five games at the position, it's a move that the Coraopolis native said he's embracing the position.

"I'm improving each week," Shipley said. "I'm continuing to see things better and look at the mistakes I made in the previous weeks' film and correct them."

Despite the absence of Brown against Northwestern, the Penn State offensive line played well against the Wildcats, helping running back Tony Hunt rush for 137 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Lions rushed for 233 yards on 48 attempts, an average of 4.9 yards a carry.

The patchwork offensive line also kept quarterback Anthony Morelli upright, allowing no sacks.

But even with the success last week with Brown sidelined, Shipley said the recent string of injuries has been "a little bit" frustrating. He said that with new starters coming in each week, it's tough to develop a feel for teammates' footwork and ability to fit into different blocking schemes.

"We were starting to get a sense of cohesion, a little bit of continuity in the group," he said " ... It's tough. Just being with guys for four weeks and having new guys in there now, it's difficult at times."

Injury update

Defensive end Jim Shaw is listed as questionable with a sprained left knee for this weekend's game. Shaw suffered the injury against Youngstown State and did not play against Ohio State.

Though listed as questionable, Shaw was seen limping on campus yesterday. It's been an injury-plagued season for Shaw, who suffered a high ankle sprain against in the season opener against Akron. In limited time, Shaw has five tackles.