When Anthony Morelli left the field with a concussion Saturday, Penn State not only lost its starting quarterback, it lost its only chance to win the game.

Face it, Daryll Clark looked clueless leading the offense until he left the game with a neck injury in the fourth quarter. Clark can run the ball a little bit, but when it comes to experience, Clark has only seen garbage time in blowout wins or losses.

Earlier this season, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno called Clark "special." While that may be true, fans won't see it until later in his career.

Though Clark has the legs to make something happen on the ground, he still lacks the pocket presence to recognize when he needs to take off, as evidenced by one blindside sack that he never saw coming.

Not to mention the Michigan defense was more than prepared to face Clark. After all, the Wolverines received a steady dose of Michael Robinson last year, the one player Clark has been compared to most. And don't forget Michigan undoubtedly watched plenty of tape from this year's Penn State-Notre Dame matchup.

"We knew once the other quarterback [Clark] came in, we knew what kind of plays they were going to be running just from looking at them when they played Notre Dame, we knew it was more of a spread type," Michigan defensive end LaMarr Woodley said. "We knew what plays we was gonna be up against."

And while third-stringer Paul Cianciolo turned in a gutsy effort in the waning minutes, getting the offense to the line quickly with time expiring, he's not who Penn State needs under center with the game on the line.

That guy was sitting quietly on the sidelines, maybe still woozy from the helmet-to-helmet hit that Michigan defensive tackle Alan Branch inflicted upon him. And without Morelli's strong arm, Penn State offense was just as quiet.

Up until his injury, Morelli had played a solid game, completing 11-of-18 attempts for 133 yards under constant pressure from the Wolverine's defense.

With Morelli in the game, the Nittany Lions at least moved the ball, rolling up nine first downs. Without him, Penn State mustered two first downs, one of those on a Michigan personal foul.

Certainly, Morelli showed some of his normal tendencies, making questionable throws and hesitating in the pocket, something that attributed to Michigan's absurd sack total.

But with fourth-and-6 with less than a minute remaining, no doubt Morelli has the touch and arm strength to make a much better throw to Jordan Norwood than Cianciolo.

Though Morelli has started just seven games, two of those have been against Notre Dame and Ohio State. And against the Buckeyes, Morelli was thrown into a situation where he had to lead Penn State downfield against a stout defense with the game on the line.

Neither Clark nor Cianciolo has that type of valuable experience.

As of yesterday afternoon, there was no update on either injury, except that neither Morelli nor Clark had to go to the hospital, according to Penn State sports information director Jeff Nelson.

If Morelli and Clark cannot go this weekend, the Lions will be dangerously thin at the quarterback. If that's the case, Cianciolo likely will get the start and redshirt freshman Kevin Suhey will be the back up.

While prized freshman recruit Pat Devlin is on the bench, it's unlikely that Penn State would burn his redshirt season this year.

While most Penn State players talked like Morelli and Clark would be available for Saturday's game, they said they'd be comfortable with any of the three quarterbacks.

"Paul and Daryll, they do good in practice," sophomore wide receiver Derrick Williams said. "They was ready, and they went out and gave it their best shot."

Unfortunately for Penn State, they weren't the Lions best shot for a victory.