Looking for a dramatically different offense during Penn State's Outback Bowl clash against Tennessee on New Year's Day?

If so, you'd better look to the Volunteer sideline for that.

After a regular season that saw the Nittany Lions' offense routinely struggle, stumble and stall, Penn State coach Joe Paterno said his team must learn to take better care of the football and improve in the red zone. But other than that, he doesn't foresee any drastic changes.

"You always have to get better, but I don't think we are going to make any dramatic changes," he said.

With that said, fans should expect to see more of what they've seen all season: A steady dose of running back Tony Hunt and short passes to wide receivers in the flat and along the sidelines.

After Penn State wrapped up its regular-season schedule against Michigan State on Nov. 18, sophomore wide receiver Deon Butler admitted that the offensive playbook had been simplified this season, possibly to help ease first-year starting quarterback Anthony Morelli into the starting lineup.

"This year, I think our role has changed," Butler said of the wide outs after the Lions' beat Michigan State. "We're not taking a lot of deep strikes down the field. So our role has changed as far as what kind of receivers we have to be. And I think we've taken that in stride. We haven't pouted about it or anything like that. I like the way that we've done that."

But while the wide receivers have not complained, the simplified offense did take a toll on their production. The heralded sophomore trio of Derrick Williams, Jordan Norwood and Butler had just five touchdown catches among them, and at one point, Penn State went nine games without a wide receiver catching a touchdown pass.

To end the drought, Norwood caught a 6-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter against Michigan State. But had he not caught that pass, Penn State would have been the only team in Big Ten history to make it through its conference schedule without having a receiver catch a touchdown pass.

Though Penn State's offense struggled at times -- the Lions ranked ninth in the Big Ten and No. 72 nationally in scoring offense -- Hunt proved to be a bright star. The senior finished with 246 attempts for 1,228 rushing yards and 11 rushing touch-

downs. He also added 26 receptions and three touchdown catches on his way to being named second-team All-Big Ten. Often times, Hunt found success behind what was a makeshift and ineffective offensive line.

"The only thing he needed to do was have just a little bit more patience and he has had that this year," Paterno said of Hunt. "He has hung in there and waited for an opening, took advantage of it and made 20-yard runs out of what, ordinarily, would have been three or four for him, maybe, a year or so ago. He is a really good back."

While Penn State has dealt with its fair share of ups and downs on the offense side of the ball, the Volunteers are ranked in the top quarter of the country (No. 27) in scoring offense. Tennessee averages 29.33 points per game while the Lions average 22.50.

Led by quarterback Erik Ainge, Tennessee ranks No. 13 in the country in passing offense at 264 yards per game. Penn State averages just 200 yards passing per game.

The majority of Ainge's passes have fallen in the hands of All-American Robert Meachem. The junior receiver grabbed 67 passes for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns, and averaged 18.9 yards per catch.

Something else that might make matters more difficult for Penn State, is that when it accepted a bid to play in the Outback Bowl on Nov. 21, the coaching staff started preparing for Auburn, the team it expected to face.

But on Dec. 3, bowl officials announced that Penn State would play Tennessee, forcing the coaches to do a double take in terms of preparation.

It's something that Paterno talked about when asked about what could be done to fix his team's offense.

"We are a little bit behind where we probably want to be because we really felt, and everybody led us to believe, that we were going to play Auburn," Paterno said. "I know I spent a lot of time looking at Auburn tapes and then all of a sudden it was Tennessee, and I am trying to get caught up myself as to evaluate what we have to do and not do."