Deon Butler digs the long ball. He just wishes Penn State would throw it more often.
"As far as down the field the passing, I'm not sure why we're not seeing that," the wideout said yesterday.
"It's definitely frustrating."
Butler said, that such a deeply talented receiving corps, regarded as one of the best in the nation, has only helped muster the nation's 80th-best passing offense.
"We want to make plays," he said, later adding, "All the other guys ... even a guy like Chris Bell, he wants to be on the field. All of us are hungry to make plays."
What seems to be the problem? Play calling? Execution? Both?
"I'm not exactly sure the reason for the plays that they [the coaches] are calling, but even the plays they are calling we have to execute as players," Butler said.
Saturday's touchdown-free performance by the Penn State offense against Michigan left a lot of people -- coaches and players included -- wondering why the Nittany Lions couldn't find the end zone.
This week, players expect a similar challenge from Illinois' defense, even though the Illini allow an average of 30 more passing yards per game than Michigan.
"Honestly, the talent they have can compare to anybody's in the country," wideout Derrick Williams said. "We know it's going to be a tough game. We have to go out and execute what we have, the plays we have out there."
The plays the Lions used against Michigan, though, were questioned, even by Joe Paterno.
"Should we have thrown more short hitches and things like that outside? Yeah, you can second-guess yourself, all right?" Paterno said.
"But it depends on what the other guy's going to let you throw, too."
That "other guy," the Michigan defensive backfield, didn't do anything differently than it had against Oregon or Appalachian State, teams that torched the Wolverines for a combined 520 passing yards. "They played us basically how they've been playing other teams. I think there are a lot of opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. A lot of holes in the secondary," Butler said. "It wasn't anything the secondary did to stop us."
Given that, the futility left some players questioning themselves.
"I know some of the things that I have to do, things that I can do," Williams said.
"It's nothing knocking any of the other guys. ... Sometimes I just catch the ball out on the flat sometime. And I just try to make a play out there. I just try to make plays when I do get the ball."
Penn State opened against Michigan in five-wide formations, featuring four wideouts and tight end Andrew Quarless.
But Anthony Morelli was pressured and fumbled on the first play of the Lions' second offensive drive, something that appeared to chase the Lions into a conservative game plan.
"We wanted to come out and stretch them out, but we weren't really able to do it," fullback Matt Hahn said.
But that's where Butler would like to see the Lions keep trying.
On more than one occasion, Butler has told Morelli, "When pressure gets heavy, just give us a nice, easy catchable pass. We'll do the rest. We can handle it. We're playmakers and we like to have the ball in crunch time."
He'd just like the chance.
Injury updates
Right guard John Shaw (knee tendinitis), who Paterno said hasn't practiced the past two weeks is now on the field, center A.Q. Shipley said yesterday.
Abe Koroma, a defensive tackle who broke a bone in his foot in late August, is back practicing with the team as well, fellow defensive lineman Maurice Evans said.
