SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Penn State wide receiver Deon Butler glanced down at his black suit and orange dress shirt after Saturday's game at Syracuse and made no apologies.

"Orange is my favorite color," he said. "I decided to wear their colors here. We felt like we were going to dominate. That was my theme: Wear their colors and dominate."

That much was surely accomplished in Penn State's third dismantling of the season, a 55-13 rout of Syracuse played through oppressive heat in an airless Carrier Dome.

The mood around the urban campus reflected what played out. Syracuse fans watching their program sink to irrelevance printed T-shirts that read "The Greg Robinson Farewell Tour" on the front with the dates and cities of this season's games on the back to show displeasure toward Robinson, their head coach.

Penn State's version of an exhibition season that started with Coastal Carolina and might end this weekend against Temple took its show on the road for the first time this season.

Otherwise, there was little difference.

Add up the scores from Penn State's first three games and the total is 166-37. No Penn State team has ever scored more points in the first three games of the season, and no team coached by Joe Paterno has ever had a larger average margin of victory during any three consecutive wins.

Paterno, per usual, put on the brakes, though.

"We're a pretty good football team," he said. "I just don't know how good and won't know until we face some adversity."

The Nittany Lions faced some elements of adversity for the first time this season. Daryll Clark's up-and-down day began on the second play from scrimmage when Syracuse lineman Nick Santiago hit Clark's arm to force a fumble.

The largest Syracuse crowd in five years infused energy that was blunted one play later when Syracuse running back Curtis Brinkley fumbled a lateral. Then Clark launched a 55-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Norwood on the first play from scrimmage after the turnover to start what finished as Penn State's largest margin of victory over Syracuse since 1973.

By the time the Orange posted one first down, Penn State scored 28 unanswered points. The Nittany Lions also scored 35 points in the first half of three consecutive games for the first time since the fabled 1994 team, and Paterno referenced that group when he addressed the adversity he would like to see Penn State face.

Penn State trailed Illinois, 21-0, on the road in 1994 before winning, 35-31, to preserve an unbeaten season, and Paterno said that type of rally can validate a team's ability.

"That's the sign of a big-time football team," Paterno said.

Paterno warned against the overconfidence that can settle in a team cruising as easily as Penn State is through three games, and a first chance to be tested is uncertain.

Temple is gaining respect and improving under Al Golden, but the Owls lost, 31-0, to Penn State last season.

The Lions' first Big Ten opponent, Illinois, was ranked No. 20 when the season started. But questions about the Illini surfaced after Illinois allowed 52 points to Missouri and beat Louisiana-Lafayette, 20-17.

Similar play against Penn State might mean the offense's stiffest test will continue to be in practice.

"So far," A.Q. Shipley said, "that's the case right now."