Deon Butler had noticed some of his fellow veterans getting frustrated by the offense's play calling during the past few weeks.

As the offense would come off the field after a three-and-out, Butler could hear rumblings from his teammates that the Lions needed to run the ball more.

Monday, he met with some of the offense's senior leaders to try and address any problems and also try to quell any potential rifts that may have been forming.

"Obviously we've got a lot of guys on the team who have played a lot of football, we know what we're talking about when we see a defense thrown at us," Butler said. "Sometimes we got a little carried away with 'We should be running this play or that play.' Whatever play they call, let's execute it, and let's not get carried away with what plays we aren't running."

On the sideline and after Saturday's win against Indiana, some Penn State players, including center A.Q. Shipley, complained the offense needed to get the ball to running back Evan Royster more.

Royster carried the ball 12 times against Indiana Saturday, his lowest total since the start of Big Ten play. And his 63 yards were his second lowest output of the season.

Shipley clarified his comments during yesterday's press conference and said they were nothing against the play callers or other offensive players, it's just natural for a lineman to want the offense to run.

"As an offensive line, you like to run the ball, you like to wear opponents down, you like to watch them give up in the fourth quarter and that's the mentality we have," Shipley said yesterday. "We think Evan Royster's a tremendous back, he's done a fantastic job all year ... but we also feel the same way about Daryll and throwing the ball. We gotta be able to mix it up, we understand that ... but as an offensive line, we'd like to see us run the ball 100 times a game if we could."

After meeting with Butler, Shipley agreed with his fellow senior. He said his post-game comments were just his inner-lineman coming out.

He said he may have overreacted during some games and as a captain realizes he was a little out of line. But after talking with Butler and some of the other seniors, Shipley said any problems are being worked out.

"There were too many times where guys, and myself included, maybe at times, just thinking we should've been running the ball a little bit more, maybe saying something on the sidelines, doing things like that," Shipley said. "But like Deon said, we gotta get back to just going out and having fun. Whatever's called, just execute."

The Lions' offensive production has slipped during the past three games. Before the Ohio State game, Penn State averaged 45 points and 482 yards of total offense per game.

Since the trip to Columbus, the Lions have only averaged 23 points and 337 yards per contest.

But Butler said if the players worry about playing and leave the play calling to the coaches, the offense should be able to regain its early season form. If not, the offense could continue to perform at less than 100 percent efficiency.

Any improvement, he said, will have to come from the offense's mindset.

"We need to get back to old ways when we played with a lot more confidence and swagger," Butler said. "Now it's like we're playing and we hope to get the first down."