Penn State played with emotion. Penn State played with poise.

And in the wake of a tragic spinal chord injury sustained by freshman cornerback Adam Taliaferro in a numbing loss at Ohio State two weeks ago, Penn State recorded as feel-good a victory Joe Paterno has had in his 35 years as head coach when it held off Drew Brees and 19th-ranked Purdue, 22-20, last Saturday in Happy Valley.

The 2-4 Nittany Lions should get a good idea this Saturday at Minnesota if that win was a turning point or mere respite from a season that has been unfathomable thus far.

The final leg of Paterno's chase of Bear Bryant's all-time victory record for a Division I-A coach (323) has turned into a crawl, and there are more reasons for that then there is gray in the 73-year-old Paterno's hair.

Paramount among them are not being able to consistently run the ball or stop the run -- the foundation on which a coaching career that has seen Paterno win 319 games has been constructed.

The defense lost nine starters from last year, including Courtney Brown and LaVar Arrington, the first and second picks in last April's NFL Draft, as well as All-American linebacker Brandon Short.

	“	We just have been lousy. We haven't caught the ball, we haven't been accurate throwing it ... anything else you need? ”
		— Penn State coach Joe Paterno

However, Penn State returned a wealth of starters from an offense that averaged 32.8 points per game last year, and yet it managed just one touchdown in losses to Southern California, Toledo and Pittsburgh.

Even in the win against Purdue, Penn State's two touchdown drives covered a combined 17 yards. Both were set up by miscues in the Boilermakers' punting game.

"We just have been lousy," Paterno said. "We haven't caught the ball, we haven't been accurate throwing it, we have been overpowering on the offensive line. Anything else you need?"

Quarterback Rashard Casey, a lightning rod for criticism, has been hampered by dropped passes, the loss of top receiving threat Eddie Drummond (sprained knee) for the first three game and an offensive line that has not consistently protected him nor opened up holes for the tailbacks.

In the Purdue game, Casey threw for only 109 yards, but he rushed for 48 and hurt the Boilermakers with the scrambling that had been mysteriously absent from his repertoire.

"Certainly we saw more running (from Casey) than we had seen in Penn State's three previous games on tape," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "I think he has an awful lot of ability to create something off a scramble and I would suspect that he will do that for the balance of the year."

Casey, who is facing a felony charge in connection with the beating of an off-duty police officer in Hoboken, N.J. last May, has looked like a shell of the quarterback who flashed his big-play ability while splitting time with Kevin Thompson last year.

	Rashard Casey has completed just 46 percent of his passes for 726 yards, 6 TDs and 4 interceptions.

The fifth-year senior has completed 46 percent of his passes and has not been much of a running threat.

Paterno insists he has not told Casey to stay in the pocket, and in the Purdue game, the coaching staff rolled Casey out of the pocket several times and even used the shotgun.

"I don't particularly like the idea of doing things in the long run that aren't going to make you a better football team," Paterno said of the shotgun. "I think until you can learn to play real good tough, hard-nosed football, you're not ever going to be really good."

To some, though, Paterno's disdain for the shotgun has become a symbol of his unwillingness to update an offense that has been more Flintstones than Jetsons.

Even tailback Larry Johnson, the son of Penn State's defensive line coach, voiced his well-publicized frustration when he said the Nittany Lions were too predictable after the 24-6 loss to Toledo.

Paterno has claimed that Penn State's problems stem from a simple lack of execution. But the frustrating part is the players not executing were considered some of the best in the country coming out of high school.

The defense and offensive backfield are loaded with former prep All-Americans. Same goes for a receiving corps that has vastly underachieved.

While some have publicly said the talent is simply not there at Penn State this season, State College-based recruiting guru Phil Grosz disagrees.

"I can't buy comments made by Lee Corso and other people," said Grosz, who is also the publisher of Blue-White Illustrated. "If you're saying there's no talent on this football team then you're saying everyone in college football doesn't know what they're doing. Every one of these kids was individuals that every football team in America coveted."

Yet ESPN.com recruiting analyst Tom Lemming links Penn State's slow start to a drop-off in talent.

Lemming attributes it in large part to a trend at which Penn State has been at the forefront since the early 1990s: securing verbal commitments from prep stars prior to their senior year.

Lemming sees two major drawbacks in the practice that he said has been eschewed by most southern schools, including Florida and Florida State.

One, it often leaves schools with only a precious few scholarships in late December and January when many of the top recruits make their decisions.

Two, it assumes a kid will keep progressing from his junior to senior year when, Lemming said, that isn't always the case.

"When you take so many guys early, you take a chance," Lemming said. "I talk to NFL people and they wait until the last day to evaluate players for the draft and they're 22 years old. The majority of players should be scouted as seniors before they're tendered offers. LaVar Arrington is an exception."

While Lemming contends Penn State's woes are are the result of a risky recruiting philosophy catching up with the Nittany Lions, Penn State recruiting coordinator Jay Paterno said the coaching staff still strong believes in it.

Jay Paterno, who is also the quarterbacks coach, said inexperience, not a lack of talent, is the main culprit in Penn State's slow start.

"You lose an Arrington, you lose a Brown, you lose Chafie Fields at wide receiver...and we were counting on players that have been injured," said Jay Paterno, who is Joe Paterno's son. "The talent's there, no question about it."

Whether Penn State's problems are a product of a dip in the talent level or an offensive philosophy that many grumble is neither innovative nor imaginative and doesn't take advantage of the talent it has is a debate that will rumble as long as Penn State's slide continues.

What is certain is that it doesn't get any easier for the Nittany Lions next year.

Penn State opens with a six-game stretch that includes games against Miami (Fla.), Southern Mississippi, Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan. And that's after finishing with Michigan and Michigan State this season.

That would be enough to send some reeling, but not JoePa. He said this season hasn't dampened his enthusiasm for coaching -- or tackling a challenge.

"He's no different than he's been since I've been here," said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who is in his 22nd year at Penn State. "He still runs around practice and is all over the place. You wouldn't know if it was 1975 or 2000."

That's precisely the gripe some Penn State fans have.

Scott Brown covers college football for Florida Today.