PSU Nittany Lions

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Welcome to Year 2 of the Bill O'Brien era.

Fans saw the first glimpse of what's in store for the Nittany Lions this season during Saturday's annual Blue-White Game. And while many starters saw limited time and others were held out for precautionary reasons, there were still a few encouraging developments.

1. Quarterbacks still trying to separate themselves

In the spring game, it's usually best to ignore the numbers because of the stripped-down version of the offense that's been implemented. Steven Bench and Tyler Ferguson both finished 9-of-15 without any interceptions, but inconsistency plagued the signal callers. In a span of four plays, Ferguson followed up two great passes with a near-pick and then took a sack. Bench opened the first quarter by impressing on-lookers but then was outplayed in the second.

There's obviously potential here. But, at this point in the spring, that's all it is right now. Both have a long way to go before they can approach the efficiency of Matt McGloin's 26 touchdowns-to-five interceptions season. There was a lot of good -- but also quite a bit of bad on Saturday.

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Bill O'Brien crossed his arms and furiously chewed a piece of gum when the inevitable question was asked Saturday: Was the Penn State coach any closer to naming a starting quarterback?

He had to know the question was coming. That was the storyline of the Blue-White Game, the main topic fans discussed in the stands, and a topic that reporters have peppered him about every time O'Brien has made himself available.

"No, I'm not any closer," he said. "But I enjoy coaching both guys and, eventually, we'll have to make a decision. But I'm not ready to make that right now."

Inconsistency appeared to be theme of the day for junior college newcomer Tyler Ferguson and returning sophomore Steven Bench. O'Brien didn't use that term, but he might as well have. He said the pair obviously would've liked to have some plays back but also made some nice throws.

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Over the next week, NittanyNation will be taking a glance at different positions and their outlook for next season.

WIDE RECEIVERS

• Who: Allen Robinson is the star on this receiver corps, but the lineup isn't all that clear after placing him at the No. 1 spot. Brandon Moseby-Felder could still be in position to be the No. 2 target, but rising redshirt freshman Eugene Lewis and rising sophomore Trevor Williams will try their best to overtake him. Lewis has the higher ceiling, but Williams is more refined at this point. This group could see quite a bit of shuffling before Week 1 begins.

• Strengths: Penn State might be lacking depth at other positions, but it's absolutely stacked at wide receiver. There'll be at least 10 players at the position next season, which should provide some good competition and some close battles. Most of the wideouts here -- such as Robinson, Lewis and incoming freshman DaeSean Hamilton -- are more athletic than fast. Their leaping ability and hands are all good, and they should be an exciting group to watch.

• Weaknesses: Consistency was definitely something missing last season. Dropped balls plagued the wideouts -- even Robinson at times -- throughout the season. There's also not really a deep threat with top-end speed here. Alex Kenney is incredibly quick, but he seems to be made more in the mold of a track athlete than football player. Moseby-Felder showed flashes last season after overcoming an injury, and he might be Penn State's best bet as a deep threat as long as he stays healthy.

• Player to watch: Lewis is going to be a good one. He didn't play last season because he was unaccustomed to running routes since he played quarterback in high school. After a year of learning, he'll definitely be utilized in 2013 -- and he could end up being the biggest surprise on the offense.

• Overall: The receivers should be much improved from last season. Everyone with significant playing time returns, and it's difficult to see how a drop-off could occur with another offseason under Stan Hixon. Some of the wideouts' numbers might decline with a new quarterback, but the talent at this position will definitely be an improvement over 2012.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- It was a record-breaking day for Penn State.

Allen Robinson set the Nittany Lions' single-season receptions record in the first quarter, and Matt McGloin set a school record for yards in a single season and career touchdowns.

Behind a strong offensive effort -- highlighted by performances from Robinson and McGloin -- the Nittany Lions overcame a slow start to throttle Indiana 45-22 Saturday.

Robinson now has 73 receptions, surpassing the record of 63 set by former PSU greats Bobby Engram and O.J. McDuffie. McGloin boasts 3,071 passing yards this season and 45 career passing touchdowns.

With the win, Penn State's record improves to 7-4 (5-2 Big Ten), while Indiana falls to 4-7 (2-5 Big Ten).

It was over when: Zach Zwinak crossed the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. The Hoosiers were building momentum, but that score put an end to it. PSU led 35-22 at that point, and Indiana wouldn't threaten again.

Game ball goes to: Robinson. Not only did he set the single-season receptions record on his first catch of the game, but he caused problems for Indiana all day. He was responsible for the Nittany Lions' first three touchdowns and finished with 10 catches for 197 yards.

Stat of the game: 482 -- Penn State's offensive yardage in the first three quarters, when the game was still in doubt. Indiana couldn't stop the Nittany Lions on the ground or through the air.

Turning point: In the third quarter, with Indiana trailing by only six, Bill O'Brien found his team facing fourth-and-10 on his opponent's 33. He decided to go for it -- surprise, surprise -- and McGloin found Brandon Moseby-Felder for a 12-yard gain. That key play set up a touchdown.

Unsung hero: Gerald Hodges. With the injury to Michael Mauti, Penn State's other outside linebacker stepped up. He showed just why he's a Butkus Award candidate with 12 tackles and an interception. Hodges was this defense's playmaker Saturday.

Unsung hero, part deux: Cameron Coffman. With no help from the running game, Coffman was forced to throw often -- and he did a pretty good job. He threw two interceptions, but one came when he pressed while trailing by three touchdowns. He finished with 454 passing yards.

With Kyle Carter's dislocated wrist, Bill O'Brien plans to follow the mantra he's talked about all season: "Next man up."

That means Penn State's game plan won't change much, but the tight ends will still likely see fewer targets as a group. Redshirt junior Matt Lehman and true freshman Jesse James will split time at the TE-F position, but they have a different playing style than Carter.

Carter is a quick, athletic player with the best hands on the team and sometimes lines up as a receiver, while Lehman and James have size on their side. Lehman is 6-foot-6, and James creates matchup problems at 6-7.

Matt McGloin likes to say Penn State has enough talent so different players can lead the team in receiving different weeks. But the quarterback has definitely followed a pattern this season.

Whenever Carter is in the lineup, McGloin throws to the tight ends twice for every three passes he tosses to the wideouts. But when Carter missed the Purdue game, he targeted the tight ends just once for every three times he spotted an open wideout.

That shouldn't come as a surprise. Carter has been McGloin's No. 2 option all season. And when Carter missed the Purdue game, McGloin seemed to look more toward his emerging No. 3 target, wideout Brandon Moseby-Felder.

Without Carter, Moseby-Felder had a career game with a team-high six catches for 129 yards as Penn State's offensive production remained steady. The redshirt junior receiver should be called on more against Indiana and Wisconsin as a result.

Against Indiana, at least, Carter's absence might not be felt as much. The Hoosiers' run defense is the third-worst in the country, and Penn State is likely to be more focused on pounding the ball with Zach Zwinak than attacking them through the air.

Allen Robinson didn't have to say anything.

He disguised his routes, pulled down catches with black-and-blue Nike gloves and always seemed open back in March practices. Receivers coach Stan Hixon realized "right off the bat" Robinson would be a special player.

Brandon Moseby-Felder -- who's since become Matt McGloin's No. 3 target -- wasn't so fortunate.

The redshirt junior crumpled to the turf with a severely strained hamstring after the first week of spring practice. Unable to show Hixon what he was capable of on the field, he tried to tell him everything he could do. Over and over again.

"He's been telling me all along how good he is," Hixon said Thursday. "And with me, 'It's OK, we'll see.' "

Moseby-Felder’s ability wasn’t seen for much of the four seasons he watched from the sideline. He missed his high school senior season with a blown-out knee -- redshirted his freshman season as a result -- and seemed to pinball between the practice field and training room.

But when Justin Brown transferred and Shawney Kersey quit, Hixon scrambled to find the next man up. Moseby-Felder wasn't the obvious choice because of that lingering hamstring injury. But he turned out to be the best one.

The speedy wideout -- who claimed he ran a sub 4.4 the last time he was clocked -- has seen more passing targets every week. His stats have climbed the last four games: from 34 yards to 60, 70, and then a breakout game of 129 yards.

"We had a lot of talks over the offseason," Moseby-Felder said, referring to Hixon. "He expected me to do a lot of big things for him this year, but that kind of went down after I got hurt -- and I guess now it's picking back up."

Moseby-Felder, who enrolled as a 164-pound athlete, devoted himself to the new strength program and spent nights learning the playbook when he couldn't fine-tune his technique on the field. And, according to cornerback Stephon Morris, that hard work has paid dividends.

He said no offensive player has improved more.

"He's come a long way," Morris said. "He's been one of those kids that we haven't really noticed his first four years here, but he got the opportunity to play this year with people leaving and getting hurt and things like that. But I always knew he had it in him.

"This is the first year he finally felt confident and got back to his old form. He's a great talent and great person to be around."

He's emerged as McGloin's No. 3 target. And, with tight end Kyle Carter's injury, McGloin could look his way even more. With 25 catches so far, more than tripling his previous career totals, Moseby-Felder is already on pace for a memorable season.

Bill O'Brien remarked earlier this week how he's fine-tuned his route-running and developed into a solid blocker. Hixon said, by Week 4 or 5, his speed finally returned and he's added a dimension to this passing game. His teammates have lauded his improvement.

Moseby-Felder no longer has to tap on Hixon's shoulder or insist how good he can be. He doesn't have to say anything anymore.

Everybody already knows.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Students walking along part of McKean Road could hear the bass and the faint sound of music emanating from the practice football fields Wednesday afternoon.

First came Weezer, then Kanye West and then Wiz Khalifa. On the practice fields, under a pink-and-blue sky, some players bobbed their heads to the beat during Wednesday stretches. Reporters were forced to raise their voices to speak with colleagues a shoulder's length apart, as if at a downtown bar on a Saturday night.

Bill O'Brien has often emphasized preparing for road crowds by lugging oversized speakers onto the practice field. Usually, different playlists and styles will blare from those tan speakers every Wednesday. But, usually, visitors can't hear the music before they pull into the parking lot.

"I would expect that this atmosphere will be very loud, very intense, from what I hear," O'Brien said. "Again, it's Nebraska-Penn State, that's what college football's all about."

Some players pointed to communication issues because of noise during the Ohio State game -- and O'Brien's been searching for a fix since then. Even Matt McGloin acknowledged he was caught off-guard upon needing to use a silent cadence inside Beaver Stadium.

O'Brien crossed his arms following his team's first Big Ten loss and said he realized his team needed to be better prepared. After a quiet Purdue crowd, it appears as if O'Brien's found a simplistic way to mimic more crowd noise: Turn up the volume.

"Nebraska's a very hostile environment, so we're trying to simulate their environment," wideout Brandon Moseby-Felder said.

The speakers were angled slightly left Wednesday, toward McGloin slinging passes to the running backs and wide receivers pulling down short passes from the assistant coaches. The music started before reporters first arrived to the fields around 4:50 p.m.

The Nittany Lions aren't quite sure what to expect from Memorial Stadium because the last time they entered the Cornhusker State, in 2003, O'Brien was coaching running backs at Maryland and McGloin had just hit his teen years.

O'Brien doesn't have first-hand experience with the stadium, but he knows its fan base and history. Three weeks ago, Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter told The Chicago Tribune the offense couldn't hear his cadences during the final two minutes because of the Cornhuskers' crowd -- and the game was at Northwestern.

"We're going to go to Nebraska, we're going to experience that stadium and have fun in that stadium and play a great game," center Matt Stankiewitch said. "And that's the mentality. ...

"We're really looking forward to wearing a jersey for the last time on the road."