COLLEGE FOOTBALL Penn State has trouble receiving

The Nittany Lions dropped at least six passes against Kent State.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- The first one bounced off Sean McHugh's chest. Another went through Tony Johnson's hands. Gerald Smith lost one in the end zone.
Penn State dropped at least six spot-on passes Saturday, but still managed to beat Kent State 32-10. But if the Nittany Lions want to win in the Big Ten, coach Joe Paterno said, they'll have to learn to catch the ball.
"I'm concerned about that, I really am," Paterno said Tuesday. "We've got to be able to feel comfortable throwing the football that we're going to catch it. And we've got to emphasize to some of those kids, 'Catch it first, then run with it second,' and there's some concentration involved there."
It's not a problem Penn State (2-2) expected to have. Although Bryant Johnson, last year's leading receiver, left for the NFL, and record-setting tailback Larry Johnson caught a lot of passes out of the backfield, the Nittany Lions still had a number of solid receivers.
Brother is back
Tony Johnson, Larry's younger brother, returned after making 34 catches for 549 yards and three touchdowns last year. Smith and Kinta Palmer also had good game experience last year, and Terrance Phillips, Ernie Terrell and Josh Hannum were expected to push them for playing time.
In fact, there was so much depth that Smith, last year's fifth-leading receiver, was switched to defense to bolster the thin secondary.
But the passing game hasn't developed like it should. Tony Johnson has the team's only touchdown reception and is the only player to average more than even two catches per game.
Smith was back on offense Saturday, starting at flanker, and by the third quarter tailback Donnie Johnson and converted defensive back Maurice Humphrey were lining up as receivers; Humphrey's three catches for 37 yards led the team.
"I think we have kids who can catch the football. It isn't as if I'm sitting up here telling you we have a bunch of guys who have sticks for hands. It's not that," Paterno said. "It's just a question of concentration, maybe a little bit more confidence. But we've got to work our way through it, and until we do we obviously are playing with one hand behind our back."
Mills' performance
Zack Mills, who completed 56 percent of his passes last year, has completed just 48 percent this year; the drops against Kent State alone would put him near last year's numbers.
"I can't speak for anyone else. All I can say is it was a lack of concentration on my part," said McHugh, whose first-quarter drop started the string against Kent State. "I tried to run with the ball before I had it, and it resulted in a drop."
Tony Johnson, too, blamed his drop on a lack of concentration.
Inexperience
In most cases, though, Paterno chalks up the problems to inexperience and says it's nothing he hasn't seen before. In fact, Paterno said he had to address the same issue with Bryant Johnson, a first-round NFL draft pick last spring who had six catches for 86 yards Sunday in the Arizona Cardinals' 20-13 upset of Green Bay.
"I sat him down and I said, 'You've got to do this, you've got to do that, you've got to do this, this is what's going to make you better, and you can't be worried about it,' " Paterno said. "Fortunately, he got to where he was consistent catching the football and was a good go-to receiver."