ORANGE BOWL Nittany Lions' offense helped bv Longhorns

Penn State coaches visited Texas last spring for some tips.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Penn State's offense had often been compared to the blue-and-white uniforms that the Nittany Lions wear -- simple, plain and predictable.
That's no longer the case, and Coach Joe Paterno & amp; Co. credit Texas in part for helping to open up their offensive attack.
Months before the season started, Paterno sent his assistants to meet their counterparts at Texas to catch a glimpse of the Longhorns' potent attack during spring practice. The hope was that the assistants could gather some tips to help retool Penn State's offense.
"It worked out the way we thought," Penn State offensive coordinator Galen Hall said about the Texas trip. "It helped us in the fact that we were headed in the right direction offensively."
Robinson a lot like Young
And then some. Penn State finished near the bottom in total offense in 2004; now they're scoring 36 points a game behind athletic quarterback Michael Robinson, who can beat opponents with his arms and legs.
Robinson sure sounds a lot like Texas' mobile signal-caller Vince Young, and Hall said that's part of the reason why Penn State coaches visited the Longhorns.
"We looked around at college football teams who had a similar-style quarterback that we thought Michael could be," Hall said during a news conference in Fort Lauderdale. The team is preparing for the Orange Bowl next week versus Florida State.
Robinson, a fifth-year senior and the team's unquestioned leader, has excelled in his first and only season as the full-time starting quarterback, having rushed for 11 touchdowns and passed for 16.
Spreadout offense
Three-, four- and even five-receiver sets have become more prevalent, though Robinson did struggle a little in the season's first two games.
"As we got the timing down, we looked a lot better," he said.
Getting some speedy playmakers didn't hurt either. Highly touted freshman Derrick Williams and Justin King injected speed to give Paterno a dimension on offense that had been sorely lacking.
Williams is doubtful for the Orange Bowl because of a broken left arm that has kept him out since the 27-25 loss to Michigan in October. King has played mostly offense late in the season, though he did see a lot of time at cornerback earlier in the year.
Another newcomer, redshirt freshman and converted defensive back Deon Butler, has stepped up to become Robinson's favorite target. Butler has caught 36 balls for 678 yards and nine touchdowns.
"What [Penn State] has needed over the last couple years is someone who could break out a game," Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said. "Now they've got that."
Solid offensive line
An offensive line that entered the season with question marks has done a solid job protecting the agile Robinson, and opened up running lanes for the quarterback and bullish running back Tony Hunt, a 1,000-yard rusher.
"He gets stronger as the game goes on," Florida State nose tackle Broderick Bunkley said. "We're going to have to key on him pretty good and key on their quarterback pretty good."
If that happens, Hall and quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, who both have play-calling duties, have shown a knack for making the right adjustments. Increasingly, Joe Paterno has given his assistants more leeway to game-plan and make any necessary changes at halftime.
"In my younger days, I still had my hands on everything. I don't do that as much anymore," said Paterno, who turned 79 last week.
Paterno said he came to that decision following the rocky 2004 campaign. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported earlier this week that top school administrators even approached Paterno with suggestions to step down. Paterno rebuffed those requests, the newspaper reported. He later turned his attention to his assistants and got them all to return.
"Once I knew I would keep the staff together, then I started to back away from different things," Paterno said.
Important trip
Jay Paterno said, however, that the trip to Texas, while important, may have been a bit overstated in terms of its impact. And while the coaching may have improved, the biggest change, he said, has been with the players.
"It's not that we're better coaching; we are just executing better," Jay Paterno said from his office in State College several days before the team arrived in Florida. "When you add the right wrinkles and kids play better, it looks like you got a lot of things going on."