IT REALLY WASN'T supposed to be this simple, was it? Just one game into the starting careers of seventh-ranked Penn State's new trio of marquee wide receivers, all seemingly have settled comfortably into the roles formerly assigned to their illustrious predecessors. They left Happy Valley filling three of the top four pass-reception slots in school history.

"I said these guys were going to surprise people, didn't I?" Nittany Lions quarterback Daryll Clark said of Derek Moye, Chaz Powell and Graham Zug, onetime understudies who have assumed the respective identities of esteemed wideouts Deon Butler, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood.

Moye, a 6-5, 195-pound redshirt sophomore who had three catches for 71 yards and a touchdown a year ago, has emerged as the deep threat personified the last several seasons by Butler. Powell (two receptions for 37 yards in '08) appears to be earmarked for the sort of screens, flares and make-you-miss moves that were Williams' stock in trade. That leaves former walk-on Zug (11 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns) as the sure-handed, move-the-chains possession receiver, as was Norwood.

Not that one game - really, more like one half - against an opponent from the Mid-American Conference offers conclusive proof of anything, but a pattern does seem to be emerging. More evidence could be supplied tomorrow in Beaver Stadium, when the Lions' revised cast of pass-catchers search for open spaces in Syracuse's seemingly penetrable secondary.

Clark passed for a school-record 254 first-half yards, and three touchdowns, in the 31-7 rout of Akron, finishing with a personal-best 353 yards. Moye - a former Pennsylvania high school sprint champion - did his best impersonation of Butler with six receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown, four of his grabs going for 20 or more yards. Powell had seven receptions for 65 yards and a TD, and Zug chipped in with five catches for 62 yards and another score.

Most of the damage was done early, however, as Penn State took a 31-0 lead into intermission. The expectation is that coach Joe Paterno will seek to better establish a running game that accounted for only 136 yards against Akron, 37 of which came on a fake-punt run by Andrew Dailey. Figure on Clark throwing fewer than the 40 times (with 29 completions) he let fly last week if the o-line - which includes three new starters and two returning starters in different positions - does a better job of opening running lanes for tailbacks Evan Royster and Stephfon Green.

Still, the continued development of Moye, Powell and Zug bears watching. All have the potential of becoming breakout players, but particularly Moye and Powell, because they have the sort of speed that can turn any play into a quick six points. And don't overlook the occasional appearances of 5-7, 153-pound true freshman wide receiver Devon Smith, a national high school sprint champion who might be Penn State's fastest player ever.

Smith's presence might leave Powell as only the second- or third-fastest player on the roster, but he's OK with that. In a race to the end zone, he figures he can get there ahead of most of the guys who would be chasing him.

"I might bring a little more speed," Powell said of the inevitable comparisons to Williams, especially now that he is wearing Williams' familiar No. 2 jersey. "I was timed a little faster in the 40. This spring, I did a 4.27."

Powell said "just being behind [Williams] gave me an opportunity to study what he did as a player here. I'd just take it all in. He taught me to be the best football player I can be, to keep learning and to never settle short."

But, Powell insists, he didn't switch jersey numbers as a tribute to Williams, now a rookie with the Detroit Lions.

"I was 2 since my sophomore year of high school," he said. "When I came here, they gave me 27, but I wanted to change. I just had to be patient.

"I was 12 last year and I liked it. But then we had a new quarterback coming in, Kevin Newsome, whose dad wore 12. I told him he could have the number because the opportunity was there for me to grab 2."

3 things to watch

 

* Approximately 40 members of the 1959 Penn State team that beat Alabama in the Liberty Bowl, which was then played in Philadelphia, will return to Beaver Stadium for their 50th reunion. Few schools do a better job than Penn State of recognizing past stars.

* None of the injuries is serious, but the top three tight ends on the Lions' depth chart - Andrew Quarless, Mickey Shuler and Andrew Szczerba - emerged from the Akron game at least a bit nicked up. Quarless, a senior who has spent considerable time in Joe Paterno's doghouse, is on the John Mackey watch list (for All-America candidates at tight end) for the third consecutive season, and he's running out of time to live up to his considerable promise.

* Syracuse's Greg Paulus, like many inexperienced quarterbacks, had a case of happy feet in his first college start against Minnesota. Penn State linebacker Sean Lee said that's almost to be expected of someone perhaps overly concerned about the pass rush. "He showed that a little bit last week," Lee said of Paulus' penchant for leaving the pocket early. "If he keeps feeling pressure, pressure, pressure, that's going to be in the back of his mind."

Agenda

 

When: Tomorrow, noon

Where: Beaver Stadium, State College

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WNTP (990-AM), WPNV (1440-AM)

Records: Syracuse 0-1, Penn State 1-0

History: Penn State leads, 41-23-5, including last year's 55-13 romp by the Nittany Lions in the Carrier Dome, marking the resumption of a series that had been dormant since 1990. Overall, this is the 70th meeting of the schools, the second-highest total for a Penn State opponent behind Pitt (96 meetings).

Coaches: Doug Marrone (first year, 0-1); Joe Paterno (44th season, 384-127-3)

About Syracuse: St. Joseph's Prep graduate Jim McKenzie is the starting center for the Orange, and a bit of a red-faced one. The 6-4, 286-pound senior's first snap of the season sailed over quarterback Greg Paulus' head in the shotgun formation. Minnesota recovered the loose ball and, two plays later, scored a touchdown, helping the Golden Gophers to a 23-20 overtime victory. "That was completely my fault. I held the ball too long and it just got away from me," said McKenzie, who vowed he won't make the same mistake again . . . Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, a Syracuse alum, is high on the sport-switching Paulus, a point guard at Duke. "I've heard nothing but good things about him," McNabb said. "He has the maturity of an older guy, being in tough games and knowing how to handle it."

About Penn State: Starting weakside linebacker Navorro Bowman, who sat out the second half of last week's 31-7 victory over Akron with a reaggravated groin pull, is listed as "probable" and first on the depth chart. If he can't go, Nathan Stupar, who was in on a career-high 12 tackles as Bowman's fill-in, will get his first start . . . Strong safety Nick Sukay, who played his high school ball at Greensburg Central, has a bit of a thing going with his former GCHS teammate, Syracuse tight end Cody Catalina. "He jokes around about trying to run me over if he catches the ball," Sukay said . . . Six true freshmen played last week, thus burning their redshirts: wide receivers Curtis Drake (from West Catholic) and Devin Smith; quarterback Kevin Newsome; safety Gerald Hodges; cornerback Stephen Morris; and defensive end Sean Stanley.

Prediction

 

Penn State 44, Syracuse 14.