"I thought that throwing 54 passes, and we gave up two sacks, is a pretty good night. Those could have been avoidable, too," Riley said. "I think they held up pretty well."

Paterno thinks Oregon State might turn more to its running game Saturday. The ground game might also be a good option for his own team to dictate tempo if he's worried about the Nittany Lions' thinning defensive line.

Lost in the dustup over the latest off-field headlines is the potential rollout of more of Penn State's "Spread HD" offense in Clark's second career start. The quarterback's ability to scramble will likely be on display more than last week, when he didn't run once.

His veteran and athletic offensive line appears to hold an edge over the Beavers' front seven, which is composed of entirely of first-year starters and allowed 210 rushing yards to Stanford. Oregon State should get a boost against the run, though, by the return of hard-hitting safety Al Afalava, who sat out the Stanford game.

The reason? A one-game suspension for a violation of team rules.