What I learned...in Numbers

166: The number of points (166) Penn State has put on the scoreboard through three weeks of the 2008 college football season. The Nittany Lions' 55-13 rout of Syracuse featured more of the same offensively, and even added another dynamic presence to the offense -- back-up quarterback Pat Devlin, who showed off his right arm with two touchdown passes. The previous record for points was 165 achieved by the 1929 squad.

393: The staggering number of yards (393) Penn State's new Spread HD offense accumulated in the FIRST HALF last Saturday in the Carrier Dome. The Orange were clearly overmatched athletically and physically, but Penn State's third straight first-half onslaught leaves one clear theme: Joe Paterno's club comes out of the locker room ready to rumble.

35: The points threshold (35) Penn State has surpassed in the first half all three games to date. The Nittany Lions opened a 38-6 halftime edge last Saturday with the aerial display featuring Daryll Clark. Devlin, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood.

NOTE: All of these lofty offensive statistics have come with little out of Derrick Williams, who has just six catches for 88 yards and NO TOUCHDOWNS on the receiving end. Williams, however, did return a kickoff for a touchdown against Coastal Carolina.

For all of the talk about the offense...

0: The number of points (0) the Penn State defense has yielded in the first quarter this season. The "ready to play" theme above applies across the board. Penn State has outscored its opponents, 49-0, in the first stanza to date.

22: The average yards per rush (2.2) the Nittany Lions have surrendered so far this season. Penn State has given up 64.3 yards rushing per game and held opponents to 250.3 yards of total offense (compared to its offensive output of 536 yards per contest).

The final conclusion: Penn State, despite two games against BCS conference programs, hasn't faced a single minute of adversity through three games. Part of that is testament to crisp play on all sides of the football. Some is due to the lack of competition. It figures to be the same this Saturday versus Temple before the real fun begins in earnest September 27th in primetime against Illinois.

DON'T FORGET TO PURCHASE PENN STATE FOOTBALL BY THE NUMBERS!