Wednesday is Question Day around here, with the Blue/White and Big Ten roundtables.  This week, it seems that all we have are questions.  One loss, a loss that most of us expected prior to the season, has sent most Nittany Lions into a mental state consisting of equal parts disbelief, outrage, madness, and disgust.

Just like you, I'm trying to wade through this mess.  I don't have the answers.  I'm not even sure I'm asking the right questions at this point.  I'm proposing we try to work through this together, not in a Kumbaya sort of way, more like a cadre of backstabbing generals and CIA operatives in an underground bunker with an unlimited supply of alcohol, mind-opening substances, game film, and of course, wearing appropriate conversation hats.


Yeah, drugs.  You gotta have drugs.

What are the chances of Penn State reviving the offense for the remainder of the Big Ten schedule?  Are they capable of it?  Are they only capable of scoring points at home?  Why would things be any different against the rest of the teams on the schedule?  Has this weird game at Illinois suddenly become the most important Penn State game in years?

Is it possible that the players on offense just aren't that talented?  As I've asked before, how many of our offensive players would Michigan trade us for?  Quarless and Shipley?  They're the only two I can think of.

Is it possible that Anthony Morelli isn't the problem here?  So many people expected him to be The Next Kerry Collins, but Collins had four NFL quality linemen, a top 10 pick at tight end, a #1 pick at RB, two NFL fullbacks, and an excellent receiver who is still producing at the pro level.   What does Anthony Morelli have, outside of a propensity to get pissed off at newspaper writers and opposing fans?  Who has legitimate NFL potential on our offense?  Quarless.  Maybe one or two of the linemen, none of whom would've sniffed the 1994 lineup.  I'm not trying to compare 2007 with 1994 -- it's just another way of asking "how talented are we, really?"

How much score can we legitimately heap on Jay Paterno when his father is undermining the game plan that the team prepared for all week?  It's certainly not Jay's fault that Joe took out the red marker and changed the plan on Saturday morning, is it?  It's becoming clear that we're not aiming our arrows high enough.

Another question that we're not asking in the rush to call for a more wide-open attack:  what makes you think our players are prepared to employ a 4 and 5WR set?  Morelli tends to not find open receivers unless he's given ample time, and our offensive line simply can't hold up without help from tight ends and running backs.  You saw the play breakdown on Monday -- 4WR and 5WR sets spelled instant doom for Penn State against a very average Michigan defense.

As a fan, are you willing to sacrifice this season -- meaning, the team ends up 6-6 or 5-7 -- if it means Joe Paterno would finally see the writing on the wall and retire?  I've long maintained that Joe Paterno would come back as long as the team didn't finish 12-0 or 0-12 -- anything else in between wouldn't do the job.  If Penn State lost six games, do you think he'd actually leave?  Is there, as many people suggest, a leadership void on the offensive side of the ball from both players and coaches?

What the hell would you do if you were Tom Bradley, Ron Vanderlinden, Brian Norwood, or Larry Johnson, Sr.?  At what point do they start preparing your resumes, assuming they're interested in moving up the coaching ladder?

This will probably be the last post explicitly referencing the Michigan debacle and it's accompanying fallout, since we're moving on to a combination of fun stuff (music, You Found Me, Big Televen power rankings) and Illinois related items to finish the week.  So if you'd like to address any of the previous 500 questions or just rant incoherently, please take this opportunity to do so.  I'm pretty sure we all need this.