Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Quarterback Zack Mills -- alternately a punching bag for opposing defenses and for Penn State's rooting legion of second-guessers. Click photo for larger image. More Penn State Coverage: Penn State Mid-terms Penn State's remaining schedule

The numbers denoting Penn State's overwhelming youth can be passed along as either fact or excuse, but coach Joe Paterno sounds weary of both usages.

"We are young," Paterno recently said.

But, he added, "I am tired of telling people we are young."

More to the point, he is tired of Penn State looking young. The Lions -- 2-4 and idle yesterday -- have a team that rarely seems overmatched, but continually struggles to provide the game-changing play or performance. When the Nittany Lions need catches, they get drops. When they need defensive stops, they get defensive lapses. When they need blocks, they get missed assignments.

These are signs of a team that Paterno acknowledges still must learn how to win close games. Of course, college coaches, as a general rule, call their teams "young" as if obligated to do so by contract. But this year, Penn State truly is young, with 11 fifth-year seniors and three fourth-year seniors. Sixty-two percent of the team is composed of underclassmen. On defense, only two of the top 30 players are seniors.

Such youth suggests the team is angled for improvement, perhaps even in the season's second half, when Penn State faces an easier in-conference schedule. After the Nittany Lions' loss to ninth-ranked Purdue -- a 20-13 stomach punch that dropped Penn State's disappointment to new depths -- Paterno sounded impatient for his team to break the threshold of mediocrity.

"We continue to discuss what it is going to take for us to get us over that little inch that separates success from failure," Paterno said.

At the midpoint of Penn State's season, the Nittany Lions have not hurdled that inch. They resume their season Saturday with a game against Iowa at Beaver Stadium. Should Penn State win at least four of its final five games, a bowl trip is within reach. But to date, players have yet to talk about such a goal. Their hopes are decidedly more short-term: developing consistency, finding some playmakers on offense, ironing out the few remaining flaws on defense.

"We have to pull together," Paterno said. "If we don't pull together, we are not going anywhere."

The Lions will have a chance. The five teams remaining on their schedule are a combined 14-14. For contrast, the four teams they lost to earlier this year have combined for a 20-2 record. Taking that into account -- and, of course (wink, wink), the team's youth -- here's how Penn State fared, letter grade by letter grade, in the season's first half (see graphic).