The epic devolution of the Penn State offense reached this fitting grand finale Saturday, when a player -- Michael Robinson -- judged by his head coach to be among the best players in college football, touched the ball on Penn State's three final offensive plays and produced this string of results:

Interception. Interception. Fumble.

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Ghastly to read about, ghastly to watch, the Nittany Lions have an offense only a masochist could enjoy. After Penn State's 6-4 loss to Iowa Saturday -- a game that bought the Lions' residency in a little place known as Rock Bottom, USA -- the Penn State offense has scored just two touchdowns in its previous four games. In five defeats, it averages 6.8 points per game.

On Sept. 4 against Akron, Penn State scored touchdowns on the first seven drives of its season. Since then, the offense has gone from juggernaut to jughead. It has scored just eight touchdowns since. One might say this team's offense has gone in the tank, but even that tired phraseology suggests more movement than Penn State has been capable of in recent weeks.

With the Lions 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten Conference -- and with players' optimism sounding increasingly forced and hollow -- it can be safely stated that Penn State's offensive unit undid much of the 2004 season's promise.

The question, of course, is why.

"If I knew how to fix it," senior fullback Paul Jefferson said, "we'd be winning."

Though coach Joe Paterno has decided on a burst of personnel changes lately, it has made little difference. This season, Penn State has used four different starting receivers and seven different starting linemen. Three quarterbacks -- Zack Mills, Robinson and third-stringer Chris Ganter -- have tried to move this offense. But truth is, even gravity couldn't move this offense.

Two assistant coaches, offensive coordinator Galen Hall and quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, share offensive play-calling duties. If such a power-sharing system doesn't create confusion, it certainly seems to. In Penn State's game against Purdue two weekends ago, Joe Paterno couldn't explain how one of his receivers -- redshirt freshman Terrell Golden -- appeared on the field for a touchdown catch.

When Paterno was asked to diagnose the offense's problems after the most recent loss, he identified only the normal buzzwords.

"Consistency. Concentration. Poise. Those are the kinds of things that are hurting us," he said. "They've really been a great bunch of kids. It's not a lack of effort."

Earlier in the week, Paterno allowed that Penn State has two positions where "we need to get ourselves some players," and though he didn't elaborate, he presumably referred to the offensive line and wide receiver -- two spots he has often criticized this season.

Perhaps then, the lack of talent on the line and at wideout has paralyzed the entire offense. Against Iowa, the Lions managed six first downs. They looked so inept, fans showered the players with mock applause when, in the third quarter, Mills completed a 6-yard pass to Terrance Phillips.

The widespread struggles reflected memorably in this play, when Iowa, up 6-2, faced a punting situation from its own goal line midway through the fourth quarter. Rather than punt and face a possible block, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz called for his punter to take an intentional safety, which cut the lead to two points.

Penn State was getting the ball back, suddenly trailing by less than a field goal. But Ferentz, judging by his unorthodox play call, was certain the Lions couldn't score.

His intuition proved correct. On Penn State's next offensive play, Robinson threw an interception.

"It's a block here, a play there," Robinson said. "Little things can make the whole play look just messed up, and to the naked eye it looks like we're everywhere out there."

"It's consistency," Paterno said. "When we evaluate the tape, we're going to find out that one play, one guy makes a mistake. The next play, another guy makes a mistake. It's that kind of thing."

It's the kind of thing that can unravel a season.