NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Did someone forget to tell Galen Hall that Michael Robinson is no longer Penn State's quarterback?

The answer is no. Penn State's offensive coordinator wanted Anthony Morelli running the option and quarterback draw yesterday against Notre Dame. After what transpired yesterday, Hall might reconsider having his strong-armed quarterback using his feet to make plays.

Hall twice called for running plays for Morelli, and, on both occasions, the calls backfired and led to two Notre Dame touchdowns.

On the opening possession of the second half, on third-and-2 from the Penn State 28, Hall called for an option down the line. Morelli tried to pitch the ball back to a running back, but was hit. The ball came loose, and Tom Zbikowski scooped it up and returned it for a 25-yard touchdown.

"He probably made a bad decision," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said of Morelli. "It was a good third-down call. He could have turned it up and gotten the first down. It was a bad pitch."

Morelli is not fleet of foot. When he was asked if he felt comfortable running the option, he replied: "I just do whatever the coaches call. I just try to execute. I turned it over. It happens."

Morelli took the blame for fumbling.

"We practice it," he said. "I just made a bad play. It was all me."

Penn State was driving in the second quarter when another quarterback run led to a punt. On second-and-7 from the Penn State 38, Hall called for a quarterback draw. Morelli was tackled for a 3-yard loss. After an incompletion, Penn State punted. Notre Dame then engineered a nine-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in its first touchdown, a 7-yard pass from Brady Quinn to Jeff Samardzija.

Questionable call

Penn State had a chance to score at the end of the first half, but an official thwarted a promising drive by calling a clipping penalty on A.Q. Shipley, negating a Tony Hunt screen pass that had gained 30 yards and put the ball inside the Notre Dame 25.

Penn State was forced to punt, and Notre Dame went down and scored a touchdown to make it 20-0 with seven seconds left before halftime.

The officiating crew was from the Big Ten Conference, so Paterno has the number on his speed dial.

Mr. Butterfingers

Jason Ganter, the holder on place kicks, had another bad day. After two miscues in the opener against Akron, Ganter failed to handle a high snap in the first quarter and Penn State's first drive fizzled out without points.

Ganter, a junior safety, fumbled a snap last week and tripped and fell on a fake attempt. Penn State has lined up for six field goals this season and has scored nine points.

Williams at QB

Penn State deployed receiver Derrick Williams from the quarterback position on several snaps. Williams ran quarterback draws, sweeps and handed off to Hunt. He also got creamed when he attempted a pass, getting blindsided by a Notre Dame defender. For the day, Williams had three carries for minus-6 yards.

Davis sits

Penn State coaches used a number of cornerbacks yesterday. Sophomore Lydell Sargeant played in place of starter Tony Davis on a few occasions.

"There were a couple of young kids we wanted to play," Paterno said. "We wanted to play Sargeant."

Clark debuts

Backup quarterback Darryl Clark made his college debut and performed well. He was 3 for 8 for 36 yards and ran four times for 28 yards, including a late 5-yard touchdown.

Quick hits

Penn State running back Tony Hunt became the 16th Penn State running back to gain 2,000 yards rushing. ... Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn threw for two touchdowns in the second quarter, snapping a 10-quarter streak without a touchdown pass. ... Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny led Penn State with 12 tackles apiece.