STATE COLLEGE - Holy smokes! Penn State's got a passing game.

But while the revamped offense for Penn State (3-0) has progressed over the season's first three games, culminating with Saturday's 40-3 trouncing of Central Michigan (1-2), coach Joe Paterno says there's lots more work to be done as his team enters Big Ten Conference play.

"I am still not comfortable that we are doing some things well enough," Paterno said after Saturday's win. Among the "little things" that needed work, he said, were cutting down on turnovers and gaining more consistency in the running game.

Beating up on Central Michigan, which had given up an average of 454 yards in its first two contests, is one thing; scoring on Ohio State, Michigan or other rough-and-tumble Big Ten teams is another.

"They hit harder. They run faster," quarterback Michael Robinson said about conference defenses. The Nittany Lions' Big Ten opener at Northwestern this week is also the team's first game away from Happy Valley this year.

On Saturday, Robinson, who tossed three touchdown passes for a second straight week, said the offense is just reacting to opposing defenses when it comes to eschewing a grind-it-out running game for deep passes.

"That's the way things worked out," said Robinson. "It's just one of those things where the opponent presents (an opportunity) to throw downfield."

Robinson threw for 274 yards on 14-for-23 passing versus the Chippewas. Together, he and backup Anthony Morelli combined for 381 passing yards, the second-highest total in school history, behind only the 399 passing yards against Iowa in 2002.

Robinson connected with Deon Butler, a 5-foot-10 redshirt freshman, for five catches for 108 yards, including touchdowns on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter to give the Nittany Lions a 23-0 lead on Saturday.

For the most part, Robinson had good protection from his offensive line, while Butler said he had open looks on deep patterns.

"We know how Mike is going to lay it out there, so when I get out there and see coverage like that I definitely get excited on routes like that," Butler said.

Butler and several other newcomers at wideout have added speed and playmaking ability to an offense that has struggled in recent years.

Central Michigan coach Brian Kelly said the byproduct of an improved passing attack is that teams won't be able to concentrate on stopping the run, which happened to Penn State in recent years.

"Now they've got balance offensively," Kelly said. "What are you going to try to defend, the run or the pass?"

Ever the worrier, Paterno says there's still a long things-to-do list. He says he's concerned about depth and downfield blocking, though against Central Michigan, his receivers appeared to do a good job several times on that assignment.

"We had done a good job with that but I thought that tapered off a bit. We are not where we ought to be, but we are close," he said.

Penn State has a five-game winning streak dating back to the last two games of 2004. It's the first such streak since starting the 1999 season at 9-0.