STATE COLLEGE - A screen pass here, a sideline route there, and a fade to the quarterback in the end zone just for good measure.

After taking much of the blame for last year's struggles, Penn State's receivers are finally catching on - and catching the ball.

The Nittany Lions (1-0) caught 16 of 23 passes in Saturday's 48-10 victory over Akron (0-1). And unlike last year, most of the passes that weren't caught simply weren't catchable.

"I think they caught everything, didn't they? Except maybe at the end when we dropped one," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "They caught everything; they ran good, precise routes. I thought the timing on our pass game was good, despite the times Akron rushed us."

That's a huge improvement over last year, when Penn State receivers dropped six spot-on passes in beating Kent State.

That game was a harbinger of things to come. Penn State's passing game never did click last year, and Paterno put most of the blame on the receivers, calling them "horrible" and insisting that they had to get better for the Nittany Lions to be effective on offense.

"This year, we basically got it on our mind that we're not going to drop many passes, if any," said Terrance Phillips, who had a 17-yard touchdown catch in the first half. "And I think we showed a good deal of that today."

Zack Mills, who completed 9 of 11 including two touchdowns, said the receivers put a lot of work into fundamentals and improving communication with the quarterbacks, including sitting in on quarterback meetings.

"I just think it's something that we've emphasized more, as far as the little things, the little details. Meeting together has helped tremendously, because we're both on the same page," Mills said. "And give a lot of credit to them. There's been a lot of stuff written about them and about the way they played the last season, and I think they took it upon themselves to get better."

And it helped that Akron's defense wasn't exactly stopping every play. The Zips allowed Penn State 352 rushing yards, which didn't give them a lot of leeway to double up on the receivers.

Akron linebacker Dionte Harris described it as "an extreme lack of execution."

But the receivers were making plays even when they weren't catching the ball. It was Michael Robinson's downfield block that opened a route for Tony Hunt's 77-yard touchdown run.

"I thought the wideouts did a great job blocking today, staying in front of people to give them a chance to get those extra yards," Paterno said. "They didn't do that last year."

That work has paid off by earning Paterno respect, said Gerald Smith, who led the team with four catches for 48 yards

"It might have been a confidence thing," Smith said of the improvement over last year. "We knew that Joe was really confident in us coming off preseason. He said basically said with the group of guys we've got, we can make it happen."

Still, Smith said, the receivers aren't satisfied with their day. There are better defenses than Akron's, and the receivers will need to continue to improve.

"We've got to look at tape," Smith said. "Coach (Mike) McQueary is going to nitpick, tell us what we did wrong, things we can work on, and just get better for the next game. We've got a big game with Boston College, and we've got to make sure everything is 100 percent for that game."