Paterno presser quick hits

It's Michigan week, so of course everyone around here is getting a bit antsy. Penn State, for as good as they've looked the last three weeks, hasn't beaten a team as good as Michigan this season. But what's the man himself have to say? Here are some highlights from Joe Paterno's weekly press conference.

• Joe said he doesn't remember recruiting Tate Forcier, which is kind of interesting, considering he probably could accurately recount that third and long play against Yale in 1947. But Tate has done a good job at Michigan, as have the coaches with him.

• Stephfon Green has "a chronic ankle" (don't we all?) that could keep him out this week. It seeminly upset Joe to think about Green not going against Michigan, but it was deemed a "maybe" situation. As for the RT position, Ako Poti will go again this week, as Nerraw McCormack isn't fully healthy.

• Michigan's defense blitzes, a lot. So, naturally Joe's worried about it, but we'll see what he actually does about it this week.

• Best way to defend Michigan's spread? Play the same defense Penn State's been for about 40 years now. Joe specifically mentioned UM QB Denard Robinson, so we should assume the staff is addressing his possible insertion into the game Saturday.

• Brent Carter should be ready to go this week, despite a slight injury last week that allowed Brandon Beachum to get a bunch of carries. But Joe's not worried, as he really likes Beachum and even Joe Suhey to get the ball, if necessary. Removing Curtis Dukes' redshirt isn't on the table, thankfully.

• If Penn State needs "extra motivation" to get itself ramped up for this game, there's a bigger problem on the table.

• Joe took a shot at the refs from last week, as he called out a few of the penalties as "probably with justifiable cause, but I'll tell you, they were close."

• Colin Wagner is doing fine. Stop dogging him.

• Joe commented on the UConn player that was murdered this past weekend. It's a sad story, and Joe had some things to say about it. Mostly, he agreed with the lead of the question, that it was a "nightmare situation" for anyone, not just a college coach, to see a young kid lose his life for what seemed to be a pointless reason.

• Rich Rodriguez's first seasons aren't unique to him only. Joe compared any new coach's first season to his own, in 1966, when he lost five games and everyone wanted him fired.

• Joe has been healthy this season so far, and feels pretty good. He hasn't missed any practice time.

• "I don't think Michigan Stadium is a tough place to play." That quote will be plastered across every web site this side of the SEC. But, as usual, Joe basically put his foot in his mouth, then tried to extract it by explanation. What he meant was that any stadium is tough to play in when the team you're facing is good. I get what he meant by that, but I'm not sure the story-hungry media will.

• Forcier is like Tim Tebow? Ok, maybe as a freshman. But that's a bit early, Joe, no?

• Jared Odrick is still a very good football player.

• Brandon Graham could present a big problem for Penn State's pass protection. But it's also due to the blitz packages Michigan sends on almost every play. The pressure points allows him to get free.

• When asked about the importance of getting the ball to the tight ends this season, considering they were the most experienced receivers coming in, Joe spent a few minutes not really answering the question. But because his answer took so long, no one wanted to pose it again to get a real one.

• Penn State hasn't really had a lot of opportunities to return kickoffs this season. So, of course the stats will look bad. Joe also attributed the poor return numbers to good kickers. I'd like to believe that, but has Joe actually seen any of the kickoff returns this season?

• This was very interesting:

Q. Didn't you have a chance to take the Michigan job in the late 60s? Did you talk to them?

Don Canahm and I met...I think it was after the '68 season in Pittsburgh and we talked and he offered me the job when they hired Bo Schembechler. And once a year Don used to write me a letter and say, "Thanks!"

MGoBlog has a fantastic expanded version of this story, one that I never knew about until today.

• Greyshirting isn't the greatest thing in the world, but it works for some kids, and that's fine by Joe.

• Chaz Powell wasn't thrilled with the move to offense, but he's done a good job taking hold of it. Joe likes what he sees from Powell.

• AJ Wallace and Knowledge Timmons are still battling it out for that second corner spot. Interestingly enough, D'Anton Lynn seems to be a locked-in starter for the next two and a half seasons.

• Elijah Robinson came to PSU as a lineman a few years back, but had several medical issues that cut his playing days short. However, Joe has kept him with the team as one of two graduate assistants. It's a really great gesture by Paterno to give Robinson the chance to stay with football as a coach. Joe brought up a few past graduate assistants that you may have heard of: Tom Bradley, Fran Ganter, Bill Kenney, Dick Anderson, Paul Pasqualoni, and Greg Schiano. Not a bad roll.

Read the Full Transcript at GoPSUsports.com