Paterno presser quick hits

Is Penn State in store for a letdown against Northwestern, or just looking ahead to Ohio State? Joe Paterno fielded that question and more in his weekly press conference. Here are the highlights. (Note: I made a bit of a change this week. All the injury information is summed up at the end of the presser highlights. Thought it would be easier that way.)

• Considering some of the things like blocked punts and injuries, Joe likes where the team is right now. Of course, the question was going to get asked, but is it really necessary? I mean, Penn State is 7-1 with the only loss coming to an 8-0 team. Any better, and you're talking about perfection. This team is far from perfect, so like Joe said, it's about right.

• Navorro Bowman's a heckuva linebacker, but the injury bug has hurt his conditioning this season.

• NU head coach Pat Fitzgerald was a great player for the Wildcats. He was so good, Penn State went after his position coach, Ron Vanderlinden, a few years later. But Fitz has done a great job coaching the Wildcats, particularly with the tough circumstances he was put under, with Randy Walker dying of a sudden heart attack three years ago.

• The senior leadership has really come around for this team, and it showed against Michigan.

• Penn State will spend a lot of time on the punting game this week. Northwestern came up with a big punt block last week in the Indiana comeback win. So, yeah, Joe's worried.

• Joe downplayed the "looking ahead" factor to this week's game. He brushed it off as if the reporter was asking Joe if he was looking forward to Ohio State. You can bet your ass that everyone on the team is worried about coming out strong and fast this week.

• Jared Odrick is still not getting enough credit he should, both as a player and a leader.

• Rehashing the Andrew Quarless story, he's grown up a lot this year.

• Because Chaz Powell and Derek Moye have been so good, Graham Zug has been given huge opportunities to make big plays.

• Northwestern runs a very fast offense, averaging more than 80 plays a game. It causes problems because it keeps the defenses moving all the time. QB Mike Kafka is great for the system NU runs, and could cause problems for PSU.

• Brandon Beachum is a very good all-around running back. He has done a great job going between the fullback and tailback positions. Joe likes a back who can block.

• Going on the road in consecutive weeks can cause a bunch of problems for a team, mostly in practice situations. Joe worries about overworking the team at this point in the season, especially since Penn State doesn't have a bye week this season.

• Penn State approaches each game differently, depending on which team wins the coin toss. It was very interesting to hear Joe break down his decision-making when he ordered the punt from the Michigan 30. He said every game is a field position game until you can figure out what your team does best that day. He didn't want Michigan to have the wind when PSU punted from the 30. Joe figured Michigan would make a mistake pinned so deep. Turned out to be a good coaching move, even if fans are still second-guessing it.

• The older players have really helped some of the young guys come on this season. Joe was asked specifically about Nick Sukay and Devon Still, but he went on to talk about the whole defense, with guys like AJ Wallace, Drew Astorino and Ollie Ogbu helping to make the guys around them better each game.

• Joe played dumb again this week when asked about a past game in this series: 2005. He claimed he didn't really remember it, or think about it. Okay, I get that Joe isn't exactly thinking about 2005 in his spare time. But I hate when he acts like he doesn't remember every play of that game when prompted to discuss it. That was one of the most important wins in recent Penn State history.

INJURY REPORT: all the information on injuries is summarized below.

• DeOn'Tae Pannell and Nerraw McCormack are almost 100 percent. Ako Poti and McCormack will duke it out for the right tackle spot, while Pannell will backup Dennis Landolt on the left.

• Unfortunately, Stephfon Green is still iffy this week, after staying home last week. Brandon Beachum is still ready to go like he did last week; Brent Carter is better, too. But if Penn State has to run more single-back sets (ala Michigan game), it should be okay.

Full Transcript, via GoPSUSports.com