Happy Birthday, JoePa!

Ok, so there's not a shot in hell that Joe Paterno will read this, but...

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Let's hope the team serves up a nice belated birthday gift 11 days from now down in Orlando

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It's our old pal, Dennis Dodd

What, you actually expected a thoughtful, insightful piece of journalism from CBS's Dennis Dodd?

"Monday was also a glimpse of your future, Joe. No farewell tour. Possibly a minor bowl. Basically being run out on somebody else's terms."

Geez, I forgot how much I didn't miss reading his crap.

I refuse to link to hit jobs like this one, mainly because the entire idea behind them is to generate web hits by whoring out any journalistic credibility for the sake of the all mighty dollar. But I find it interesting how any half-sane human could possible reach the same conclusions as Dodd has in his steaming pile of words published this morning. I suggest you take five minutes (it will seem much longer, and you'll probably want to X-out the window before you're finished, but trust me, finish reading it), clench your teeth, and read this thinly veiled yellow journalism.

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Paterno presser transcript

I love when Joe Paterno says he doesn't want to talk about something, then goes on for 10 minutes about how he doesn't know anything about anything.

Q. Your team has had slow starts in its three road games. Is there any explanation for that and is it at all a concern?
Well, yeah, I have a little concern obviously. Do I have an explanation? No. I really don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. Obviously, I'm just glad we were able to learn from the slow starts and go on from there. But other than that, I don't have anything. We had a slow start last week at home.

Q. Joe, what is Chaz Powell's status for Saturday? What is your impression of Greg Jones, the Michigan State linebacker?
I think Jones is a really good football player. In fact, we talked about him this morning. What has he got, a hundred some tackles, a couple other things? We were talking about him. I think it's 53, isn't it, his number? I don't talk names, I talk numbers when I talk with the staff. Basically that's where I come from with the numbers because I look at people, I don't look at reputations, I look at the way they play. He's a heck of a football player. Powell I doubt will make it. In fact, we're not really counting on him for this week.

Q. How do you think DeOn'tae Pannell was at guard last week and will he stay there the rest of the season?
We only have one game left. He'll stay at guard. I thought the he did a pretty good job really, not a great job, particularly if you figure he's coming off an injury and a new position. I thought overall he did a good job.

Q. What is the status of A.J. Wallace? How does the absence of Beachum affect your team?
Well, Beachum is obviously a big one. He was a kid that played on special teams as well as played fullback, tailback, a great kid on the practice field. A.J. may play, so I'm not going to get into that. But they're different types. Beachum is all over the place for you. Anything you ask him to do, he does well. A.J. is a little different. A.J., we've asked him to cover kicks, he's done a decent job on that. He's played a decent corner. So, he's a good football player who probably could be better than he performs. But Beachum is one of those guys; he's a coach's player.

Q. Devon Smith, why haven't we seen more of him lately than we had in the beginning of the year?
He didn't get in a couple games because he cut classes, all right? He wasn't in a couple games. He decided he was here to get an education, so we played him a little bit last week. He's okay. He's got a long way to go to grow up. But he practices hard. Obviously, he's got great speed. You compare him to a kid like (Curtis) Drake, which I'm assuming you're going to ask me about next.

Q. You got it.
Yeah, Drake has been a quarterback on a team that was one play away from winning the state championship. A little bit more versatility and can do more things than the other kid can do. He doesn't have the speed obviously that Smith has. They both have a place in the future. But, as I said, they've got to do it the way we want it done, and that means you go to class. If you don't go to class, you're wasting your time.

Q. Why didn't Drake play more earlier?
Why didn't he play more? Because Powell was better. Don't you go to the games?

Q. What are your thoughts about the season that Andrew Quarless has had both on and off the field? What do you think he needs to improve on to succeed if he goes on to the next level?
I think Quarless is doing really well. I think, obviously, we've done a lot of things with him that we haven't done with a tight end in the past. We put him in the backfield. He's half a fullback, half a tight end sometimes. I think he's had a heck of a year. He's been a leader, which has made me feel good about the fact that he took some of the things that we disagreed on, he took them to heart. He's going to be fine, graduate and everything else. I'm very pleased with Quarless. I think the biggest thing we have to do with him is probably get him the ball more.

Q. You used Kevin Newsome for that one play there. What was the thinking there? Did you plan to use him more before the game got tight?
I'm always trying to get Kevin in a little bit. Kevin Newsome has a future, but we put him in, let him get knocked around a little bit. He can run with the football, change of pace. You know, you hate to be out of style. The wildcat style... I go down every once in a while and look at new suits, stuff like that, buy a decent tie. My wife says, "You're not going to wear that tie to this press conference." I say, "Some of these guys don't even know what a tie is." I just want to be stylish, so we stick the wildcat in there one play a game (laughter).

Q. You usually wear a jacket.
I know, I usually wear a jacket. But after watching you guys for 11 weeks, I felt I was a little overdressed (laughter).

Q. Joe, the last couple weeks defenses have done a pretty good job against your wideouts, really didn't get much from the wideouts at all last week. Is that because of execution on your part or what defenses are doing to you? What can you do to adjust to that?
I think it's a question of what they're doing and giving us more of an opportunity to run the football. Early in the year, they challenged our wideouts, challenged our passing game, were not going to let us run the football. I think as the season went along, they started to realize the wideouts were guys they had to worry about, and (Daryll) Clark was a kid they made sure they didn't let him get a hot a hand. They started to change some coverages, do some things, which gave us an opportunity to run. I think we've done a little better job running the football. We've had some bumps and bruises up front, different combinations. (DeOn'tae) Pannell started out as a starting right tackle, now he's a left guard. We didn't count on (Ako) Poti doing much, and he's starting at right tackle. We've had to improvise a little bit up front. But even having said that, they're giving us better opportunities to run the football, and we're trying to take advantage of that. Maybe we should be throwing more. I don't know. I think we've scored enough points. We haven't maybe scored them exactly where everybody wants them. We didn't do a particularly good job against two of the better defensive teams that we played against, both Iowa and Ohio State. So I think we could be criticized in those games. But other than that, I think we've done a pretty good job.

Q. In a nutshell, how do you feel Michigan State's quarterback Kirk Cousins ranks among other quarterbacks in the Big Ten?
That's an interesting question because there are a lot of solid quarterbacks in this league. The kid at Northwestern (Mike Kafka) got hurt against us early. This kid here, Cousins, is a good quarterback. You know, they've beaten some pretty good football teams. They've been in games where they scored a lot of points, maybe not enough to win, but they've been very competitive because of their quarterback. Iowa had a fine quarterback (Ricky Stanzi). Kid breaks a leg, they lost the game last week that maybe they probably would have won. Not probably, but they would have had a better chance to beat Ohio State with their (starting) quarterback. There are a lot of kids in the league that are all-around good football players, and good wideouts. I've been a little bit perturbed because I think the media has jumped on the Southeastern Conference bandwagon, our schedule, this schedule. When you look at it, there's two pretty good teams in the Southeastern Conference. There's probably one other good team in the league that Texas is playing in. There's obviously three or four teams that are comparable in the Pac 10. Who knows who's going to win each week out there. I don't think some of the kids in our league have gotten the credit they should get, either the wideouts or the quarterbacks.

Q. Could you talk about Michigan State's kicking and return game? Will that be one of the more challenging outings for your special teams?
Every week has been challenging, one way or the other. But your point is right. They have an excellent kicking, return game, and an excellent punter. This kid (Aaron Bates) kicks the ball high, right down the middle of the field. They cover well. We just can't make any mistakes. The kicking game will be a big factor in how this game goes. If we don't cover our butts off - pardon the 'butt' reference - if we don't do a good job there, we'll have troubles. Really, that one kid can really go (Keshawn Martin). Ninety-some yards last week. They're good. We spent a little time yesterday on it. We're going to spend a lot of time on our kicking game this week.

Q. Joe, can you talk about where this rivalry with Michigan State ranks as far as in the Big Ten and why the past couple games at Michigan State have been so tough.?
Well, that covers a whole lot. Got an hour and a half in this press conference for me to answer? Michigan State plays well against us at home. We just talked about that this morning, how tough they've been out there in Lansing for us. That's number one. How is the rivalry? It depends on the year. We started out when we first got in the Big Ten, George Perles, who was coaching out at the Hula Bowl, who I think at that time was the athletic director and football coach of Michigan State, was an old friend, a guy who had been on the Pittsburgh Steelers staff for a long time, a guy I knew. I tried to recruit one of his kids who was a good football player. He called me up. He says, "Why don't we make our game, the game we're going to play, as the last one every year?" He said, "You've had a great tradition with Michigan State," which we do. Duffy Daugherty, who was the great head coach at Michigan State when they had the great teams in the '60s, was from Barnesboro, Pennsylvania. He was a Barnesboro, Pennsylvania kid. When they beat us in the '50s with those guys, they were all Johnstown area kids, (Conemaugh) Township and Adams Township. Nowadays, that's all been combined. So we've had a long history. Even when I came here in 1950, I think the only game, I think Michigan State broke Penn State's streak of 18, 19 wins when they had gone to the Cotton Bowl. So there was a good pattern to that. I thought that was a good idea. I think it's been a good series. Obviously, there's a couple series in the league, in the conference, that go back further and have a little bit more tradition. But I think, as we play our way into where we're not the outcasts here in the hinterlands, I think it will be a very significant - I don't know what you call it - end of the season game for both teams and for the league.

Q. You talked about the importance of your punt return guys fielding the ball cleanly. After you put a couple on the turf last week, do you consider making any changes? What do you think the problem is there?
We're not going to let them punt (laughter). We're going to try to catch the ball. You're right. We didn't catch the football. We spent some time on it. I think (Graham) Zug had a bad day. He was trying to make something happen. We were behind. He came out, I said, "You've got to be careful with the football." He said, "Coach, I tried to make something happen." You've got to appreciate that in a competitor. (Drew) Astorino, the same thing. He caught the ball, was running. You've got to give Indiana credit for that one because the kid saw that he had a shot at Astorino from the back, punched it out. I think your observation is right, we didn't handle the ball well, and we've got to handle it better. Having everything in tow, those things are going to happen to you. We were sloppy everywhere. We put the ball on the ground too many times there. Obviously a couple of them came from the punt game.

Q. Do you anticipate any changes there?
Oh, yeah. You're talking to an old punt returner. I still got the Brown record for the yardage in one game in punt returns. We'll be all right...we'll be all right.

Q. Last week you said you were going to make personnel changes on your special teams. How did those changes help you?
I thought we did a good job on coverage, both punts and on kickoffs. We changed some people. But, unfortunately, Beachum and Powell, we put Powell on the coverage team, and Powell probably won't play this week. Beachum, the same way. We've got to make a couple more changes this week, and hopefully they'll work out as well as the ones last week.

Q. Do you know who you're considering in replacing Beachum with?
I'm not sure yet.

Q. After you lost to Ohio State, everybody figured your BCS hopes were out the window. Now they're saying if you win on Saturday, you still have a shot at getting in the Orange Bowl. Wonder if you talked to your team about that.
You know, you guys know more than I do. The only thing I know is we're playing Michigan State this week. Don't make a darn bit of difference. You guys speculate all you want. If we don't beat Michigan State, none of that makes any...none of it's important. So I don't waste time with it. I'm going to try to go out there and show those guys how I used to catch punts, ran for touchdowns every time I got my hands on the ball, see if we can beat Michigan State on a punt return so we can keep some of you guys happy (laughter).

Q. Navorro Bowman has been a big part of the defense the last couple years. There are reports he's considering going to the NFL.
I don't even know what you're talking about. I've never talked to him about it.

Q. Evan Royster has 990 yards. Can you analyze some of his progress this year and throughout his career, how good of a back he's been for you?
In fact, I got on Royster a little bit either last week or two weeks ago. I said, "Hey, you're not playing with a lot of enthusiasm like you have (earlier in season)." I thought he played well last week. He's a good, solid, all around back. He's not flashy. He's consistent. He knows what's going on. He can do everything you want him to do. He blocks well enough. He's a really good receiver and he's intelligent. If we put something in on a Monday, we don't have to worry about whether he can handle it or not. You have some other players, when you debate whether you want to try something different for a particular game, you always wonder whether he can handle the mental part of it. Royster is a heck of an athlete. He was a great lacrosse player. He's got an older brother who was a fine football player that went out to Stanford. At some point people thought that our Royster was the best lacrosse player in the state of Virginia, which is a good lacrosse state. He's a good player.

Q. Hoping you have your old athletic director hat around somewhere. Are you involved or been kept up to speed with the university's new pricing plan for football season tickets that's out there?
Well, the only thing I know is they were debating it. They asked me what I thought. I said, "Look, you guys have the responsibility for 29 sports." It's a lot different than when I was the athletic director. Didn't have the impact it has now. We didn't have scholarships for all the women's sports. We didn't have to upgrade facilities. We're going to build another softball field, a better softball field, for the women, and I think we should. We didn't have some of the pressure that we have as far as expenses and things of that kind. You guys were all uptight about trying to find out how much I was making. Then when you found out how much I was making, that was the end of the story because there were guys out there making three or four times what I'm making. There's an awful lot of pressure. I think that the university is doing the best it can. Now, what exactly the specifics of the program are, I don't know. All I've ever said to Tim Curley is, "Tim, you're doing one heck of a job, all right?" You just look around at the facilities, you look at what they've done to the soccer field (Jeffrey Field renovation), you look at the baseball field (Medlar Field at Lubrano Park) that was put out there, you look at all the things that have been done. "How you paying for it?" He said, "Well, it's tough." I said, "Well, remember, whatever we do, do it well. " In fact, I'm going to be on his back to fix up the visiting team locker room. We've got the worst visiting team locker room in this conference. We have to spend money to fix that up. So I think that they're doing a heck of a job. I'm disappointed that either the media or somebody who knew what was going on would let it go because they had told me, "Wait until the season's over, we'll make the announcement." Michigan State is on my mind, all right? That to me is the only thing we should all be thinking about, Michigan State. Now all of a sudden I've got you asking me a question about something. I said, "I'm not a part of it, except I know you're going to do a good job." And I think the university has done a super job. You take a look at what other people are doing. How much are we charging compared to other people? I think we're probably at the bottom of the list. I saw what Michigan charges (for season football tickets), and I saw what Ohio State charges. See what these other people are charging, what kind of money we've got to raise. I don't know whether it's changed or not. When I was the athletic director, every time they raised tuition, the budget went up. We don't get a nickel from the university for anything, (Athletics) is completely self supporting. So they've got to do something or we've got to cut back sports, and we don't want to do that. But, that's not my bout.

Q. Might have been a pre season magazine where you talked about eight home games, the challenge it is for the fans.
I haven't got the slightest idea what you do with it. It's not my decision to make. I've got Michigan State to play this week.

Q. Can you talk about why Mark Dantonio looks to be a good fit at Michigan State? Last week you talked about Indiana playing in hard luck. Michigan State has been in every game and also has had hard luck. Might be better than their 6 5 record would indicate.
Absolutely. I think Michigan State is a fine football team. I thought Indiana was a good football team. I told you that. I think Michigan State and Mark Dantonio is a fine coach. I said to Bill Lynch before the game, "The one thing about this league right now is we've got more good, young coaches than I've seen since I've been in the league." I said, "I just hope that everybody understands it's going to take a while for some of the programs to get going. You've got to have a little luck." Michigan State has had some bad luck. Indiana has had some bad luck. Put the ball on the ground at the wrong time, get a lousy officials call, which you'll get from time to time. I said, "Just hang in there. " Michigan State is obviously a little further along than Indiana. They're on the verge of being a really good football team. I hope they're at least 10 days away. But they're good. Mark is a good coach. They're doing a heck of a job. It will be a good football game.

Q. Joe, could you talk about what (former AD) Ed Czekaj meant to Penn State?
Ed is one of the great Penn Staters. When I came here, Ed was an associate or assistant. I forget. Ike Gilbert was the business manager. We didn't have an athletic director in those days. We had a dean in phys ed and an athletics guy by the name of Carl Shott. Ed worked for Ike Gilbert as bookkeeper, and then Ed moved up. Ed was so loyal to Penn State. He was as fine a Penn Stater and did a good job. I got a little annoyed at one time, went in to see Ed. I said, "Ed, where is the money? I want to build some facilities." We had been to four straight New Year's Day Bowl games. There wasn't any money to build a couple facilities which I thought we needed. Ed said, "We've got to do some things, we built the research lab, did this and that, so it's been used." Ed said, "It wasn't really my decision, but it was the university's decision to do it. " I said, "Well, why don't you and I go down there and make a fuss?" He said, "I don't want to do anything that's going to embarrass Penn State. " He said, "I can sit and take a backseat." That's the way he was. He was just a wonderful, wonderful man. In a way, all those guys are gone. (Ernie) McCoy and Gilbert, Ed...Don't see much of Jim (Tarman) anymore...a long tradition of great Penn Staters.

Q. Has your team been as consistent as you might have hoped for at this point in the season, late in the season?
Well, I think we've played well. Obviously, we would liked to have won another game or two. But I think for a young team, some key positions, people were young, I thought overall we did all right. As I said, I would have loved to have won another game or two, and probably could have had a shot at it. But we didn't do it. So, hopefully we've learned from some mistakes we made and we won't make them again this week when we're, again, going out to Michigan and playing a tough Michigan State football team. You guys are the guys that are disappointed, I think.

GoPSUsports.com

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D'Anton Lynn doesn't not blame Paterno's obstinacy

Joe Paterno has morphed over the last few seasons, from a coach that used to micromanage nearly every working part of his team, to one that delegates control to his coaching staff. Overall, it's worked very well. But there's one part of this team on which Paterno still rests an acutely stubborn, heavy hand -- the punt return team.

In a conference call with reporters (BWI) yesterday, D'Anton Lynn was asked about the punt return unit, of course including its problems this season. You might remember that Lynn actually got the call last season to return a few punts, taking his only non-fair catch back 10 yards. So this guys knows what fielding punts can be like. Take a look at this exchange with reporters yesterday:

Q: Do you and other guys wish that you could have a crack at punt return? Is it a desired position and something guys hope to get before the season starts?

Lynn: Yeah, I returned punts in high school so returning punts in college is something that I'd definitely love to do.

Q: Is it something that just comes down to who is catching it in practice? It seems like that is the overriding priority is just to be able to field the ball.

Lynn: Yeah, that's how coach Paterno is. He definitely wants people back there that will catch the ball and Drew and Zug do a great job of catching the ball for the most part so that's part of the reason why they're back there.

Q: Does that mean you were having trouble fielding punts in preseason camp?

Lynn: No, I don't have trouble catching punts, I just think that Joe trusted Zug and Astorino more maybe because I know traditionally the free safety is always back there like Scirrotto was in punt safe, so that'd be Drew, and then Zug is our receiver, so he has sure hands. So, I guess they just trusted them more.

"Sure hands"... "Great job"

Those two phrases don't belong anywhere near an evaluation of Graham Zug's or Drew Astorino's ability to return punts. But I get it, Lynn can't bash his own teammates. I'm cool with that. However, how about the dig -- intentional or not -- he takes at Joe Paterno?

"Yeah, that's how coach Paterno is."

I didn't hear him say that, so it might have sounded different than it reads. But the overall gist of the interview leads anyone with half a brain to think that the rest of the team is growing tired of Paterno's last bastion of stubbornness -- special teams. He no longer has the offense. He hasn't had the defense for a while. The only thing left for Paterno to stick his ladle into is the special teams coordination. And it's starting to show.

Remember this spring, when I projected the depth chart? I had put down Zug as the backup/safe punt returner, behind Lynn. There were a few rather funny comments about my assertion that Paterno "usually likes to have one white guy with good hands available."

Unfortunately, I was only a quarter-correct. Zug ended up being the first-team punt return specialist, while Astorino -- as one commenter suggested -- became the safe man.

Sorry folks, but neither one of those players would exactly strike fear into opposing punt coverage teams.

Lynn? Chaz Powell? Devon Smith? Stephfon Green? Are their hands any better than what we've seen from Zug or Astorino this season? After fumbling three punt returns, and losing two of them, you can figure that one out.

Much of this has been chalked up to Penn State's horrid return blocking, as we've seen even when guys like Evan Royster were back fielding punts. But I'm not buying that as any excuse for the lack of simple ball-handling skills displayed by the two guys Penn State has back there right now.

When 107,000 people cheer your team because it successfully fair-caught a punt, it's no longer a "little thing" that can be worked out with more practice. This isn't a matter of just being careless with the football, as Paterno loves to put it. The season is two games from ending. If Penn State can't even safely field a punt with the supposed "hands guy," it's time to look elsewhere.

It doesn't look like that will happen, at least, not this season. Joe Paterno is sticking to his guns on this one, even if they're misfiring in his face.

*Paterno's press conference will be available shortly. I'll be very interested to see if/how this subject is brought up, and whether Lynn's name is invoked or not. Stay tuned.

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Paterno presser transcript

Exactly what the post headline reads. It's been a tough week, so bear with me. You can expect the flood gates to open up sometime tomorrow, with a bunch of the usual game-week posts. But tonight, this is all I got.

Q. Joe, you said after Saturday's game you would take a look at your special teams. What did you see and are you planning to make any changes?

We'll spend a little more time with them. I don't know if that's part of the problem or not. We did...we took a good look at them Sunday and yesterday. I think we're going to make a couple personnel changes. We went out yesterday without pads, so on Mondays it's tough to evaluate people. But today we'll go out there and challenge a couple guys a little bit so that we can find out whether we really have it right people in there.

Q. What is Johnny Troutman's status for Saturday? Can you evaluate your offensive line play against Ohio State?

Troutman probably won't play. He didn't practice yesterday. We didn't do much, but he didn't do anything. Obviously, we haven't done the kind of job you've got to do, particularly in the second half, against some clubs. I think we've depended too much on the big play. The offensive line, bumps and bruises, changing people around, has not helped. We looked as if we were making progress, but when we came up against a couple really good defensive seven up people, we haven't done a particularly good job.

Q. Would you like to be able to get Kevin Newsome a few series with the first team before the end of the season?

Hey, we've got a tough football game this week. Obviously, I haven't spent much time looking at Michigan State, but I've looked at Indiana. We got a tough ballgame this week. Indiana has had some awfully tough luck, some of which was based on bad officiating. They had a chance to beat a couple good football teams, and got some bad calls. I think we've got to concentrate on Indiana.

Q. In the losses to Iowa and Ohio State, why do you think your team was handled physically by those two front seven, as you said?

I think both Iowa and Ohio State played better than we did in the second half. Ohio State didn't turn the ball over. Obviously, we did a poor job covering some punts, turned the game around. Iowa blocked a punt, turned the game around, intercepted a pass. I think we played hard, but the other guys played pretty darn good.

Q. You talked a little bit about your offensive line. What can you do at this point in the season to help that along for the last couple of weeks and what is the situation at right tackle with who's going to be playing there?

We've got to get better. We've just got to keep working at the things that we've always done, try to overcome some deficiencies that maybe people have as far as technique or awareness of assignments, those kinds of things. The right tackle, (Ako) Poti really has played fairly well. I think he's had only one particularly bad play in the last two weeks, where we got sacked. But other than that, I think he's done fairly well. Troutman being banged up, in all fairness, Troutman was not playing that well. We'll probably have to sit around and figure out what we want to do with the left guard spot.

Q. I was wondering after you watched the film, what was your overall evaluation of Daryll Clark's performance?

I think Daryll was okay. We've gone from one extreme to the other. We started out the season with everybody wanting to take the run away from us, giving us a lot of opportunities in the pass game, because they didn't think we had the kind of wideouts or quarterback that could scare them. Now we're in a little different ballgame. People, they're fighting like the dickens to take the pass game away from us and challenging us to run the football. We haven't done a particularly good job, I think that's obvious, running the football. I think Daryll is doing all right. I'm sure we could have done this, could have done that. You can always figure out something else you could have done. But I think he's done fine.

Q. Sean Lee had a big game on Saturday. Is he as close as he's been now to 100 percent? Is he as close as he's been since he got hurt?

I think so. You'd probably have to ask him that. But just watching him play Saturday, I would agree with you. He played a good football game. If not as good as he can play, it's very close. I think he and (Navorro) Bowman both have played really well. And (Josh) Hull, we take him out on certain situations, but I think those three kids have done a good job. I think we've played fairly well defensively. The big pass (by Ohio State) hurt us. Don't ask me why it happened. One of the kids decided to guess on something, thought something else was going to happen, so he tried to make a play, left the guy wide open. Obviously that and the punt returns killed us.

Q. Evan Royster wasn't on the injury report this week. Is he feeling a lot better now at this point?

Actually, he played in the ballgame. It was kind of a funny situation. Before the game, I guess he ran into a couple of people, a couple of the kids that were dressed but they're not going to play, so they don't really get involved in the warm-up. We dressed 112 kids last week. That's probably as many as we've ever dressed. I figured, big game, the kids had done a good job getting us ready. But, he played the whole football game. I didn't see anything there where he was limping or anything like that. There was no problem with the medical people. He practiced yesterday. As I said earlier, we didn't practice very hard yesterday, which is typical of a Monday. But he seems fine.

Q. Indiana's running this pistol offense. I was wondering how different it is from what they've tried to do in the past?

Well, what they're doing is what we've seen a lot of people do now with the really good running quarterback. It's a version of the old triple option from the shotgun. They're doing a good job with their offense. As I started out the conversation, they've had some tough, tough breaks. They have really moved the football most of the time against some pretty good football teams. They can move the football...quarterback is tough. He may not have quite the speed (Terrelle) Pryor has, but he's very clever. Honest to goodness, I can't remember just how much I've seen them do with what they're doing right now. But right now they're running what you call a triple option, whatever you want to call it, and they're doing it very well.

Q. Joe, I know every year the goal is to try to go undefeated, win the conference, BCS Bowl game, win the national championship. You've got a chance to go 10 2, go to a decent New Year's Bowl in Florida. If somebody said before the season with this bunch, with as many questions as there were, 10 2, a New Year's Day Bowl game, would you have considered that a successful season?

Right now we're only 8 2. We've got a tough game this week. I'll think about it at the end if that happens. I think maybe we've got to be a little bit more realistic each year when you look at a lot of things that go into it -- our graduation rate, the type of kids we're recruiting, the type of effort we've gotten out of kids, the great job that the staff does. I think maybe if we end up 10 2, that's a pretty darn good year...if we end up 10 2.

Q. At one point you had one guy, seemed like you had the responsibility of special teams as one coach.

That's not true. We haven't had that years and years and years, if ever. I can't remember. We've always had one guy coaches this, one guy coaches that (on special teams). Everybody helps out. But we never had (just) a specialty teams coach. Now, your memory plays tricks on you after you've been around as long as I have, but I don't believe that.

Q. Do you think the process that you're using now (special teams coaching) is working?

I know where you're coming from. No, it's working. We've just got to do a little better job, get some better people in there. That's my problem, all right? I've got to make sure we get guys in there that can get the job done. It's not the scheme, it's not the coaching, it's a question of whether I'm giving them enough time or I've emphasized it enough and the whole bit.

Q. When you come out of a game like that, big picture, is there more cause for reflection going forward with personnel the rest of this year and beyond?

Well, I don't know 'beyond'. I think you always evaluate personnel, even when you win. The first question I do every Sunday when we meet after a football game, win or lose, is say, "Okay, let's go down personnel. Anything we should change? Anybody we've got out of place? Is there a better kid that we have overlooked?" We do that every week, regardless. Obviously, it becomes more dramatic when you lose because there's always things such as questions you're asking. But, you know, Ohio State played a good football game. We lot licked by them. You hate to lose at home. But they played well. Didn't put the ball on the ground. We kicked the ball 10 times. We punted 10 times. We didn't do a good job. We didn't make a couple first downs so we wouldn't have to kick. You just got to make sure you don't overreact, that's all, as a staff. I don't think we're going to overreact.

Q. It will be Senior Day. Can you talk about Sean Lee and then talk about what you tell your team, kind of reflect on this senior class, the contributions they brought to the table for you?

Haven't done it yet. I think a little later in the week as I watch practice, you know, we'll sit around and talk a little bit about some of those intangible things that you're talking about. Right now, I think we've got to focus on getting to be a little better football team, regardless of whether it involves seniors or involves other kids. If I had to second guess myself a little bit on personnel, it might be that we decided to redshirt some kids who are pretty darn good athletes early because we didn't think because I didn't want to play them 18, 20, 30 plays and tie up a year. So I have not really thought much about it, what I want to tell the seniors, because we've got another game after this one. I know where you're coming from. I think it's a good point. But I really can't honestly tell you I've thought about it. I haven't, not yet. I will later in the week.

Q. Can you just explain the philosophy behind splitting up the special teams coaching? What are some of the benefits to that?

Because that's the way I like to do it. We've always done that. I grew up with that when I played in college. I grew up with it when I came here as an assistant coach. I think if a guy is a linebacker coach, he's got responsibilities there. You know, when they limit you to nine full time coaches, you've got to be careful you don't take one out of the mix and (have him) doing nothing but working with specialty teams. You try to coordinate it so that you do have it. We haven't been bad on special teams through the years. Let's don't get carried away, guys. I'm not about to change. I think we're doing fine. I think the coaches are doing fine. As I mentioned earlier, if there's anything that I would question, it's whether we may not have the best people in there. That partly is because I decided that I didn't want to use some young, good athletes early in the year because I didn't want to just put them on a couple special teams. It had to be my decision, and that's the one I made, and it may not be right.

Q. Indiana has two defensive ends who have been all conference. How concerned are you about those guys?

Very concerned. They're two of the best ends we're going to play against. Big, quick kids. Obviously, with the tackle situation what it is, most of the time you have to pass protect them. We're very, very concerned about them. I'm concerned about the whole Indiana football team. I think their defense is playing maybe not as dramatically as well as a club like Iowa or Ohio State, but those two kids, they're tough. I think their whole scheme is good. They're well coached. They hustle all the time. So we've got our hands full. Those two guys are obviously the guys that create most of the problems.

Q. How would you evaluate your wide receivers, with the routes they were running? Looked like they were getting jammed at the line of scrimmage Saturday. Did they do a good job getting off of their coverage?

Again, I'd be reluctant to be critical of those guys. I think they did all right. I'm not so sure I did a great job in some areas. But, you know, they're young. Every once in a while they get in a new situation they have to adapt to, and they learn from it. If I were to evaluate that game, I would say Ohio State just was quicker than we were. That may have been because we may have been too emotional in our practices, what have you. I don't know. But they looked quicker than we were Saturday. Whether they're quicker than we are, I'm not sure, but they were Saturday. I think that's part of the reason the wideouts had their problems.

Q. You have two games left. How do you deal with letdown because there was so much hype from a week ago? You have two tough games remaining. How do you deal with it?

You go out and practice, try to get better. You know, 8 2 isn't a disaster. That's where we are, all right? Now, obviously when you lose to a couple good football teams at home, you don't score a point in the second half against either one of them, you've got some concerns. I've got some concerns about that. But, I still think we have a bunch of kids that want to go out there and do well. For me to go out there and do anything but encourage them, that's just not my style. I think we'll go out there, we'll practice hard this week, and we'll see how good we are. We may not be good enough for Indiana, but we'll find out. But, I'm not going to get into anything about what expectations people have, that "so and so thought we were going to do this or that." I think that's up to you guys. You guys can speculate all you want.

Q. Sean Lee and some of the other seniors in this class are probably some of the last players from that '05 freshman class. Do you have any special affinity to those guys? Can you reflect on what they've done for the program?

Sure I do. But, I don't have the luxury to sit around and say, "Boy, I love so and so. " We've got a tough job ahead of us this week. We've got to concentrate on the job we've got to get done. Every time some of the kids come back into the locker room...we're out in Chicago, Northwestern, there's a good eight, nine guys on the sideline, four of five I haven't seen in years. I mean, they brought back some memories of a lot of different situations. Every time Matt Millen comes up here to do a game, we get shooting the bull a little bit, "You remember when so and so did this, so and so did that," all those kind of things. Right now I don't have time for that. We've got to get our football team ready to play a little better than we've played all year because it's going to take a little better performance to beat Indiana. I don't know how to explain it any other way but that.

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Paterno presser transcript

What's a buckeye? Well, it just happens to be a nut, and it's coming to Happy Valley this weekend. In his press conference this week, Joe Paterno answered the usual big-game questions posed by the pool. Check out what he had to say.

Q. Can you compare how Terrelle Pryor is playing this year compared to how he played last year?

I think they've done some things a little differently in the offense to take advantage of his tremendous ability. He started a little bit slow, to be frank with you, but the last few games he's been very, very overpowering, really. He's running well, he's throwing the ball well deep. I think he's improved. He has improved, but he was pretty darn good as a freshman and he's better as a sophomore and will continue to get better, because they do a good job. They do a good job coaching and he's got some young people at the wideout to begin with, and they lost Robiskie and a couple of other kids, and the kids now are starting coming around so, he's playing well and they're playing well.

Q. What do you think is the key to Saturday, keeping Terrelle Pryor in the pocket or not allowing the big play to the Buckeyes in the kicking game?

Well, I think we've got to do both. I don't think one is a bigger challenge than the other, I think we have to do both. Not necessarily keeping Pryor in the pocket but it's a question of being able to have some kind of control so that we can play some decent defense. Because if you don't do something to at least slow him down, you're never going to be in the ballgame. As far as the kicking game goes, you make a couple of mistakes in the kicking game, and that will beat you, so I think both things are important to us.

Q. Is Sean Lee basically back to a full week of practice now, and how do you think he handled the added snaps in the Northwestern game?

I thought he did well and he seems to not to have had any after-effect. We practiced yesterday and he was fine, so I would think if he's not 100 percent he's awfully close. I think his stamina is getting better, I think he's getting more confidence in how hard he can go for a longer period of time. So I think he's made good progress and I think our medical people and Sean ought to feel pretty good about the way things have gone. Having said that, you always are scared to death because you put...He's doing well. I ought to just keep my mouth shut after that.

Q. What makes it difficult to get sustained drives, field position and scoring opportunities and points against Ohio State's defense?

I think the problems are obvious. They're a very, very good defensive football team. We've got to be precise, we've got to mix-up things. We can't have foolish penalties, all of the things you've got to do in order to be able to compete against a good football team. I think your premise is Ohio State's defense is very good, and you're absolutely right on that; it's one of the better defensive teams in the country. They run really well, they're disciplined, they hit hard, strong, so you just have to have a balanced attack and you have to take advantage of any opportunities that you may get, but don't think we're going to go in there and dominate the ball game offensively; nobody has done that really yet.

Q. It seems like you haven't had a whole lot of production from your punt return game this season. Are you satisfied with how things are going there? What are your thoughts on that?

I think that a lot of it is...you've got to look at the punters we've been against. Last week at Northwestern, the kid isn't quite as good of a punter as a couple of kids we worked against, even Eastern Illinois had a great kicker, so I think that's part of the reason we haven't had a lot of big returns. But we did block a punt Saturday, even though we...I mean, we're doing okay. We're getting better but I do think part of it is because of the quality of punter, and Saturday the wind was a big factor. When they kicked into the wind it was tough to really get the kind of opportunities that you get if they outkick their coverage or they have to hustle on every play. It was a tough, tough day to get much out of the kicking game. But I do think you've got to give the people who have kicked against us credit.

Q. Jared Odrick seems to play just as hard on the first play of the first quarter as he does on the last play of the fourth quarter. Can you talk about him? How does he compare to any defensive tackle you've had in the past?

He's right up there as far as his performances. I think he's done a terrific job and I've said before I think that he may be kind of an unknown factor sometimes. He's played really well, he's a great leader on the field, and he reminds me a lot of the good ones we've had, Matt Millen who played defensive tackle for us, is the same kind of guy; he is a guy doing color (TV analyst) these days. We had guys like Mike Reid and Steve Smear and people going down through the years; we've had good defensive tackles, and Odrick would be right up there with them.

Q. Can you talk about the progress of Derrick Moye? Is he coming along faster than you anticipated?

Well, you guys, you're watching....he's doing really well. You see the same thing I see. He's a big kid that can run and he's a good competitor. He does a heck of a job blocking. I think he's getting better all the time, which should happen as he has the kind of success he has been getting. I think he's doing really well and he's obviously a very, very strong factor in the outcome of our football games.

Q. In 2005 season, at about this time, you started publicly stating that you think Michael Robinson should be talked about in the conversation for the Heisman (Trophy). With Daryll Clark, would you be willing to say the same thing about him now, especially if you win Saturday and he comes up big? Should he be in the Heisman conversation?

I've tried to say time and time again without...I think Daryll Clark has been an outstanding performer for us. It's hard to compare. I don't see all the other guys that people are talking about all the time. Every week it's a new list, from what I hear. I don't know. You turn on the tube, to get some sleep, and there are a couple of guys up there talking about, "Let's hear your Heisman Trophy list," and whose list is this and that. Daryll Clark is one heck of a football player. As I've said, again, as I've said about Odrick, I'm not sure he's (Clark) getting the kind of acclaim he should get. Where does that put him in a so called Heisman race? I don't know. But I do think we've got some games to play, and I think so do the other people, and I think at the end of the year somebody can...whoever does the deciding, they can vote and make their decision. But he's a heck of a football player, he's been a great leader, great competitor, and I hope he gets his due.

Q. I was wondering, are there any players on defense that have really surprised you by how much they've developed this year to this point or how well they've played to this point?

We knew (Brandon) Beachum was a good football player. I think (Navorro) Bowman has played really well, and we have (Sean) Lee back, obviously, but Lee hasn't surprised anybody. I think (Ollie) Ogbu maybe. Ogbu has been a little better than I thought he would be, and the (Jack) Crawford kid. I think those two kids have really done a good job, particularly Crawford, because he has not played a lot of football in his lifetime. Ogbu has really become a firey competitor, and I think has been a little bit of a surprise, to me. Now I don't think Larry Johnson, who coaches him, would say the same thing because Larry has always been one of his boosters.

Q. During a given season do you pay any attention at all to what is going on in the rest of the conference, like the way Iowa continues to win games in the fourth quarter, or do you consider all of that just a distraction?

I try not to let it be a distraction. We played late Saturday. It was 3:30 Chicago time, which was 4:30 Eastern Time, and I got to watch the second quarter (of Iowa-Indiana), not the entire second quarter, in the hotel room waiting for the bus to take us to the stadium. I watched part of that, and it looked as if Indiana might sneak by them but that that's about the only thing I've really, really watched. Ohio State, as soon as I could, I wanted to get a look at their game against New Mexico State and I looked at...since then I've looked at a couple of other Ohio State games, but you've got to fight yourself to just concentrate on the next football game. And it's not easy sometimes, it's not easy, because there is so much football on television, and you're tempted if you're not careful to spend more time away from the goal that has to be prominent for that particular week. You have a tendency, if you're not careful, you get caught up in what somebody else is doing. I try not to get distracted if I can help it.

Q. Ohio State closes with you guys and Iowa and Michigan, which would seem to be its toughest stretch of the season. Last week against New Mexico State they tried an onside kick early in the game, recovered it, and not long after they did a double reverse pass for a touchdown. Seems to me that if they had tricks in their trick bag they might have held them for this week or one of the last two games. Do you think maybe they were trying to give you something else to think about?

Well, when you start questions, "it seems to me," well, if it seems to you, that's fine, that it seems to you. That's not asking me a question. I don't have the slightest idea. I know that they tried an onside kick. I know they recovered an onside kick, I thought they did it very well. The kicker dribbled the ball and he got on top of it and obviously the New Mexico State kids weren't expecting it, all right? And they were successful with it. Whether that's trying to send a message or not, ask (Jim) Tressel when you get him on a press conference, all right? And you tell him "it seems to you" that he did a good thing.

Q. Could you give us an update on Stephfon Green, and how did you think Beachum played kind of in his place as a second teamer last week.

Beachum is a good football player. He's not a flashy football player, but Beachum could play...he would be a heck of a linebacker. He was a heck of a high school linebacker. He played fullback, good blocker, and he's a good tailback. He's not the explosive runner that Green is. Green practiced yesterday, and I'm anxious to see how he does today. If the ankle is going to act up on him, we'll see. Green has that ability to go all the way, Beachum is not quite that kind of back, but he's strong and he finds the right hole, he's patient, and he catches the ball well, so Beachum is a good football player. Is he a great tailback, is he a great this or that? I don't know. But he's certainly a solid performer.

Q. Following up on Daryll Clark, over the last five weeks especially, has he made any adjustments since the Iowa game that helped him get the success or is it a reflection of the offense overall?

No, I resent that question, to be frank with you. I've said several times I thought he played a heck of a game against Iowa. I don't think our getting licked by Iowa had anything to do with Daryll's performance. He throws a pass that the guy should have caught and he doesn't, and the ball slips through his hands and they intercept it and run it back down, we don't cover, they block a punt...we were playing against a fine defensive football team, you can't do those things. We had some silly penalties. No, I think Daryll Clark has played well all year. I would not qualify his performance by saying, "well, we lost to Iowa." It was not his fault we lost to Iowa, he played a heck of a game.

Q. Drew Astorino was the only safety with experience you had coming back this year. Why did you play him at strong safety versus free safety? And what about him lends him to that particular position?

I think our football team is better with him at strong safety because we can get him involved in more things than we can at free safety, and (Nick) Sukay had not played a lot, the first year he's played, and he was an unknown factor and we didn't know if we had a free safety. So I think that Astorino in the position we have him in, he can be involved in more plays and have more leadership impact, and I think that's worked out pretty good.

Q. Can you compare and contrast your coaching style with Jim Tressel's?

My coaching style with Jim Tressel's? Come on. Jim has done a heck of a job everywhere he's been. He did a heck of a job at Youngstown State, won that division's championship several years, done a heck of a job at Ohio State, he's been the winner or co winners of the Big Ten for the last four or five years. No, I'm not going to compare myself. Heck, I'll compare your writing with somebody else's writing if you want me to do that, or something like that, but that's not...I think Tressel is a heck of a coach, and I think his staff is, he's done a great job out there.

Q. You've played big games against Ohio State in the past. With Iowa undefeated in the conference it kind of boils down to an elimination game for either team this week. I was wondering what kind of stakes you are putting on this game?

The consequences of winning or losing are obvious to everybody, but you can't go at it that way. We've got to concentrate on doing the best we can against Ohio State. It's not going to be an easy situation for us because they are solid. They are very, very solid, and they've gotten better and I keep referring to the fact that they're doing a heck of a job coaching. So I think we've got to just say, "let's play it," "let's go out there and have a little fun," and "let's not beat ourselves," as I've tried to all the time...no dumb penalties, don't put the ball on the ground, no blunders in the kicking game, and afterwards what happens happens. I don't know what's going to happen after it.

Q. Coach, can you talk about Royster and his leadership abilities, especially with Beachum and Carter stepping up with Green injured?

I think Royster is a fine running back; I think that's obvious by his stats. We give him a little blocking and a little room, give him a crack...he's not the fastest guy, I don't think, in the league but he's a guy that can...he takes advantage of opportunities. So, I think that Royster is certainly a big league tailback. I think he's proven that over a couple of years. Again, I'm reluctant to start comparing him to this guy or that guy or something like that, but I think Royster does a great job for us.

Q. This is going to be the third or fourth time Matt Millen has done a game on TV this year. How enjoyable has it been for you to spend some time with him and reconnect with him after he was with the Lions and doing some other things?

How enjoyable? If Millen's listening, don't pay any attention to that, Millen. It's good to see any of the kids (former players), and Matt does a really good job. He did a great job when he was doing the color in the NFL, when he was doing pro football. Probably had a little bad luck in some decisions when he was the general manager of the Lions, but it's always good to see him. He's got two girls that go to school here at Penn State, he had a boy we talked to about recruiting and ended up going to West Point is now a (U.S. Army) Ranger. Graduated from West Point, is now a Ranger waiting to go overseas. Matt is a heck of a guy, still lives in Lehigh Valley and it's always good to see him.

Q. This week you've got a game with one of the top two defenses in the Big Ten. Do you expect a game similar to last year's?

I know you guys and the fans want to conject, and you guys have to have an angle, but I can't think that way. We've got to go in there and play our game. Whether it turns out to be a tight, tough game, it's going to be determined by a turnover as the game was last year when we got a turnover late in the game and made the drive to win the game, I have absolutely no way of knowing. You know, you never know what kind of field position you're going to have, you never know if we're going to make some mistakes. It was brought up earlier, the kicking game, you fumble a snap...(the) Northwestern kid fumbles a perfect snap from the center and still makes a first down out of it, so I don't go into games with that kind of an approach. I go into games, we've got to do ours, play after play after play, and when we run defense we've got to hustle on every play, and we can't give 'em this and we can't give 'em that and the whole bit. What comes out, comes out. I just hope we're competitive enough and we're adaptable enough that we can take advantage of whatever circumstances present themselves.

Q. Obviously a big game. I was wondering if your approach to a week like this, you know, if it's altered at all in terms of the hoopla and the excitement of a week like this? How do you handle that versus the course of the season?

Well, I really try not to change much. Whether you have a little more bounce in the practice field, maybe you yell a little more, I don't know. Probably the squad could probably tell you better about that. But I try to just...my concern is always with practice, regardless of who we're playing. Are we working too hard? Are we practicing too long? Do they look tired? Are we going to have our bounce? Do we know what we're doing? And I try to have those same thoughts every game. Now, you've got to get into some kind of pattern. The kids go to class, they come to the field, they have a breakdown meeting with their position coach, they get on the field, this is going to happen first, this is going to happen second, so you're not wasting time and they're comfortable. If all of the sudden you start changing things because you're playing this club as opposed to that club, I don't think that's productive. So we...I think we practice exactly the same. Now, as I said, whether there is a little bit more thrust, enthusiasm, emotion in the way we teach things or whether we...my involvement in it and so forth, not knowingly, but I think the kids could probably tell you better than I could on that. I try not to do it.

Q. Switching gears, I was wondering, with Iowa, and the things that they've accomplished so far and you've gone on record saying you don't vote, but the polls do help determine some of these bowl opportunities. Do you second guess that at all or do you think you should vote when you have another conference team that, you know, you could help or your own team that you could help?

Well, they told me I couldn't vote. I wanted to. I voted a couple of years ago when we had three undefeated teams, and I said I can't vote for one and two, and I voted for Auburn as one of the three teams. They were all undefeated. They called me up...I've told you this story, they called me up and said "you've got to vote." I said, "I can't vote," I did vote. "These are the three teams I think deserve to be number one," and got a call from the head of the USA (Today), a call from the head of the AFCA, "you've got a vote." (The) next year, I'm not one of the voters.

Q. I thought you voluntarily stopped voting.

No, I didn't. I just said, I told 'em I was not going to be told who to vote for, which may have eliminated me, but what's the difference? I'm not going to worry about that.

Q. Heading into a big game like this, do you consider it a benefit to have been through the adversity that Northwestern game presented last week?

Well, we didn't do some things as well as you would like against Northwestern, hopefully you learn from that, but I don't know. I really don't. I would think every game you play you learn something, particularly some of the younger kids that have had to come to the front. We played a true freshman kid, (Stephon) Morris a lot, he played maybe 60 plays on defense against Northwestern, against a good passing attack. Played a kid (Curtis) Drake, he got in there, a true freshman. Any of those kids get in there, obviously it's a good experience for them. Whether some of the older guys that have been around it, you know, maybe they got a little careless, I don't know, but we didn't play a great football game against Northwestern, but we did what we had to do to win it. I think anytime you play a game you learn something from it or you're blind.

Q. As it stands now, even if Iowa were to go undefeated they may not play in the championship game and Ohio State has had some trouble on the national stage in big games in recent years. Does the conference's reputation around the country, does that bother you at all? Do you pay much attention to that at all?

Well, I think...if I had my way, as I've said several times, I would expand the conference so we could be in the same kind of...were involved in the similar calendar as these other schools are. You know, we're sitting home. We'll be sitting home for two, three weeks, everybody else in the country will be playing. Southeastern Conference will be playing for their championship, the Big 12 will be playing for their championship, and everybody will be watching those people. And last year when we had to go to a bowl game, you know, Southern Cal played two or three games after we had, going out there. We didn't play very well, and they gave us a good lickin' and I think that didn't help the conference. But Iowa went down and beat a pretty good South Carolina...was it South Carolina they beat and won the bowl game? I think it's hurt us some, yeah, I think it's hurt us some, but I think it's obvious why, obvious why. We just have...we've backed out of the national scene after this Saturday...I mean the (Nov. ) 21st, that's the last Saturday we play in the league.

Q. You mentioned Jack Crawford as a guy who surprised you on defense this year. What specifically surprised you about him and can you recall another player you've had who had less experience than he did?

I don't think surprise is the word I would use, but I think I know where that was coming from. Who has been playing well you may not have expected to play well. He never played much (before coming to Penn State). How do you know what's going to happen? He didn't play football (until late) in high school. Prior to coming to this country he was a basketball player, soccer player, something else. So, you never know what's going to happen, yet he's been mature, he's handled problems that...where he's gotten hurt with different blocking schemes and maybe over-reacted and a couple of things, but he's learned and he's gotten to be a very good football player. I think that part...not necessarily is it a surprise, it's a pleasant experience to see a kid develop like that because he's tough and he's smart.

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I'll have some comments on everything later today.

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Joe Paterno feature in SI

In case you didn't catch it, here's a way to check out Sports Illustrated's feature story on Joe Paterno. It's a long read, but very well done. Yet, I wonder how much of the decision to do this story fell on whether or not Bobby Bowden was going to lose the wins battle. But that doesn't matter. Enjoy.

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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

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Paterno presser quick hits

Penn State is out of practice rounds. Now, Minnesota comes to town, and will be followed by five Big Ten teams just like the Gophers, or better. Here are some highlights from Joe Paterno's weekly press conference.

• Doesn't look like Sean Lee will go again this week. But you never know. Still, don't get your hopes up.

• Eric Decker and Adam Weber (Minny's WR&QB) are really good working together, but their not the entire offense. Decker is a real danger if you ignore him, but so is the rest of the receiver corps if you focus too much on the star. But in clutch situations, don't let Decker beat you.

• On the injury front, Nerraw McCormack and DeOn'Tae Pannell will both miss this week. Right now Ako Poti will get the RT spot again, but he did well enough last week. D'Anton Lynn was a bit banged up, but will be fine.

• Justin Brown isn't officially the new punt return specialist, but he's close. Joe's still apprehensive about playing freshmen in such important positions.

• It would be nice if Kevin Newsome keeps developing as he has this season. He's not there yet, but will be if he keeps working hard.

• Larry Johnson, Sr. is the best single position coach in the nation. Bill Kenney is up there, too.

• Gerald Hodges will most likely stay at linebacker (I didn't know he moved), where Joe thinks he could be a really special player. The coaches think he has more potential as a linebacker.

• Brandon Ware is skipping classes and still really fat. So, he'll be chillin' in Joe's doghouse for the rest of this season.

• Overall, Joe has been really pleased with how the team has developed this season, particularly this last week or so. He said things are starting to really click for the younger guys, as in "getting it" when it comes to what you have to do to be a really good team.

• Penn State has probably the best linebackers in the nation, but haven't been healthy enough to show it. Joe really likes them all, a lot.

I know, this week was kind of meh. But the season is going to get really interesting really fast. Can't wait.

Read the Full Transcript at GoPSUsports.com

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Paterno presser quick hits

Penn State hopes to use this bye week game against Eastern Illinois to work out any left over kinks (been using that word a lot, huh?) from the first five weeks. Let's do a quick run down of everything you've probably already heard about Joe Paterno's Tuesday press conference.

• Even though it wasn't addressed until later in the presser, let's run down the injury updates for this week: Sean Lee (out - knee); Devon Smith (out - concussion); Nerraw McCormack (doubtful - ankle); Brent Carter (possible - N/A); Stephfon Green (possible - N/A); Chris Colasanti (possible - N/A); DeOn'Tae Pannell (possible - ankle). Joe wasn't very specific as to the exact injuries. He said if this were a bye week, they would all rest. But I won't be surprised if all those guys are held out just to be safe.

• Joe isn't holding his breath when it comes to the running game. He knows that one good day doesn't mean everything will be hunky-dory from now on. Eastern Illinois is a blitzing team, so this should be a good, but relatively light, test to see if the run game is for real or not. The balance was much better on offense this past week.

• Why would any Penn State beat reporter with half a brain think Joe is going to comment about Florida State and Bobby Bowden right now? Well, I guess when you have two reporters with half a brain each, that makes a full brain, no? Joe said that one of his coaches toll him, "Well, you better be ready to answer some questions about Bobby Bowden." Joe said, "What's going on?" The coach said, "Well, there's some pressure on Bobby." Joe said, "Well, what I don't know I can't talk about."

• Someday, Jack Crawford and Eric Latimore will be good defensive ends. Someday.

• Joe is not overlooking Eastern Illinois just because they're an FCS team, and he's kind of pissed off that the reporter insulted them by saying they were inferior (even though he was right). But I know what Joe means, so whatever.

Joe added that he would have rather had a bye week around this time of the season, but because the Big Ten said no to games after Thanksgiving, Penn State crammed everything into the 12-week schedule. However, as Joe noted, another Big Ten team (*cough*Illinois*cough*) then turned right around and scheduled opponents after the holiday.

• Depth at defensive tackle hasn't been an issue, even with the injuries and dismissals the past few years. Devon Still and Sean Stanley have made really nice additions to the line this year. But Joe is more concerned with the linebackers' health and the secondary's lack of big plays.

• Jeremy Boone is great. Duh.

• The staff had gone into the Illinois game wanting to get the ball to the tight ends more, mostly due to what they expected the Illini to do on defense. Turns out, they might just throw it to them more. Joe really liked how Mickey Shuler and Andrew Quarless played this week.

• Jake Christensen seems to have settled in nicely at Eastern Illinois. Joe offered his standard lines about how EIU is a good team that doesn't beat themselves.

• One of these days, Stephfon Green will be a really good running back. One of these days.

• The press got a bit snarky today, asking Joe why Penn State is playing an FCS team. When Joe hit back by asking why not ask him to talk about all those other big time schools playing FCS teams, the reporter said "go ahead." Douche. So Joe listed about a dozen top 25 teams playing FCS teams this year. But the reporter pushed the question again, even though Joe already talked about it (see a few comments up). Why are these guys so dumb? They even stayed on this topic for four or five more questions, asking who makes the scheduling decisions, should college football go back to 11 games and such. This is why I'm glad I'm not a reporter anymore. The stupid, repetitive questions you ask, just to get a quote for the next edition.

• Although Joe doesn't know EIU coach Bob Spoo all that well, he's very familiar with his body of work. He's won a bunch of games, so he must be doing something right.

• Mike Zordich and Chris Colasanti are seeing more action lately because of all the injuries to the linebackers. I'm not really sure why Colasanti is out there, wasting a redshirt season. Joe said they wanted to redshirt him, but aren't because of the said injuries.

• Joe contradicted himself a bit when discussing Daryll Clark and the offense, saying "that's not exactly something that you say, 'you're going to do this and you're going to do that.' You play it by ear, I guess." But in the same response, he said that the past few weeks he wasn't "going be happy if we have to run Clark a lot until the younger kids come along." That sounds a lot like "you're going to do this and you're going to do that."

• Kevin Newsome hasn't played as much as Joe wants, but that's mostly because Penn State hasn't put itself in position (blowouts) in games to do so.

• Sean Lee isn't playing because Joe and the doctors want him to be able to play in the NFL. I happen to agree with this decision. The kid's got a lot to lose.

• Lou Eliades has come along nicely, but still has some progress to make. Joe likes what he's seeing so far.

• Stephon Morris has what it takes to be a good defensive back. He played more corner back this week, since they would move D'Anton Lynn into the nickel when that package was used.

Read the Full Transcript at GoPSUsports.com

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Paterno presser quick hits

Here are some highlights from today's Joe Paterno press conference.

• As I projected earlier today, Joe's first question was about the Iowa loss. All in all, Joe chalked it up to more bad breaks for Penn State than for Iowa.

• The kicking and special teams, besides the blocked punt, were better against Iowa. The only really bad thing was that blocked punt. Otherwise, nothing was negative. That's not to say it was all positive. The block reminded Joe of the '82 loss at Alabama, the year Penn State went on to win the national title with one loss.

• Joe hates to see a guy like Royster have such a bad day. He fumbled, and tipped a pass that was intercepted. But Joe still has confidence that he can work through it.

• Sean Lee is still "day-to-day," but Joe wouldn't (said he couldn't) expand on it. Lee didn't practice yet this week, even though he wants to go.

• Colin Wagner will still do kickoffs. Joe's fine with him there. And seriously, is that what this team needs to worry about right now?

• This team should have the guys to get back up and play well. At least, that's what Joe's hoping for. There was a good practice session on Monday, with a lot of enthusiasm. Too bad we couldn't get some of that on Saturday night.

• On that same theme, Joe's not ready to give up on this team. He reiterated that a lot of the problems have come from turnovers and lack of big plays in the clutch. Both of which were huge factors in the Iowa loss.

• Another reporter asked another retarded question. They still haven't learned. Moving on.

• Despite the shutout at Ohio State, Joe's still worried about Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn. He thinks Illinois just hasn't gotten any consistency yet. Of course, we know what they can do when they get that consistency.

• Joe has to keep on these guys to make sure they understand that the season's far from over. He hearkened back to Florida last year, winning the title with a loss. I see a trend developing. This could end up being Joe's best coaching job yet.

• While there hasn't been a real effort to get Andrew Quarless the ball, Joe thinks his increased catches are a product of his maturation as a player over his career.

• Stefen Wisniewski is staying at center. Joe understands that all his snaps, particularly from the shotgun, haven't been perfect. But Wiz will be fine.

• The field conditions didn't affect how Penn State called its game Saturday. Joe can't say as much about the officiating.

• Brandon Ware will be out for a little while longer. A few weeks.

• Someday, Stephon Morris will be a good player, according to Joe. But until then, he really likes what the true freshman brings to the table. Joe said the staff has really tried to get him on the field.

• Joe went on a little rant about how the media and fans tend to care more about stuff he couldn't give a rats ass about. But he's gotten in hot water about some things he's said, which he admitted were stupid things to say. (it's a long response, so go read it if you're interested more)

• Nerraw McCormack would start tomorrow if there was a game. Look for him this week at Illinois.

• Someone asked Joe about the turnover thing, again. Joe already answered it, but it was so much earlier in the presser, he probably forgot about it. So, he answered it again.

• Another question about how awesome it is that Joe Suhey is a member of the First Family of Penn State Football.

• Joe likes the development of Nick Sukay. He played a good game, and is another player that could be really good... some day.

• Not sure, but Joe thinks it might be a good thing to get his team on the road, and away from home. I guess when you play four straight games at home to open the season, it's kind of like a bad case of cabin fever during a winter... wait for it... WHITEOUT.

*I guess the link would help.

If nothing else comes up tonight, see you all tomorrow.

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JoePa's best press conference moments

We need to keep this week upbeat. I'm sure Joe Paterno will get a lot of questions this week that he doesn't want to answer, particularly looking back at the Iowa loss. He doesn't like to rehash what happened last week, since that's what post-game press conferences are for. But let's not forget just how much fun JoePa can be at these pressers. If this video doesn't make you giggle, you have no soul...

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Paterno presser quick hits

Iowa is a big game, and Joe knows it. So don't let his dismissive tone mislead you. This is what Joe Paterno lives for. Let's do a quick run down of everything you've probably already heard about Joe Paterno's Tuesday press conference.

• Joe's keeping the injury situation very close to the vest. He said Sean Lee is iffy; Navorro Bowman should be able to play, but no promises. Coaches generally don't like to talk about their game week depth charts/injuries unless things are 100 percent going to happen.

• Joe is willing to let Daryll Clark do whatever it takes to win the football games. That means he can run the ball if he has to. Joe said the staff doesn't have any plans to run him, which makes me think they totally have plans to run him. It's just a matter of when.

• Even though Penn State's backup linebackers would start for 90 percent of all college football programs right now, Joe isn't comfortable with leaving everything up to them. Nate Stupar and Bani Gbadyu "can be good," but aren't yet. I think Joe even said that about Pozluszny and Connor.

• Graham Zug will be fine, and will play.

• Joe did his weekly "call out" of one of the reporters, saying "you don't know what you're talking about." The reporter asked about kickoff returns, and as you would expect, didn't phrase the question in a way Joe would actually answer it. Even I knew that the reporter was wrong for asking if the return specialist are the problem. It's been blatantly obvious that the blocking has been terrible on returns.

• Joe doesn't believe in the whole "revenge" thing this week. I find that hard to believe. I'm sure he wants to lick Iowa the way the Hawkeyes did to Penn State last year.

• Ricki Stanzi could be even more of a problem this year for Penn State, particularly with such a good offensive line.

• Sometimes Joe forgets (not really) that Dennis Landolt is playing left tackle, because he doesn't make any mistakes. That's usually when you notice offensive linemen, when they screw up.

• Jared Odrick is kind of like Landolt, in that they both work really hard to be as good as they are. Joe likes that.

• Joe thinks the reason Penn State has lost to Iowa a lot recently is the Hawkeyes scoring more points than the Nittany Lions.

• The flu isn't killing his team, but it's still hanging around. Joe doesn't like to talk about doctor stuff. As if he doesn't know every little detail about his team.

• The offense hasn't really let loose, according to Joe. He downplayed how much is left in the playbook, and that it might not be any good. Oh, Joe. You're funny.

• As we already mentioned, if Lee and Bowman are out, Stupar and Gbadyu will go in.

• Joe is really pissed off at the goal line offense. But he's hoping the line shifts and some extra practice (Jay said they worked on it a lot this week) will do them well enough against Iowa. Let's hope so. In 2007, Penn State lost a bunch of games (oh, say, Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State!) because of putrid goal line offense.

• Unlike most other programs, Joe doesn't work the first teams more than the second teams. We now know why it's such a valuable coaching habit, as Penn State hasn't really missed a beat with all the injuries.

• Lee sprained his knee, but his ankle is fine.

• Back to kickoff returns... it's the blocking, dammit!

• Joe still pretends he doesn't know what happened in past Iowa-PSU games. He remembers the 1965 loss to Maryland, but he can't remember a game from 2002? Again, Joe is a character.

• Joe's known Kirk Ferentz for a long time, and knows quite a bit about who he played football with and his love life. But he still can't remember that 2002 Iowa game.

• The father-son thing at Penn State never really gets old. I admit, it's one thing I do like hearing stories about. I can just imagine Joe screaming at Mickey Shuler, Jr., thinking it was his father.

• If one team kicks off at 8 p.m., both teams kick off at 8 p.m. Joe doesn't really care when kickoff is. Although, I remember him saying a few years ago that he wishes all games would kickoff at 1:30 p.m. I'd have to agree with that.

• Jack Crawford could be good soon. Soon.

• Finally, Joe was asked what he thinks of Penn State's game day atmosphere, the white out, and such. I'll leave you with his answer:

"Well, I think it's a great place to play a football game, whether you're the home team or the visiting team. I've never really worried about when we've gone to certain places whether it was big crowds and things like that. I used to tell the kids all the time, "Hey, just make like they're cheering for us. When the noise goes up, it's for us."

But I think having said that, to be home and to have a crowd as enthusiastic as the crowds that we have here, and to have them as loud as it has been, it's an advantage for us. There's something about it, the whole business about the White Out, it's a bringing together of the whole institution, not only the undergraduate kids, but you see people out there that will be old men, maybe 60. (Laughing). It's fun. And it's great to be a part of it. And I think the kids feel that way about it.

We have a rally Friday night down at the Rec Hall, and the whole thing is something that...what do you do when you're in college? How many things do you do where you're involved with 110,000 people all on the same page?"

Read the Full Transcript at GoPSUsports.com

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Paterno presser quick hits

At his weekly press conference, Joe Paterno was less than chipper with his team's performance, particularly the offensive line, the last two weeks. But overall, Paterno likes the potential of this team, if a few things here and there can come together. On to the highlights...

• In the presser's second question, Joe was asked if there would be changes along the offensive line. Fair enough. We've all been wondering what will happen up front offensively. At first, Joe was vague:

"Well, we might. We'll see what goes on this week."

But he may have let more out than he intended to, when answering a question about Johnnie Troutman's progress and weight:

"He played some Saturday and he may play a lot more this Saturday. [emphasis mine] I think a lot will depend again, as I said earlier, how we practice, how he practices and how some of the other kids on the offensive line practice. But he's gotten better."

Joe went on in later answers to say that other than the guards, things probably won't shake up too much this week. But don't think that's not huge. In Penn State's style of running game, effective guard play is critical.

• Navorro Bowman probably (99%) won't play this week. We sort of knew that, but the question had to be asked.

• Joe kept stressing that Syracuse kept a lot of guys in the box to stop the run, particularly stacking the safety down low. That gave the offense some problems that might not come about when teams really try to stop the pass more.

"I think we had the ball 67 times. And I think all but maybe eight or nine times they blitzed. So when you're facing that, we try to be stubborn and try to run the ball because I think we need the work... Whether the offensive line improved that much, it's hard to tell, because, again, as I said earlier, Syracuse just kept coming. They just kept blitzing guys, linebackers and outside people, and kept those two safeties very close to the football."

Temple played a 4-4-3 against Villanova, but even coach Al Golden said it was probably a mistake. However, the Owls usually play a 5-2-4, so we don't really know how things will shake out this Saturday.

• Joe talked about the walk-on process, part of a question about how well walk on players have done under his watch. Please, keep the laughter to a dull roar, but I actually did this once...

"But once you start on it (the season), we have a day, we may have two days now, where we invite anybody from the student body who wants to come out and literally try out to be a walk on. And we'll get a couple of kids there. But most of the good ones we get are kids we knew about before they came here, kids that we probably, if we had more aid, would have recruited."

I did it before spring practice started. It was in February 2004, I think. Got to run drills, a 40-yard dash, and got yelled at by Larry Johnson, Sr. It was a blast, and I'm really glad I did it.

• Oh, and in case you weren't floored during this week's Penn State Football Story, here's what you missed:

That's right. Josh Hull is sporting a rather large mustache. Whatever works for him, I guess.

Ok folks, it's late in the news day, and I'm sure you already read everything there is to know about today's press conference. So, I'll leave you here. Tomorrow, I'll have my responses up for this week's Blue White Roundtable, and later, my weekly Big Ten Pick'em.

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Paterno presser quick hits

At his weekly press conference Joe Paterno seemed to get more questions about Syracuse than Penn State. I guess with such a storied relationship between the two schools, that's bound to happen.

The media definitely wasn't at its finest today. There was no flow, no real conversation with Paterno. I realize he's not that fond of the media nowadays, but if you ask him the right questions, he'll sing like a bird. Oh well, on to the highlights.

• Answering a question about G Matt Stankiewitch and T DeOn'tae Pannell's first starts, Joe was less critical of the offensive line than I thought he'd be.

"We've got to be more consistent... We did a fine job with the pass protection early in the game, and then we got a little sloppy later in the second half, and the young guys got a little confused. There's no question about that, but they hung in there, and I think that game will be a good experience for them and it'll be much better this week."

• That tied in nicely with a later question, in which Joe actually referred back to the former. He was asked what is it about the week-one to week-two improvement that he has talked about in the past.

"...I think you've got build on that first game. And I've always felt that way, that we'll find out how good a team we're going to be by how much we improve this week... I think that's a big, big item for us, that we've got some kids...somebody asked me earlier about a couple of the offensive linemen."

• You just knew there would be a question about the 1980's and Joe's eastern football conference pitch. It took a while, but it was raised, and Joe took the bait. He said he isn't mad about it, but I really don't believe that.

"[I] had met with John Toner, who was the athletic director at Connecticut, Dave Gavitt, and we sat around, got a room in the airport in Connecticut, and we talked, and they wanted me to take Penn State into the Big East and, later on what they did with Notre Dame, just in basketball... I said, "no, I don't want to do that." I wanted the thing (all-sports conference). So I kept working at it, and then of course, the people that pulled the rug from us were the Pitt people. They ended up going in the Big East for the basketball. And they were the ones that...because we had five, six teams. If Pitt had come in, BC would have come in and Syracuse would have come in."

He sure does remember how that sh*t went down, huh? "pulled the rug..." Love it.

• Apparently, Joe didn't want to play freshman Devon Smith so much. But the coaching staff did. So, Joe gave the go ahead.

"...we debated how much we wanted to play him in the first game. I didn't want to put him on the kickoff team, but I got out-voted, and he did a good job there. We had made up our mind we were going to try to get the ball to him on the outside, not necessarily with the very elaborate passing lanes because it takes a while to get that kind of timing, especially when you're dealing with somebody who's not as tall as you'd like them to be. You've got to get them in the right spot. The timing's got to be good, and the quarterback's got to get used to throwing the ball to him."

A question later went back and touched on Joe's relationship with the staff, particularly on issues that he's out-voted on, like who to play or when.

"It depends on the mood I'm in. If I'm in a good mood, I'll give in. If I'm not in a good mood, I might be an SOB. No, I'm teasing a little bit now, but no, it depends on the situation. It depends on, sometimes I went in and just try to agitate the staff, just to make sure that they've considered a lot of different things..."

• On Jack Crawford against the Syracuse defensive front, which is a bit more talented than Akron's line...

"Jack's got to play his game...He's got certain responsibilities in any one of the defenses that we may call, and he's a bright kid and a really good athlete for a big man."

• Keeping with the defensive line, Joe, on Jared Odrick...

"he's a very fine football player, and the kind of guy that would make some other people good because he works so hard."

• On the most memorable moments from Penn State-Syracuse...

"I can still see Floyd Little running by me three times for three touchdowns on three punt returns, and he waved to me. (Laughs)... I can go back to I think it was '54, '55, we played at Old Beaver Field. We won it 21-20. They had Jimmy Brown. I think Jimmy Brown carried the ball 14 times for 140 yards, and Lenny (Moore) carried it 12 times for about 130 yards. In those days they didn't carry the ball 20, 25 times. They were two of the greatest running backs to ever play the game on that field."

• The cornerback situation could be better than we thought.

"I was pleased with Timmons. I thought Timmons played well, and I thought A.J. played well. And the other kid, (D'Anton) Lynn, did a good job at the other corner. So I think we were adequate."

That's about as much praise as any position got this week. So, looks like we're ok there for now.

• Navorro Bowman didn't practice yesterday, and might not play this week.

"...it's probably an outside chance as to whether he'll play or not Saturday."

• And now for the worst question all day. I mean, this was really terrible. If you know anything about Joe Paterno, he doesn't pay attention to things we football junkies do, like players that were made popular more by Xbox than their actual performance on the field.

"Q: Has the success of other small, really best players like Trendon Holliday at LSU and going back a few years, Gerald McNeil, did that make it a little bit easier to take a chance on [Devon Smith]?

JVP: I don't even know any of the players you're talking about. I really don't.

He really doesn't. And the reporter walked right into that one. As soon as the question was asked, I swear I physically cringed.

• All in all, it was one of the most boring press conferences I've watched in a long time.

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