Paterno Talks: Mo, Abe, Quarless, Illinis, and Beyond!

Paterno held his weekly press conference. Below, I have the highlights of Joe's interaction with the press. However, if you are hardcore and you want to read Joe's presser for yourself you can find it here.

Are Abe and Mo Gonna Play?

Well, we'll see. They took practiced yesterday. I'm not so sure what I'm going to do the rest of the week.

Yeah. They are gonna play. I've been saying this for a while. I don't think they will "start" for whatever it matters. But you can bet that Evans and Koroma will be in the rotation.

Is Juice good?

I think Williams played very, very well against us last year. He's obviously better this year. He's been a little bit more consistent. I think they've depended on him a little bit more this year than last year. They don't have that other back, (Rashard) Mendenhall, that was with them last year.

So, I think that they're depending more and more on the quarterback. And I he's doing a really good job for them. He's a big kid. He runs well. I think he's made good progress.

I can live with Juice completing passes. He isn't accurate enough to play a big game mistake free. The key is to get pressure on the QB. Enough pressure will make anyone crack.

Illinois comes off a bye-week this week, your thoughts?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. If I had my preference, I'd rather have a bye week. But it doesn't always turn out to be an advantage. We've had bye weeks and didn't play well the week after the bye week. So if we get licked, it's because they're a better football team or they do a better job than we do. I don't think it will be because it's an off week.

Now if they have some people banged up that wouldn't be able to play, and because of the week off they can play, that might be helpful to them. I'm not threatened very much about that, really.

This was actually an informative question. I had no idea Illinois was coming off a bye-week. I think this is nothing but an advantage for Illinois. The bye will give them an extra week to scheme for PSU's offense. Penn State hasn't had to play their starters late enough into games for fatigue to be a factor, however, if the Zooker was going to cook up a scheme to stop the offense this would be his shot.

Bowman and Maybin are good, right?

They are both good. They make some mistakes, obviously. You wouldn't see the bad things. You see the good things. But I think they both played well (vs. Temple). They're getting better each week. They're both good athletes, and they like to play and they hustle. They have a chance to be really good.

But they've got to get into situations with people that know a little bit more about them and pay more attention to them. Maybe the teams we've played so far haven't done that. But I thought both of them played well Saturday.

This means Joe is fucking psyched up about these kids. Of course they need to keep getting better, however, they are ready to contribute right away. Very exciting!

11 fumbles in three games is a lot, right?

It's a tremendous concern. You don't address it just in the middle of the season. We address it every day. We have ball-carrying drills and take away drills. It worries me. It really does. I don't think it's good putting the ball on the ground that many times.

We talk about it, we practice it. As I said, we set up drills where the kid carrying the football has to protect it with one or two guys trying to pull it out, that kind of thing. But I don't know what else to do.

Eleven fumbles?!?! Seriously? It didn't seem like that many! I'm suddenly terribly concerned about turnovers. It might be cliche but winning the turnover battle is an important element to the scrapple that is winning.

Is A.J. Wallace's hamstring still bothering him?

No, there was a little bit of a misunderstanding I think there. I said he wasn't in there in the second half. I called down to Tom Bradley. I said, "Tom, get Wallace in there." He said, "his hamstring's bothering him." I looked down there and he's in on a couple of the return teams. I think he's okay. I really do. He practiced yesterday and he looked okay.

This is huge. It is terribly important that Wallace stay healthy. The secondary is going to need to play well against Illinois on Saturday.

Is Devon Still out for the rest of the year?

No, I think he can still come back. That would be great because he's already given up one year. But that's a guess. I don't think our doctors could tell you yes or no, and obviously, I can't. But I'm hoping he will be back.

Fuck. Yeah! Still could be back? That is awesome! The defensive will be back to being completely stacked in time to face a very physical Michigan State team.

I can't wait for the biggest game of the year!

GO STATE! BEAT THE ILLINIS!

Evans & Koroma Are Back!

With the team and practicing anyway. FOS is reporting that both players were at practice on Monday and were practicing with the second team defense. At this point, you have to be thinking that even if they don't start both players will see action against Illinois despite Paterno's insistence that the decision is out of his hands.

It really couldn't come at a better time. Maybin has emerged as a force on a depleted defensive line. Now that two great players return to action the Nittany Lion defense should be much improved.

If both exiled studs play I think it will reduce Illinois' point total by at least 7 pts.

I AM FIRED UP!

GO STATE! BEAT ILLINOIS!

Joe's Presser

Joe had his weekly Press Conference this week. This week in particular, there is a lot of questions about Joe and how he "feels" about coaching against former players. If you want to hear all the platitudes and niceties you can read them here.

Do early blowouts mean rest or rust?

All of a sudden we lost (Jerome) Hayes and we lost (Devon) Still. We had to do some things with a couple of kids who were a little bit out of line. Our line depth, is the one place that bothers me the most because of the way the game is played today. Your down guys have got to constantly keep pressure both on the run and the pass.
They've got to put their ears back and go on every play. They've got to chase people and do a lot of things over and over again. So if you watch, and Larry Johnson does a great job, the substitution pattern that we have, you don't see a lot of substitutions except on the defensive line.

Joe is not concerned about rust. The Defense is fucking thin on the line so every snap LJ can keep the remaining starters off the field is awesome. Lets be straight, it doesn't take 4 starters anymore. It takes at least 8 quality players to compete in today's college football world.

Why isn't D-Will returning all the punts?

If we get into a situation where we're not quite sure where they're going to punt it, they're kicking the ball from their own 45 let's say, you're not sure what's going to happen. So, I like a guy back there because they may throw the ball, fake the punt.
Michigan State really beat us on a fake punt last year. You're trying to get the best people in there for the situation, and Scirrotto obviously, being a defensive safety, would be better at reacting to passes and things like that. Plus, he has good hands.

Riiiiiiight. Unpredictability for D-Will and Defense from Scirrotto. Or is it that Williams has historically made poor decisions on whether to field punts close to the PSU end zone. Williams has shown himself to be dangerous on punt returns. I sometimes find myself screaming at the TV screen: "Let it bounce, D-Will! Let it bounce!" He almost never listens. I hear I might be drafted in the late fifth round as an armchair QB. I'm totally amped.

Are Evans and Koroma playing?

I don't want to talk about the second part of your question because it's not going to be helpful any way I answer it.

Joe is mum, however, FOS is reporting that the Centre County DA is deciding whether or not to file charges on our boys this week. At this point, I don't think that any charges are going to be filed and both will be back on the field against Illinois. Imagine how much better the Defense will be with these two back on the field. Scary.

GO STATE! BEAT TEMPLE!

Evans, Koroma, Quarless are suspended...balls!

BALLS.

This could change things.

The D-Line is now, officially, devastated. Quarless, honestly, wouldn't have been a big factor in the game anyway. Goddamnit.

If you are looking for a reasoned response, visit ZN and BSD. I'm still fucking pissed.

Let No Act Ours Bring Shame!

GO STATE! WHATSUP KOWNSLA!?!?!?!?