Joe's Press Conference Was Unusually Interesting

About halfway through Joe Paterno's press conference I came to a startling conclusion: this is an interesting press conference.

I can't tell you what makes Joe's press conferences so uninformative and dull. Maybe it is Joe's conservative nature. He keeps a lot of information close to the vest regardless of the questions. Maybe it is that a lot of the times the reporters ask a question which is a combination of the following: absurd, dumb, repetitive, useless, lacking in imagination, off-topic, or a "follow up". Bleft.

This time, Joe seemed to be in a talkative mood and the reporters managed to raise their game.

Q: Explain how you prepare for guys as talented as Wells and Pryor?
Joe: You can't get anybody that's going to be as good as the guys you're playing against....Pryor's a heck of a competitor. He doesn't look it because he's so smooth and he plays so carefully. The other kid is just now coming off of that injury, and he's back to where he was a year ago. So it's hard to duplicate it. You look around your squad and you say, 'this guy has the best chance to give us the look we need.'

You can't truly prepare for these types of guys. They are unique atheletes with unique skills. Pryor is a physical freak being as big, tall, and fast as he is. Wells may be one of the best backs in the nation. Certainly a thrilling combination of power and speed.

Q: Kevin Kelly is good at kicking and makes you happy, right?
Joe: I think our kicking game has been good, and I think obviously Kevin has been a big part of that. He's a fine kicker, and I think he's feeling really good about himself. It'll probably come down, this coming Saturday, to something with the kicking game. It will have a lot to do with the outcome of the game.

This is part of the Paterno genius peeking out. Joe knows this will be a close game. Every point will count. Ohio State's defense is very good, which means that when the offense sputters out it is important for Kelly to insure that each drive yields points.

Q: How are you feeling, Joe?
Joe: If we've got a choice of who is better health wise, Scirrotto and Paterno, let's get Scirrotto out there. Yeah, it's one of those things. Next week, when we get the open week, I'll let some people look at it and then we'll make some decisions.

Typical Joe. I think he will be up in the booth for this week's game in the Horseshoe and for the rest of the year. The man is probably going to require surgery after the season. However, Joe remains in good spirits and will be fine after he gets patched up.

Q: What is the deal with the LBs and what adjustments will you make after Michigan?
Joe: They were playing all right. (Navorro) Bowman was doing well, and so was (Tyrell) Sales. Sales probably had six, seven, eight tackles in that game. Our problem was the down lineman. The down lineman had problems because of the pace of the game. They were on us were and we weren't quite ready for that. Once we got that thing settled down and got some people a little bit better and adjusted to the blocking schemes and stuff like that, then it made that a little bit easier for the linebackers because they didn't have people on top of them right away.

GWAH? It looked to me that the LBs were out of position or were flat-out run over early in the game. However, Joe has looked at the tape and has forgotten more football than I could ever know. As such, I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

Q: Seriously, who is playing Pryor on the Scout team?
JOE: We have a walk on kid, (M(a)tthew) McGloin. And then the other Mauti (Patrick) will play some, and then there's another kid who will play. It will vary depending on the kind of play they have. So whatever play they're going to show, they would have ability close enough but not better than the guy they're going to imitate.

This is high praise for the athleticism of these two kids. Lets hope they get the defense ready for the speed of the game they are going to face on Saturday.

I LOVE PENN STATE FOOTBALL!

GO STATE! BEAT THE BUCKEYES!

Paterno's Purdue Press Conference

If you want to read the whole thing you can find the transcript here.

There is a lot of stuff which I didn't find that interesting. Most of this desolate wasteland of questions are things like this:

Q. Purdue's defense has had a very difficult time against the run. When you see a situation like that, does it impact much of your game planning or are you to the point where you overstress that, or do you still try to maintain bounds?

I mean honestly. Did a retarded monkey ask this question? I wish they would identify the "asker" in the transcript so they can be mocked more easily.

Anyway, some of them were good.

Q. Could you evaluate the play so far of Josh Hull and Tyrell Sales? And how far ahead are they than some of the younger guys like Nate Stupar, Michael Mauti and Chris Colasanti?

Paterno: I think both Hull and Sales have played well.

It isn't interesting in that Paterno chose to defend a senior player. What is disturbing is that it appears that Paterno isn't planning on replacing these guys with younger players. It isn't odd for Paterno to want to play more senior players. We now have to consider that Hull and Sales are the BEST LBs on the team. A little scary.

There is also on odd section of questions with regard to leadership on this year's team as opposed to the team under Morelli. Joe, of course, doesn't throw AMMO under the bus. Joe seemed to like Morelli and believed in him. I, however, cannot accept that Morelli was the best option at QB last year. It isn't like Clark and Devlin got a ton of experience last year and developed into what we see now. The Morelli years are gone and Clark probably should have been the starting QB last year. Regardless, there is no reason to try to get Joe to say that Anthony sucks.

Q. How's your leg feeling? Are you going to be all right for Saturday? I

think I'm going to be all right. My leg doesn't feel great. You know, that's a long way, Saturday. But, yeah, I'll be okay. I tell the guys on the team there is a difference between being hurt and being injured. If you're injured we don't want you to play. But if you're hurt, you better get out there. Right now I'm hurt.

Joe is awesome. The man is in his eighties!

Sorry for the absence of lenghty quality posts. Work is keeping me busy.

GO STATE! BEAT PURDUE!

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!

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!

Joe Talks Syracuse

Here is a map of those of you lucky enough to watch PSU on ESPN/ABC.

Will it be on some other version of ESPN? I don't know. If I find out, I shall inform.

Next, Joe had his weekly presser on Tuesday. You can find the transcript of aforementioned presser here.

The following are excerpts I found particularly interesting:

Of the fab four, who is gonna play?

So as far as whether the other kids are going to play or not, I'm going to play it day by day for awhile.

I don't think any of them play. However, it would be interesting to see if a "fall on the grenade" situation emerges. If one kid completely takes the rap how can you keep the others off the field. All I'm saying!

Are you impressed with the rest of the team's focus despite all the distractions?

But they've done a great job. They really have. I think the kids appreciate the fact that these guys have not quit on them, and they didn't quit on themselves. And we've got a good spirit right now.

Fuck yeah! Nobody Quits! EVERYBODY FIGHTS! (I try to work a little Starship Troopers in for the people whenever possible). Seriously, though, these kids are friends. When one gets in trouble they all suffer. They are all doing a great job focusing on the task at hand. and school.

How are D-Will and DC-17?

No, they're both fine. He (Williams) could have played, he's got a I don't know, the doctors would know better. He had some kind of a strain in one of his stomach muscles. But, he was out there yesterday running around a little. I'm sure he'll be okay. I didn't even know Clark had any problems.

Lets fucking hope they are fine. Clark has played fucking great and we need him to play better. D-Will is a major focus of the offense. I'm starting to think that no other receiver on the team would be nearly as productive if teams weren't accounting for Derrick Williams.

More importantly, lets thank whatever God you like that Royster is still healthy. The longer the season goes the more convinced I am that PSU will go as far as Royster can carry the Lions on his back.

Joe, are you worried about having an increasing young team on the road for the first time?

I'm always worried about that, regardless of who is down the stretch. Because if you don't get better, you get worse. You get careless, sloppy, and the first thing you know, you're not playing your game. Yeah, I worry about that all the time.

As well you should, sir! Youth + Road = disaster (if you aren't careful). I think PSU will leave Syracuse with a W but it will be a good learning experience for the team. Like learning to leave this alone. It only takes one try to learn to never return.

Joe, do you practice as hard when you have all these injuries?Well, there's only so much you can do to prevent injuries. You've got to have some kind of intense practice sessions.

We don't practice much; we practice less than probably anybody in the country. We went out for an hour 15 minutes yesterday with just shoulder pads. We'll go out today an hour 40 minutes with pads. Then tomorrow we'll go out with just tops, and then Thursday we'll go out an hour and 30 minutes with just helmets.

Gotta compete. Gotta fight! Gotta Win! This is like listening to an older, smarter, better looking version of Pete Carroll! Eat THAT PETE!

Dome = Tough?

Well, you know, we played in the Alamo Bowl, we played in the dome. We've played in domes before. It will be noisy.
There are some factors you don't have to worry about. Wind isn't a factor. You don't have to worry about the weather. They were kidding me today. I said, "you know, I haven't been up there in 15 years." And one of the assistant coaches said, "15? It's been 20 since you've been up there. You don't remember it, but you chewed out Shopie (Tim Shope, former equipment manager) one day for wetting the balls when we were going into the dome."

Dome Sweet Dome!

LBs getting better?I think they got better. They've got a ways to go, though. (Tyrell) Sales and (Josh) Hull had a better game than they did the first game. The two other guys outside, (Bani) Gbadyu and (Navorro) Bowman are getting better. They should get better. They're good athletes and they're working hard at it.
Yeah. But they need to get better. Joe voiced this and I think anyone who follows the team knows this. It has become especially true now that the D-line has been hit so hard by injuries and off the field troubles. STEP IT UP!

I am amped. I think PSU could hang 70 on the Orangemen.

GO STATE! BEAT THE ORANGE!

Paterno's Presser: Oregon State Approaches!

Joepa was answering questions Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of Saturday's showdown with Oregon State. Joe spoke for a while on a variety of topics, you can find the transcript here and the audio here (via FOS). You can find my brief recaps and impressions below.

Joe was basically asked if he thinks that they know a lot more about the PSU squad than they did before the Coastal Carolina game?

I think we've got to be realistic that that was a tough assignment for the Coastal Carolina kids to come up here with that kind of crowd and the whole bit. But, they've got some good athletes, and I was pleased we came away from it, playing with no turnovers and minimum (number of) penalties. A couple of stupid penalties, and playing fairly disciplined football game and some kids played, for their first time in a football game, played well.
But, that's a long shot from playing against a team as good as Oregon State. Oregon State's a good football team. So I think what we have to do is just see if we can get a little better. As most of you have heard me say before, if you've got a good football team, it probably gets better from the first game to the second game at any time in the season. We'll know a lot more about our football team this Saturday.

Well, yeah! Coastal Carolina played well and hard but were over their heads against a more talented squad. This will not be the case on Saturday. OSU is a good team who got some tough breaks last week. They will be playing with a chip on their shoulder and will be no easier to defeat merely because they lost to Stanford the week before. They have also had a long week to get ready for the Lions.

Joe addressed OSU's long week and long flight before Saturday's game.

I think the one thing that I would think that Mike Riley has going for him is the fact that he did coach at San Diego, the pro team, and would have had to take a team across the country to play in the NFL. And he's got he would have a good feel for the problems that he faced the clock changing on you and all those kinds of things.
So I think they'll come here prepared and they'll be ready to go. Mike will have them ready to play. And I don't think there will be any...we can't hope that something's going to happen in the way of their preparation that's going to make it easier for us. I don't believe that at all.

I think it could have some effect. The Beavers have played 2 games on the east coast in the last four years and they are 1-1 in those games. The later start time on saturday will help the Beavers out. Hmm...come to think of it, can we move the start time up to 10 A.M?

Joe, are you gearing up for a lot of passing?

But I don't think I'd go by the fact that they threw the ball as much as they did against Stanford. I think they got behind a little bit and a couple of things happened there.
We've got to be ready to handle the running game. So I don't know whether I would overreact to the amount of throwing they did last Thursday night. I think we've got to be ready for a more balanced attack. I think everybody saw it.

Fuck no, bitch!

Because of the rain?

It's pretty tough to prepare for the kind of weather that we may get. Except for the fact that you've got to get the people that handle the ball, they have to have a wet ball. Ordinarily we do that every Thursday night, anyway. We get some buckets out there and put the footballs in a bucket of water. If we have a prediction of weather, the snappers and punters and all that stuff, get used to handling a wet ball, try to be prepared.
If the weather forecast still looks as if it's going to be a tough day on Saturday, we'll do a couple of things on Thursday a little differently. But I'm not going to change up the routine until I find out for sure.

It's gonna be rainy up in this bitch. Joe, will have to win this shit ol'-skool style, yo! Three yards in a cloud of mud and blood! WOOO! Get Royster in the deep cleats and heavy pads!

Are OSU's WRs crap?

(No) I think they're very good. I am concerned about them. In fact, we had a long talk Sunday night about it.
Numbers are the guys I look at when I look at the tapes. And I stayed up until quarter to 1:00 eastern time on Thursday night to watch the game with Stanford. And I was very impressed with them, and I'm very impressed with their quarterback.
I think the quarterback is a very poised kid. He had to make some tough plays to keep them in the ballgame. You know, Oregon State, (if) the kid doesn't fumble it in the end zone, they might be in an overtime game. They gave Stanford a lot, and they really beat themselves. Oregon State beat themselves. So I go into that game thinking we're going to have our hands full, and nothing's changed.

For Joe to stay up until 1 AM is like you or I staying up until 4.30 and then going to work at 7. The man is over eighty damn years old and he is up watching football at 1 AM! I am asleep at 1 am! I am 54 years Joe's junior. Joe will have plenty of time to sleep when he is dead....in 2065!

Brett Brackett, is he tall?

Well, he's 6' 6", but he's a good athlete. Now if he was 6'6", a big gangly kid there was a kid at Notre Dame a couple of years ago, he was a baseball player, and he was 6'5". Brackett's a good athlete, he just happens to be 6' 6". I don't know if he's quite 6' 6", he might be 6' 5". But he's a good athlete.

Yes. Yes, he is.

Did you escape injury free?

Yes, we were fortunate.

Look, this Saturday's game is going to be tough. The Beavers are going to be fired up and ready to go. It is probably going to be a tough, wet, sloppy game. This is a game where Penn State's going to reveal its inner character.

I am FIRED UP!

The Season....Approaches!

The PTR, PPG, and TDC all provide us with the information we already knew: Clark will be the "starter" in 2008. Does this really come as a surprise? The more experienced player gets the nod in a Joe Paterno Coached team? Really? It is that surprising? Regardless, we are set for what to expect for the start of the season.

On to the game at hand! The mighty Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina come to town on Saturday, we must be ready for the teal-colored hordes! You can find my previous break-down of the CCU here. There are a few updates to be made. First, their QB is, in fact, brother to ex-PSU player Wally Richardson. Not surprising, I mean, look at the man! Lets make sure to give him the proper welcome to Beaver Stadium!

The PPG tell us that Nick Sukay will miss the rest of the year with a broken foot. This is a tough break for a good kid who looked like he was going to get some PT this year. This seems like the sort of thing which should heal just fine and Sukay should be back and ready to play in 2009.

If you were wondering about Joe's presser, you can find it here.

We are less than 48 hours away from the start of the College Football Season!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

GO STATE!

Paterno At The Big Ten Media Days

There are a couple of videos of Coach Paterno at the Big Ten Media Days.
Day 1:

Day 2:


In true OTL fashion: Joe Paterno, Greatest Coach of all time or Greatest Coach ever?

You will notice, Joe takes the high road and doesn't take a wide open opportunity to trash OTL. He readily admits that there have been problems with some players and that he has been trying to handle it in the best way possible. True class.

As always, we report, you decide.

GO STATE!

Joe Speaks at Camp Hill

Check out what Joe had to say at a recent press conference:


Joe comments on off-field problems, Sean Lee, the QB race, Clark's praise of Jaypa, and More!

Or, if you are sitting at your desk at work, you can cruise over to FOS and read about Joe's presser.

A couple of things stood out to me.

First, as TNL points out, Joe is not on board with the early signing period. The coach is quoted as follows:

"Early signing dates bother me because you've got to have your official visits during the season. You're playing a big game. I don't want to be bothered, really. We do a terrible job when kids come up for official visits for a game."

I completely understand that you would be really busy during the preparation for a game and I see where Joe is coming from. However, this is a huge opportunity which is going to waste. Allow me to make a suggestion: let Sean Lee show these kids around during the games. I know. Sean would rather bite through a towel than not be completely involved in a game despite having a 0% chance in playing in it. But think it over, he is the perfect choice to host these kids. He is by all reports a great guy, a real hard worker, he would have been a pre-season AA this year. We know the players and coaches are going to be busy, so let Sean show these kids around.

If the coaches let Sean do this, I predict PSU has a top three recruiting class!

GO STATE!

A Big Weekend at PSU

Kind of a lot has happened since we last talked. Photos are up, practice is underway, Joe is talking to the media, though, he also "doesn't care". Wow. On to the news!

Penn State wrapped up its first week of spring practice with a Joe Paterno Press conference. Here, Joe opined about all sorts of things, most of which can be found at PSU's website. This consists mainly of "so and so could be a pretty good football player." and "this might be a pretty good football team." However, not everything made it through PSU's editorial staff (One thousand monkeys at one thousand typewriters), apparently, Joe doesn't care if his contract is renewed or not.

Is this some gamesmanship out of Joe or does he really not care? Would it matter to Spanier and the Trustees either way?

Last but not least, FOS has some sweet photos of the first week of practice up! observe:



GO STATE!

Casual Joepa

The Pitt Trib Revue has a good article recanting the more Casual Joe which was seen in the dressed down, post-bowl, presser Joe had.

The Highlights according to me.

On Jay:

"He's got the ability to be a head coach," the elder Paterno said of Jay, the
team's quarterbacks coach. "I don't think Penn State would be a good place for
him right now because it's just tough. It would be as if I programmed the whole
thing."

On Joe's Future:

"I'm going to coach for a couple more years; I know that," said the 81-year-old
Paterno, who's under contract through 2008. "If the time comes when somebody
says it's time to go, I'll go."

On a line of Succession:

"I could do it if I thought it was necessary."

On Ant'ny:

"He reminds me very much of (Vinny) Testaverde," he said, referring to size and
arm strength. "He's got the talent."

GO STATE! GO JOE!

The Meat of the Bowl Schedule

The Meat of the Bowl Schedule is upon us! Rejoice in it's excellence! I watched the Motor City Bowl last night and it was as stupendous as it has been made out to be! Good work Purdue! Way to carry the Big Ten Banner high and proud.

Tonight, however, we get to feast at the smörgåsbord of excellence which is the Holiday Bowl where ASU and Texas will attempt to smash the other into smithereens! It should be a great game with tons of scoring you are required to watch or have your eyes burned out of your skull.

In PSU news:
Baker and Bowmann won't be seen anywhere in the vicinity of the Alamo Bowl. Sadly, the two have hit the magical number of criminal charges that can be filed against a man before playing time decreases at PSU: 2.

Little Ant'ny Morelli will be seen at the Alamo Bowl but apparently won't be seen at any point before then. Morelli didn't show up for press conference on Wednesday. Ummm, Ok. BSD and RUTS have good posts on the subject so go check them out.

All of this just leaves me flabbergasted. I understand if Morelli doesn't want to talk to the media, the media has not been kind to our Ant'ny. However, much of this criticism has been deserved and that, sadly, is part of the job description of being a QB at a major university. You talk to the media. If they are mean to you; too bad! If you don't want to answer questions don't answer them. But show up! Don't leave the rest of your teammates to answer questions about why you aren't there. Show up. Don't be a distraction. Focus on the task at hand.





GO STATE! BEAT THE AGGIES!

Video of Joe's Presser

Joe is just as ornery as ever!




I love it!

Joepa and the Sweatervest Speak!

Joe might not be extra fired up, but everybody else is!



HELL YES!

GO STATE BEAT THE BUCKEYES!

Video of Joe's Press Conference

Behold!




GO STATE! BEAT MICHIGAN!

Joe Speaks!

Joe Paterno held a press conference today and fielded questions from reporters. Right out of the gate Joe was asked about the status of Quarless and Harriott. We all knew that they wouldn't be playing this Saturday but Joe said that they could be out for 3-4 weeks! If you break out your handy PSU Calendar you can see that the dynamic-drinking-duo might not be back for MICHIGAN! Holy shit. That is a major suspension. I think it is too large a punishment. For more on that, Laschout.com has a great post on the matter.

Joe's take on Koroma:
His loss is a big blow to the program and he will be reevaluated based on his medical clearance.

How is Joe doing?:
Joe will be back on the sidelines on Saturday. I hope the old guy runs out of that tunnel on Saturday and looks like the octogenarian trapped in a 50 year-old's body. For the love of god, Joe is over 10 years older than Lou Holtz but he looks about 20 years younger!

How does Joe feel about FIU?
He is worried. They can recruit athletes in Florida. Joe has no idea what they are going to do on offense or on defense. He is just guessing. (You are so coy, sir!) They can start gigantic, embarrassing brawls. (I only added the last part).

RB situation?
Joe is thinking about putting a big redshirt on Royster. I really don't think that will happen. Scott has had several injuries in the past and Kinlaw has never been able to shoulder a full load so you have to think that Royster will see some PT this fall.

FOS has a great right up. Much better than mine. Find it and an Audio recording of Joe's excellence here.

I didn't know this but, apparently, Joe's old football # was 36. Who Knew!

GO STATE! ANALYZE JOE's EVERY WORD!

I'm Back and so is the Penn State News!

Please excuse my recent hiatus as i have taken the plunge and now there is a Mrs. Glory of Old State. However, after a wonderful wedding and honeymoon I'm now back to work both in the office and on the web.
Spring practice is back underway. I, for one, could not be happier (I'm sure I'm not alone). The kids were back on the field (no pads),
and Joe is back giving press conferences. You might as well enjoy it because it ain't gonna get any better for another five months.

As usual, Joe was both a wealth of information and a riddle wrapped in an enigma. You can find the entire transcript here, but I'll be giving my analysis below:









First, Joe's Health. The man is not only a legend, the face of the program, but also the future of the program.
Q: (basically) How's the knee?

I’m not doing as much as I’d like to do. I’m a little bit nervous to be frank with you. I’ve got to watch a couple of things, but I’ll get better as it goes along. I expect to be back in the fall. I’m anxious to try running a little bit. I haven’t done in any running. But, I think I’m coming a long pretty well. The knee actually isn’t my problem. The other leg, the one I banged up a year ago when I broke the ribs, is really bothering me more than the knee. I think I’m going to be OK...I’m going to be on the sideline. I’d be really disappointed if I’m not. I’m sure the kids won’t be (laughter).”

Everything seems great. Joe is off the walker and getting ready to run! I mean the old guy is 80 years old and soon he will be seen JOGGING around State College! Also, Joe is going to be back on the sidelines in the fall. All things are right with the universe, Joe will be back prowling the sidelines!

Second, the tailback position, where are we going there?

Q: (basically) What is the deal with Austin Scott?

“He’s OK. He did a great job on the foreign team last year when we decided to keep him out. He’s got to do it this year for himself and I think he will. He’s worked very hard in the winter program and I think he’ll be OK. I think we’ve got some kids that can play. (Austin) Scott’s got a chance to be a good running back and I think (Rodney) Kinlaw just needs a little more poise. And I want to see the others.”

Ok, so Austin is working hard and doing ok, but there are some other kids who can play also (a Joe classic!) Essentially, Joe spat out a complete paragraph and managed to say absolutely nothing about who will replace Tony Hunt. While this is PSU's most pressing need (on top of a defensive line). In essence, it could be Scott, or Kinlaw, or possibly somebody else. Very illuminating.

Q: Any serious injuries for any of the players?

“(Kevin) Cousins won’t be able to go this spring. He sprained a knee. (Tom) McEowen did earlier (knee injury). So, those two guys will not be out there.”

Cousins is a Sophomore WR with four years of eligibility left. While he holds promise at 6'3" and a little of 205 Lbs he won't be missed in a very deep receiving corps. The possible bigger loss is Tom McEowen, a true freshman DT. While both players suffered knee injuries neither seem to be serious. The loss of McEowen will probably be the greater of the two given PSU's need on the defensive line.

Q: (Basically) Pat Devlin...what gives?

“We’re going to try and give him a chance to show us what he can do. That depends on…you can’t program your spring practice for one guy. I’ve got a whole mess of guys out there that are pretty good football players that are all waiting for enough chances to play. We’re not going to program anything to give Devlin a little better opportunity…(Paul) Cianciolo’s waited his turn, (Daryll) Clark’s waited his turn…I think we have to go out every day and give everybody a shot and go from there.”

I would interpret this to mean: don't expect Pat to get get snaps in practice this year, and don't expect him to play next year...maybe. I just hope that Pat gets an opportunity to win a starting spot on the team. I'm not saying he should start this year or even next year but, for the the love of God, protect his eligibility so he has 2+ years left (at least) when he finally starts.

I think those were the tastiest bits of Joe's press conference. It's good to be back but even better to have some real PSU news to talk about!

GO STATE! PRACTICE HARD!