It’s an annual rite of football season — media day. Every year, media members who cover Penn State football are given an opportunity
to take photos and interview players. Media day was held on Saturday afternoon and while there was no big news to come out of the afternoon, there were some notable highlights.
In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll go inside media day, take a look at Penn State’s defensive line and look at the No. 3 moment of the year in Penn State athletics.
There are a lot of topics to hit, so let’s get right to it.
Media Day
It was a media day unlike any other during the Joe Paterno Era. Paterno ran through a gamut of emotions during his 45-minute news conference on Aug. 11 in the media room at Beaver Stadium.
He appeared irritated — at times — with some of the questions, but he also joked with reporters as he looked forward to the 2007 season, his 42nd season at the helm of the Nittany Lions.
After players were photographed and interviewed, Paterno touched on many different subjects. A look at some of the highlights:
(Joe Paterno meets the media at Media Day. Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Captains, Anyone?
One reporter asked Paterno who the captains are for the 2007 season.
Normally, the captains are named well before media day. The likely candidates for this season? Dan Connor, Anthony Morelli, Terrell Golden, A.Q. Shipley and Justin King.
Paterno said that the captains hadn’t been named as of yet because, well, he hasn’t decided what to do.
“I go around the block on that,” he said. “You can point a finger at me. I’m just not quite sure what’s best for this football team.”
Injury Update
Although Paterno said that there were no key injuries, a few players were banged up during preseason drills.
The most severe injury happened to freshman Devon Still, who tore an ACL in practice on Aug. 10.
“We had an injury yesterday that really bothered me. There’s a young kid by the name of Still who got an ACL yesterday and I’m pretty sure he’s out for the year,” Paterno said. “That was a real setback.”
Another player who got nicked up during practice is defensive tackle Phil Taylor. Paterno didn’t elaborate on Taylor’s status.
“He got bumped up a little bit. He’ll miss some time,” Paterno said.
Austin Who?
Paterno bristled when a reporter made the assumption that Austin Scott would be the starting running back when the season kicks off on Sept. 1 against Florida International.
“You shouldn’t make that assumption. That’s a lousy question,” Paterno said. “Austin Scott, Rodney Kinlaw, (Evan) Royster are all in the running for tailback.”
Whoever steps in back there will have the tough task of taking over for running back Tony Hunt, who is now plying his trade for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Softer Side
While Paterno was equal parts short-tempered and dismissive, he was also, at various times, his old, humorous self. It started before the assembled media even had a chance to deploy their recording devices.
As Paterno sat down in his chair, he looked to his right where a bombastic, divisive columnist who has long been an outspoken critic of the coach stood.
He addressed him by name and then said, with a smile on his face, “It’s been a long time. I haven’t felt anything in my back lately.”
In a long, involved answer about his feelings about the Big Ten Network, Paterno was in a joking mood again.
“Again, you’re talking to a dinosaur when it comes to some of the technology stuff. People talk about DirectTV,” he said. “If I can’t get a station on the television, I say, ‘Hey, Sue, this thing (the remote) isn’t working.’”
Then, when asked about how recruiting has changed through the years, Paterno delivered a classic response.
“I won’t embarrass him, but there’s some guy here in State College that’s sitting in the room,” he said, obviously referring to BWI
owner/publisher Phil Grosz.
“I can’t get over Mel Kiper (ESPN’s NFL Draft expert) saying this guy’s the No. 1 guy because of the way he moves his hips,” he said, his voice
quavering and body writhing, much to the delight of the media.
Paterno then tried to downplay team expectations by giving his own, humorous evaluation of the Nittany Lions through five days of preseason drills, so far.
“This media day before the season starts is always kind of comical to me,” he said. “It sounds like I’m being evasive, but I really don’t know. …
When we have drills, we go over bags and run backwards and all that kind of stuff. Hey, we look great.”
The news conference transitioned into a discussion about the challenges of fielding a young team.
“We have a blue line out there. I tell them, ‘When you cross the blue line, you’re mine. Don’t worry about your girlfriend. She’s probably downtown at the Rathskeller with a couple of guys,’” he said. “You can’t do anything about it. You can’t do anything about academics. You’re mine. You might as well make the most out of the 2 hours, or 2 hours, 10 minutes that we’ve got you out there.”
(Aaron Maybin is the sleeper along the defensive line. Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated.)
Breaking It Down: Defensive Line
There are no real studs along the defensive line. If you’re looking for a Tamba Hali on the 2007 Nittany Lions, forget it. There isn’t one.
At the depth chart released on media day, the projected starters are Josh Gaines (left end), Phil Taylor (left tackle), Jared Odrick (right tackle) and Maurice Evans (right end).
Taylor is nicked up, though, which could open things up for big Chris Baker.
Other names to watch along the defensive line are Abe Koroma and Ollie Ogbu, who are behind Odrick on the depth chart. However, my sleeper pick for the D-line this season is Aaron Maybin (6-4, 238). Although he’s listed behind Gaines, I expect Maybin to be a starter by midseason.
Maybe even sooner.
Top Moment No. 3
In NCAA men’s gymnastics, the two awards every team wants to win are the Nissen-Emery Award, emblematic of outstanding athletic achievement, academic excellence and sportsmanship, and the national championship trophy. Penn State won both.
The night before the two-day NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships were to start in Penn State’s Rec Hall, senior captain Matt Cohen was honored with the Nissen-Emery Award. He’s the first Nittany Lion recipient since Spider Maxwell in 1997 and the fifth in Penn State history.
Then, over the next two days, Cohen and his Nittany Lion teammates set about claiming Penn State’s record 12th NCAA championship.
Down 1.6 points heading into the last rotation, the Nittany Lions made up the difference to post their highest score of the year to edge powerhouse Oklahoma, 221-220.20 for the championship. It was the third national championship of coach Randy Jepson’s 16-year career
and the third since 2000.
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the editor of Blue White Illustrated, a sports publication devoted to Penn State sports. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in State College and Altoona. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.
