Another week, another win for the Penn State football team.
In Week Three, the Nittany Lions feasted on their latest cupcake, Syracuse. It wasn’t much of a contest as the No. 16 Lions rolled over the Orange, 55-13. In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll look at a disturbing trend inside the Penn State football program, look ahead to Saturday’s game with Temple and have another edition of 10 Questions.
We’ll start with some opinion — did you expect anything less?
Joe’s Problem
It’s time to send out an alert to Penn State fans. If you listen to the talk shows, you’ve heard it. If you peruse the message boards, you’ve read it. And if you watch the games, you’ve seen it.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno has talked openly about it. It’s the fact that he puts certain players above the team.
Last season, it was Anthony Morelli. This season, it appears, it’s going to be Derrick Williams.
Before looking at what has gone on already in 2008, we must first look back to 2007, when the dysfunctional foundation was laid.
One of Morelli’s favorite lines was that “big time players make big time plays in big time games.” Yet he rarely made those big plays.
More often than not, Morelli was the one throwing bad balls and turning the ball over in crucial situations.
The Illinois game is the perfect example. He had three critical interceptions in the second half of the contest and fumbled as Penn State was driving for what could have been the tying score.
At Michigan, Morelli turned the ball over on Penn State’s first drive. It gave the Wolverines momentum and they hung on for an improbable
14-9 victory.
Simply put, there were times, last season, that begged for Morelli to be taken out of the ballgame. Yet Paterno never did. Even at the urging of his quarterbacks coach,
Jay Paterno, the elder Paterno never relented.
He addressed it at media day.
“I’ve said this before, and many of you heard me say it last year when we were in the middle of the year, Jay Paterno, the quarterback coach, wanted me to play (Daryll) Clark more,” Paterno said.
But rarely did we see Clark. Not until the final game of the year, when he came in against Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. With Clark in the game, he gave Penn State a spark, an added dimension.
He finished the night with 50 yards on six carries. One could make the argument that without Clark in the game, Penn State loses.
Now I’m not making the argument that Morelli should have been benched, he should not have. However, when he was having a bad day as he was at Michigan and Illinois, the coach shouldn’t have hesitated on pulling the plug on his afternoon.
I’ve often compared quarterbacks to a pitcher in baseball. A responsible manager doesn’t let his starter stay in there and get hammered, does he? No, of course not. You get the reliever in the game to try to salvage things. The same thing should be done on the gridiron. If a QB is having a bad afternoon, get out the hook. Throw in the backup and see what he can do. If he fares well, maybe he pulls the game out of the fire. At the worst, you’ve started a quarterback controversy. At best, maybe you win a game you shouldn’t have.
But Paterno wouldn’t play Clark. Now here’s the disturbing part — Paterno didn’t want to play Clark because of you. That’s right, you crazy fans. But you don’t get all the credit. He didn’t want to play Clark because of people like me. That’s right the evil media.
Play Clark, he thought, and he lets us win.
“I could see where (Jay) was coming from, that Clark had some things he could do. But Morelli was getting so much flak, I didn’t feel it was fair to Morelli or that it would be in the long run an advantage for us all of a sudden to stick Clark in there,” Paterno said. “It would almost be a sign, yeah, we agree with people, when I didn’t think it was fair, so I backed away from that.”
Excuse me? Since when are the fragile feelings of one player more important than the entire team?
Well, just when you thought it couldn’t happen, history is beginning to repeat itself. This season, Morelli has been replaced by Derrick Williams, the senior wideout from Greenbelt, Md. Yes, Williams came to Penn State as the nation’s No. 1 recruit. He certainly can be a playmaker. We’ve seen that throughout his career. Heck, we saw it in Week 1 when he returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.
Is Paterno on a mission to get Derrick Williams the ball, no matter what?
(Blue White Illustrated)
But we’ve also seen a Williams who cannot break the big play. A Williams who runs into a pile, who cannot evade the first tackler.
Against Syracuse, a Williams who had a couple of bad drops.
Your 2008 Nittany Lions are loaded with weapons. Deon Butler. Jordan Norwood. Brett Brackett. Stephfon Green. Evan Royster. Brent Carter.
Chaz Powell.
But you can bet your bottom dollar that Williams will get his touches this season. How do I know? The coach told me so. Following the 66-10 romp over the Chanticleers, Paterno said that he will make sure that Williams gets his hands on the football, one way or another.
“I keep saying this, but the hardest part of coaching is getting the right kid into the right place doing the right thing at the right time,” Paterno explained. “It’s not easy. You run into some problems sometimes. You try to give a kid like Derrick Williams since it’s his last year and has high aspirations. I’m going to make sure we give him every chance as opposed to some other kid who may have potential.
They’re all judgment calls.”
So even though there might be a kid who’s faster (Green), who makes better catches in traffic (Norwood) and who gets away from his defenders better (Butler), Williams will continue to get the football.
Not because he’s the best. But because he hasn’t lived up to the high expectations that came along as the top recruit in the country.
So yes, Paterno is on a mission to make him the next Reggie Bush. It might cost the Nittany Lions a win or two along the way, but who’s counting?
Jordan Norwood sits down for a session of 10 questions.
(Blue White Illustrated)
Looking Ahead: Temple
If you’re hoping to see the Nittany Lions get tested this week, think again. Temple is all that stands in between the Lions and a 4-0 start.
Have no fear.
Although Temple is much-improved under former Penn State tight end Al Golden, the Owls won’t be able to hang with the Lions for more than a quarter. Quarterback Adam DiMichele isn’t bad, but he cannot do it all by himself.
It will be a rout, but Paterno won’t run this one up because he likes Golden.
Gantdaily.com prediction: Penn State 44, Temple 14.
10 Questions: Jordan Norwood
This week, gantnews.com catches up with the senior wideout.
GD: Three things always in your refrigerator?
JN: Milk, butter and bottled water.
GD: Who would play you in a movie?
JN: Probably my little brother.
GD: XBox or PlayStation? XBox.
JN: XBox.
GD: The Last Book You Read?
JN: Bad Luck and Trouble, I read it on the plane going to the Phillipines.
GD: Favorite All-Time Movie?
JN: V for Vendetta.
GD: If I didn’t go to Penn State, I would have gone to?
JN: Maybe Texas Tech.
GD: If not football, what sport?
JN: Basketball.
GD: Your ride?
JN: Nissan Pathfinder.
GD: Funniest or best thing Joe ever said to you?
JN: He’s constantly calling me Brian. I think that’s pretty funny.
GD: Favorite Penn State Moment?
JN: Winning the Orange Bowl, definitely.
In addition to writing for gantnews.com Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue White Illustrated, a sports publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.
