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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 31, 2010

Joe Paterno

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach.

Q. Joe, what have you seen from your quarterbacks during camp, and when do you expect to name a starter?
COACH PATERNO: Well, obviously it's going to be an experience right now. There isn't anybody who has played much. We can't make up our mind. We were going to try to make it up last week, and then I said, "No, let's make sure we know what we're doing."
So we'll probably make up our mind in the next day or two, we'll start, but we'll probably play a couple of kids. I mean, you just don't know what you're going to get, because none of them have been under a lot of pressure. So we'll see what happens.

Q. Joe, how significant is Andrew Szczerba's back injury, and how do the younger guys look that can play behind him?
COACH PATERNO: It's not good. He hasn't practiced one play. I don't know when they're going to let him go. But he's really not going to go this week. He hasn't practiced this week. He has not practiced yet.
He's had that problem -- it bothered him in high school, and he just -- he just can't do it. He can't do it. He's trying. He's a good kid. He's working hard. He's trying to get himself where he could play some. But we've already red shirted him. It's not a question of a red shirt, it's just a question of whether we can get him ready.

Q. What's the latest you've ever told a quarterback that he would be a starter for your opener? And do you like doing it this late into a preseason?
COACH PATERNO: I can't remember when the latest we named the starting quarterback, made a decision on it. And I'm being honest about that, because I really don't.
I don't know how late we've been relative to where we are with these kids. But obviously I'd like to get -- I'd like to make a decision so they feel comfortable and they can look forward to one of them getting in there and seeing what he can do. I don't know whether we can -- let me put it another way.
Let me start it a little differently. Every one of the four kids who are out there have potential. Every one of them have a chance to be pretty good. None of them have any experience. You're not sure what's going to happen when you put them in a ball game.
So I'm really every day somebody does something that's -- you walk off the field feeling pretty good about it. The next day, he may make a couple of real bad mistakes.
So we're just playing it by ear day-by-day, and that's one of the reasons why we're so late in making a selection. I think potentially there's talent there. But right now it's not -- they're just not that comfortable yet and we'll have to see what happens.
Obviously we have to make a decision to start one of them. And we, hopefully, will maybe do it tomorrow night.

Q. I'm sorry if I missed it. I was wondering if you could talk about what you like about the two freshmen quarterbacks, what you've seen from them in August?
COACH PATERNO: I've seen some potential in the young quarterbacks, all four of them, as I just said. But none of them have had any real game experience. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from them in a ball game. They were taught.
They can all throw the football. They're big enough. And you would hope that eventually they're going to be fine quarterbacks. Whether they're going to be able to get that done with the schedule we're playing, that's a tough call right now.
But the two youngest of the four young ones, you know, we've got to see what happens. But we're going to have to play it by ear.
I know you guys want me to be a little bit more definitive as to what we're going to do, but I gotta be honest with you, we really have just -- we've got some kids that we really like and we think are going to be good and there's more than one.
But at this stage, I couldn't tell you which one's going to come to the front as the guy that's going to lead the team or whether we have one who can handle the kind of situations that a quarterback is going to have to handle as the season goes on.

Q. I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about how Stephon Morris's neck injury has progressed and his recovery and how has Chaz done stepping in for him?
COACH PATERNO: Chaz moved -- we had him on defense. He was on defense. Now vice versa. We have him on offense. Moves to him defense now we've moved him back to offense. He's a gifted kid.
He has to do two things. Number one, he's got to be a little bit more consistent in what we does. He has a tendency once in a while to kind of drift away as far as concentration. And the other thing is he has to stay healthy. He's bumped up and he's had some bumps and bruises, but I think he's got the potential to be a good player on either side of the football.
We've had some tough injuries on the offensive side of the football. So we've decided to move him back to offense.

Q. Chaz is going to be a receiver again, is that what you're saying right now?
COACH PATERNO: Who?

Q. Chaz is going to be a receiver right now, is what you're saying?
COACH PATERNO: Talking about Chaz Powell, he's an offensive player. I hope he does a lot of different things. I don't think anybody these days is just a receiver. They're runners and everybody's throwing out that little quick screen out there on the fly which is nothing but an end run. So you've got to be a good runner. Gotta block.
So there's a lot of things you just gotta do.

Q. Just wanted to ask you about the linebacker situation. It sounds like you've got some good depth there. Could you comment on the depth, and specifically on how Michael Mauti made it through the preseason?
COACH PATERNO: Let me start with the last part of your question. Mauti was fine. I don't think he missed a day or missed a practice. I think he's fine.
And I think your observation that we add some depth there is accurate. We've got at least five, maybe six kids that are good athletes who can be good linebackers.
Couple of them are a little bit behind and I won't get into names. But there's a couple of them just a little bit behind where they have to be in order to be able to handle some of the situations that they're going to face.
But overall, I think linebacker situation should be one of our stronger spots.

Q. Getting back to the quarterback situation. Do you have guys that you see that it could be situational type quarterbacks like short yardage, long yardage, goal line situations, one particular guy might be used for those particular things?
COACH PATERNO: I've tried to -- I don't know what we're going to do with the quarterbacks, period. And I think that ought to end the discussion. I'm getting tired of talking about it.
We've got kids that are good kids, good athletes. They're working hard. And they like the kind of game experience, and they like the kind of experience you like to see at quarterback when you're playing the kind of schedule we're playing. Period. I don't know what else I can add to it.

Q. On the depth chart that we have as of August 29th, you have Chaz Powell first string at cornerback. Just to be clear, you're saying he's been moved to offense and if he has did that just happen in the last couple of days, and where should he be on the depth chart?
COACH PATERNO: Well, I thought everybody knew we had moved him. Doesn't everybody know we moved him? I thought everybody knew. We moved him because we got some people bumped up. Green's hurt. Kid from Philly, Drake, he's banged up. We needed somebody over there to do some of the things those guys could do, not only be running backs, good receivers, guys that could maybe make something happen.
And right now Chaz is back learning, because we've changed the offense some. We've had to because of the lack of experience certain positions, the fact that Szczerba is not at tight end. We're going to have to start with a new tight end and so forth.
So we've had to make some adjustments. And Powell's working his way into that. But he's a very, very talented athlete. And I think after a while, I don't know how soon, I don't want to make a prediction on that. But I think pretty quick he's going to be a guy that can make some kind of a contribution to our football team, on the offensive side of the football.
If something happened to one or two of those corners on defense, he might be back on defense.

Q. Devon Still impress you in camp, and do you view him as a similar style player to what Jared Odrick gave you last year?
COACH PATERNO: I know he was talking about Still. He was good last year. I think Still's a good football player. Works hard gotta stay healthy. Everyone's got to stay healthy these days. But I think he's had a pretty good preseason, good spring. I think he played well last year. He got overshadowed by all the other kids, the kid who went in the first round. So Still's a good player and he's had a pretty good preseason.

Q. Given the fact that you've said that you have some concerns about your offensive line and maybe that's going to take a while to shake out, how much will your decision on who plays at quarterback be determined on who is best able to handle? And it may be a situation in which he doesn't have the best protection.
COACH PATERNO: That quarterback thing. I don't know what we're going to do. We're just trying to put this football team together right now. The offensive lines have made big strides. I think we've developed a little depth.
We may not be too deep in that offensive line, but we're getting close to it. And I don't think that's going to have a lot to do with what we decide to do with the quarterbacks. I think what we decide to do with the quarterbacks will depend on the quarterbacks.
What they can do, what kind of pressure they can handle, what they're comfortable doing, without too many surprises happening to them so they get, they start to wonder what's going on. So we're trying to keep it to where they're comfortable and they can get some things going, can make some things happen. The offensive line is coming along pretty good.

Q. How close are you to naming captains, and do you have any concerns, a few guys that you can rely on to be reliable captains?
COACH PATERNO: We selected captains two days ago. Ogbu is the defensive captain and Brackett is the offensive captain. That's a vote by the players.

Q. Want to clarify a couple of things with a depth chart. With Powell on offense is it Lynn and Morris your cornerback on the first string? With Powell on offense, is it Lynn and Morris as first string cornerback?
COACH PATERNO: Corner? One of two corners would be -- the two corners that played for us last year. Yes, Morris and Lynn.

Q. And then you said at the beginning you anticipated playing a couple of quarterbacks this weekend. The depth chart listed Bolden, Cadogan and Newsome, do you anticipate playing all three of them?
COACH PATERNO: Corners.

Q. I'm talking about quarterback now.
COACH PATERNO: I don't know. I'm trying to give you some insight as to exactly what we're thinking. We're trying to just not put too much pressure on any single one of them. We're trying not to go out there and say, okay, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, because all three of them -- all four of them, even the Jones kid who we have tentatively decided to red shirt, they can all do certain things and we've got to figure out exactly -- we don't know enough by Youngstown. I'm worried about Youngstown because it's been very difficult, new coach, new coordinators, to know exactly what to expect.
So we have to play that by the seat of our pants for a while in that ball game, and that may have some bearing on how we end up with the quarterback situation.

Q. Was part of the reason you decided to red shirt Jones is because Bolden came in and played so well?
COACH PATERNO: Jones had a bad start academically. I thought he's a good kid, and he's got a lot of -- they're all pretty close. And I don't want to come in here and tell you any one stands out above the other athletically. They're all -- they can move. They can throw the football. All have good motions.
It's just a question now -- one of these everybody's got to come together and this is the team. We're not there yet. Have been a great bunch of kids to work with. We've had -- I don't know whether we've had a better preseason than we have with this group. No problems. Knock on wood.
And worked hard. Anything we've asked them to do they've done. We've made a lot of progress. But we're still not there yet.

Q. Academic --
COACH PATERNO: He's all right. He did all right. But I'm a little nervous about it. Nervous about a couple other kids, too. I'm not going to get into them, so don't ask me who they are.

Q. Are you comfortable with your special teams at this point?
COACH PATERNO: Well, you know, obviously that's going to be very important. There again, I think we're solid at place kicker. I think we've got an experienced kicker there.
Right now we'll probably start Fera, who had been a place kicker when we recruited him. He'll probably be a place kicker. I think there's a lot of little things involved in it.
I think we're going to be all right there. I think we spend an awful lot of time on the kicking game this preseason. So I think hopefully that will pay off.

Q. You mentioned Green was injured.
COACH PATERNO: A little bit of a neck injury. Something it's kind of a carry-over from high school.

Q. Do you expect him to play Saturday?
COACH PATERNO: Well, depends on how things work out this week. But we're not sure. So Powell's insurance.

Q. You also said you hoped to be on the field this year. Has that been decided?
COACH PATERNO: I'm on the field. I haven't missed one play in practice. And I don't intend to miss any games, any plays.

Q. You said that you thought this is a 50-year anniversary of the stadium. You thought it would be the ruination of Penn State football to come out here from Beaver Field?
COACH PATERNO: Years ago. 50 years ago, absolutely.

Q. I'm wondering if you like the atmosphere at Beaver Field and how long you feel it took to develop the kind of atmosphere you felt good about?
COACH PATERNO: I don't think there's any mystery about the fact that when Rip Engle who was the head coach at the time came in and said the president wants to move the stadium because of the fact that he needed that ground for graduate school. We almost stuck the graduate school in there at the time.
I said, "You can't let them do that, Rip, it will ruin Penn State's football." Because we were close to the (inaudible) and people were used to coming up there. We had a nice parking area across the street where the golf course was and the whole bit.
Show you how smart I am. It was a great move. And I think it's worked out obviously very, very well. Thanks to a guy like (inaudible) had a lot to do with it because he's very innovative in making it something special with the tailgating and RVs and all that kind of stuff.
I think it's a fun weekend. It's amazing how many people come up here even for, if we have a football team we don't know how good or bad it is yet, and yet we'll have a great crowd Saturday.

Q. With such a young team, can you talk about the importance of leadership and who outside of your two captains has stepped forward into leadership roles for you?
COACH PATERNO: Well, we've got -- there again, until we get into a situation where somebody -- when things aren't going right, somebody can walk into that huddle and grab a couple guys and say, come on, let's get this thing.
I've often thought football teams sometimes a little bit like the kids that landed in Normandy. When they landed on Normandy and the Germans had them pinned down and were shooting the devil out of them on D Day, imagine not a lot of credit, but there was a whole bunch of young officers who said to their group: Let's get the devil out of here and led them off and kind of responded to the adversity.
Until we get where we have some guys respond to some adversity, it's very difficult to tell you just what kind of leadership we have right now.
I think we're going to have good leadership, but we've got to have some things happen and kids get a little confidence in themselves and they have a little success in some tough situations and some of guys, as I said, they go in the huddle, grab a couple of guys and say let's get going. And that's enough.
And when you get that, then you've got some leadership.

Q. How has Astorino responded after the injury?
COACH PATERNO: Just fine. Once in a while he gets sore and take an hour off. But overall it's been fun.

Q. We've seen Evan in practice and talk about what you're looking for out of him, what do you see for Evan Royster with him being proactive and going toward the fall?
COACH PATERNO: I don't know where you're coming from. I'm not sure I know what you want.
Maybe that's why I didn't -- Evan Royster has got to -- he's a little heavy. He's about 220. And I keep telling him that he's not going to have the kind of endurance he needs unless he loses some weight. But he knows what's going on. And he's a good back. He's a good back.
I think he's one step away, maybe a little bit just a little bit more intensity away from being better.

Q. Earlier this week the diocese named the new Catholic center in the neighborhood after Sue. How proud are you of that and how happy are you for her?
COACH PATERNO: Oh, this morning they had a ceremony, ground breaking ceremony. Well, she's a very unusual woman. She's done a wonderful job with all -- we've had benedictions here for 40 years. And she's fed them. She's helped with a lot of different things. And as most of you know, she's been very active with special Olympics.
There isn't a week that doesn't go by that somebody doesn't give her a call and ask her to pray for somebody that's either sick or has some problems. And we're going to have -- she's been a real asset. I'm very proud of her. I'm very proud of her.
She's a wonderful mother. Five kids, 17 grandkids. They all showed up this morning for the ceremony. So I was really pleased that they would name the new Catholic youth center after her, because I think she deserves it.
And I've been very fortunate. Have not had any problems -- when I go home at the end of the tough practice or lost a football game, I go home and there will be a nice plate of pasta, a little ravioli and spinach in it. And you guys have heard me tell that story a thousand times. When I told my mom, I'm getting married, she said, "Are you marrying that little German girl?" And I said, "Yeah." My mom says, "What the hell are you going to eat?" You guys have heard that story.

Q. You said Szczerba is going to be out this week. What have the other tight ends shown you so far this year?
COACH PATERNO: They haven't had a chance to do much. They're learning. There's a kid from Jersey there that's going to be all right. Gilliam is a Central Pennsylvania kid. There's so much to learn. Gilliam one time we thought was going to be a defensive end. But Szczerba -- Szczerba's been hurt not only in preseason practice, he's been hurt during the winter program.
So we thought he would be okay. And we didn't want to take some of those kids and put them in at tight end, but we had to put them. And they're working hard at it. And we've got a ways to go.

Q. Are you confident the interior offensive line, Jonny had some problems earlier in practice. But he seems to be working himself back. Are you comfortable with Doug at center and DeOn'tae as two guards?
COACH PATERNO: Now you're talking about the offensive line.

Q. The interior, with Doug at center. Are you confident with that, with that lineup going into the first game?
COACH PATERNO: Yeah, you get -- I think that they're taught, as I said earlier, we've made I think a lot of improvement. We lost a couple of kids, set back a little bit. Eliades has been hurt. He's missed a couple of days. He's okay. He'll be practicing today.
I think we've made progress there, and I think we're not -- we'll get better. If they get a little bit more comfortable and anticipate some things a little bit better, I think we'll get better.
But as of now we're very encouraged. We're encouraged. We're not home free yet. We go out there and sometimes work against the offensive line, works against some of our downed defensive guys they have some problems. But I think overall we've made strides, and I think inside and at tight end obviously is going to be a little bit of a problem for us for a while. But I think even there we're getting better. We're getting better.

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