Get the lowdown on Joe Paterno's weekly press conference in our audio file below.
HEAR JOE PATERNO HERE.
SCOTT COLE'S QUICKCAP
1. Comment on the team's off the field problems.
Joe is not condoning the problems. You have to be
careful in evaluating what kids do in relation to
their obligation to their football team and
themselves. There are a couple of kids out there that
Joe is trying to figure out what to do about. They're
kids that won't contribute this year and their
obligation is different.
2. Were players involved in a fight over the weekend
and what is Scott's status?
Scott will not be with the team this week. Joe has
been alerted to the fact that there might have been
soime football players involved in a fight but until
he knows what happened, he will not comment. The team
is fine. Joe doesn't think it's appropriate to talk
about these things until he finds out exactly what
happened. Joe was hoping to talk about Wisconsin or
the way his team played against Iowa. Joe was pleased
with the way the team played against Iowa. Morelli
played a heck of a football game. He threw a couple of
interceptions, but he still played a heck of a
football game. These press conferences are supposed to
be about his football team not all of this other
stuff.
3. How confident are you in your depth at tailback
moving forward?
Kinlaw and Royster played well and Stephfon Green is
starting to work in there. Joe thinks they'll be ok at
the tailback spot.
4. Wisconsin had a 14-game winning streak snapped at
Illinois. Talk about what they've done well.
They've had a lot of good coaching. Bret Bielema is
young but he's done a great job. They've been
fortunate to have a couple of quarterbacks who have
done really well. Stocco had a lot of experience and
Donovan is doing really well this year. They don't
make a lot of mistakes. They expect to win which good
teams do. They've been the most consistent team in
terms of playing up to their abilities in the past two
seasons. Joe has looked at a lot of Wisconsin tapes in
order to learn something from them that he could apply
to his team.
5. Grade the team at the halfway point on performance
and leadership.
When you talk about leadership, you have to look at
Joe first. They've done well. They lost a couple of
games on bang bang plays. At Michigan, they had pass
interference called against them that wasn't pass
interference. They're getting better every week. Joe
likes the way the team is going. As for the
speculation on the off the field stuff, it is just
speculation at this point. Joe likes his football team
right now and thinks he has a good team. He expects
them to play well the remainder of the season. Whether
that's good enough to win remains to be seen.
6. Wisconsin looks a little different this year.
They're giving up more points than usual on defense
and are throwing more on offense.
Wisconsin is still really good. They lost to a really
good Illinois team that Joe thought would win that
game. Wisconsin is really solid. They had to throw
more last week because they fell behind. They are
good. They'll come to State College with a chip on
their shoulder. They'll play well and hopefully his
team is ready to play.
7. Talk about injuries.
Joe is critical that the conference plays 12 games in
12 weeks. Joe didn't practice the team yesterday
because he felt the team was getting tired. They won't
have Ollie Ogbu or Navorro Bowman on Saturday. They've
had some injuries on the offensive line and defensive
line this year. Maybe they've been fortunate to not
have many serious injuries. They have some kids who
are gutting it out and playing hurt. Joe knows the
team is tired because they've played some tough games
and don't have a week off.
People always look at graduation rates and don't
realize what it takes to get a high graduation rate.
Getting up early, going to classes and study hall,
lifting, practicing. That's not easy for a kid to do
what they ask him to do. When a kid steps out of
bounds a little off the field, you may not quite
understand that the kids aren't perfect and Joe is
very demanding on them.
8. PSU has won 18 of the last 19 at home. Why has the
team done so well?
Joe isn't concerned about what the team has done in
the past. He's only worried about the next game.
Wisconsin isn't going to care how many games PSU has
won at home recently. This is a big game for Penn
State. for this young team. They have to learn how to
win and how to handle a win. They have to understand
how good Wisconsin is and how hard they will have to
work in practice to be ready for this game.
9. Have you been surprised at how well Mike Lucian has
stepped in and played?
Mike has hung in there. He's not the greatest athlete.
He knows he has to have great technique. He's not a
big guy inside and is blocking guys that are 20-30
pounds bigger than he is and has done well. They've
faced some really good defensive tackles this season
like Iowa's Mitch King and have held their own.
10. Is Stephfon Green not going to redshirt? Do you
agree that Rich Ohrnberger is really coming on?
They need another tailback and Green is available. If
they need him, they're going to use him. He knows that
and he's anxious to play. He's a very talented kid
that's a true freshman. That's a no-brainer.
The reporter is right about Ohrnberger. Joe's only
problem with Ohrnberger is that he has made mental
mistakes in the clutch. He jumped offsides and held in
the past. He's only done something like that once this
season. He has gotten better because he's worked hard
and stayed healthy. The offensive line as a whole is
getting better. Lucian has worked hard and Landolt
never gets any credit and is playing well. Dick
Anderson and Bill Kenney have done a great job with
them.
The only major injury they had is Shaw who still isn't
100%. Once the line got healthy and stayed healthy,
they started playing better. You have to rely on your
buddy when you play offensive line. You have to know
that your buddy can do what you can do. They are
getting better but they're still a long way off from
where they have to get.
11. Are you as close to the kids as you have always
been?
Sure.
12. Is it frustrating that some of them aren't getting
the message?
Obviously when you get some kids that are true
freshmen and aren't going to play, the message is a
little different to them. They come out to practice,
work hard and do what is asked of them. The media is
making too big a deal of this.
13. Did the defense make a statement as they wanted to
against Iowa?
Yeah, they played well. The offense kept the ball
better than they had. That helped the defense by
allowing them to rest. The defense has made progress,
but they have a ways to go. They jump from where
Illinois hurt them late in the game to playing well
against Iowa. They have to keep getting better each
week.
14. Are you concerned with the public perception of
the program?
No, it's not the public perception. It's the
perception that the media creates. If someone wants to
get on a message board and shoot their mouth off,
that's fine. Joe can't worry about that and it doesn't
bother him one bit.
15. Are you concerned about the program's image?
No. They're nothing wrong with the program's image.
85-90% of the kids will graduate and are great kids.
Joe thinks it's a waste of his time and the media's
time to talk about this stuff.
16. Will the flip-flop of Lucian and Ohrnberger be
permanent?
It will depend. It doesn't really matter because both
kids can play either side. They're smart kids and know
both positions. They're more worried about the backup
kids.
17. Address the specific rule Austin Scott broke and
when will he return.
Joe already commented on Scott Saturday and has
nothing further to say on the subject.
18. Talk about the way you handle call-in show callers
that ask tough questions. Do you enjoy doing that
show?
Joe continues to do the show because he gets paid for
it. He enjoys it up to a point. He doesn't enjoy these
press conferences, but he has to do it. It comes with
the territory.
19. Evaluate Evan Royster's play and his health
status.
He has a bruised thigh but he'll play Saturday.
Royster's a good football player. He has really
practiced well and they were planning on working him
into games more. He's a solid kid. He's tough. He's
quick. He was the best lacrosse player in the state of
Virginia so you know he's a good athlete.
20. Talk about the overall talent you've received from
western PA.
PSU has been fortunate to have great players from all
over Pennsylvania. Sometimes more players have been
available in the west. Sometimes more have been in the
east. There are a few kids there this year that Penn
State is trying to get. They've gotten kids from all
over the place. Joe can't generalize. You go out and
look for kids that will fit into nthe program and will
help the team get better and buy into the idea of
going to class and graduating.
21. Have you expressed the concern over the lack of an
open date to the Big Ten?
Joe has griped and complained but the Big Ten doesn't
want to start early because of NCAA rules and they
don't want to go late because Michigan and Ohio State
don't want another game after their game and they have
a lot of influence in the conference. A kid needs a
week to get caught up on his studies. Joe has tried
hard to get that point across but he's just a voice in
the wilderness.
22. Will Royster play as much as he did against Iowa?
Joe would love to be able to know what's going to
happen each week, but he doesn't. Royster will play,
but how much he'll play will be determined on Saturday.
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