Calling Card: TB Evan Royster

See what Penn State's redshirt sophomore had to say to the media during his conference call Thursday morning.

Some highlight from redshirt sophomore tailback Evan Royster’s conference call Thursday.

• He was asked whether he is bothered by the attention redshirt freshman tailback Stephfon Green is receiving. “No. I never really thought of it as an insult to me. It’s his first year coming out and getting a chance to play, so people are going to be talking about him. I’m sure Rodney (Kinlaw) felt the same way last year; people were talking about me when I started to play.”

• He said the team has been working with the same basic base offense as last season, just with some twists. One of them is replacing the fullback with another tailback. In these sets, sometimes he or Green are asked to move to the “R” slot position. He expects to see much more action in the passing game this year. Overall, the two-TB set “can confuse the defense a lot. If we have two threats in the backfield, the linebackers have two people they are keying on; they can’t key on the one back.”

• He thinks he and Green complement one another. “Stephfon brings a different aspect to our team with his speed. … He opens things up for me. I can suck the defense in with the inside run, and he can break it outside.”

• Because he is doing a lot of work from the slot, he said he has been focusing on improving his pass-catching skills this spring. He played some wideout in high school, so that is helping. “I’m used to running routes.”

• He was asked if he would like to get 20-25 carries per game in 2008. “I think I’m capable doing it, but with the way our offense is going to be run this year, it’s going to be more in the 15-20 range. It doesn’t bother me, because they have me coming out of the backfield a lot.”

• He credited former Lions Tony Hunt and Kinlaw with helping him to develop. “Tony really showed me how to get up and down the field. When I first got here I was running side to side, trying to get away from people. Now I’m not so hesitant to lower my shoulder when I get inside. … Rodney taught me to compete. He pushed me to get better and showed me how to work hard.”

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