PENN STATE Offseason overloaded with media distractions

Joe Paterno claims the students are better, but under a bigger microscope.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- With one player awaiting trial on a sexual assault charge, another with multiple alcohol citations and a high-profile fight between football players and wrestlers, Penn State has had more than its share of offseason distractions.
But coach Joe Paterno, going into his 38th season as the Nittany Lions head coach, said Saturday that off-field distractions have always been part of the game -- it's the attention they're given by the media that has changed.
"I don't think it's more difficult to control kids at all. In fact, I think the kids are better -- I've said that 100 times. I think the problem is everything they do is magnified," Paterno said. "But honest to goodness, I really believe that the kids today are better because they're under more scrutiny."
Felony charges
Anwar Phillips, a defensive end, was charged last semester with sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault, second-degree felonies for which he could be sentenced to 10 years in prison for each charge.
Paterno, who has been criticized for allowing Phillips to play in the Capital One Bowl even after the nickel back had been temporarily expelled from the university, refused to say whether Phillips would play this year if he is acquitted at trial.
But early in his media day news conference, Paterno pointedly read parts of a letter he'd received saying that former quarterback Rashard Casey had received a cash settlement in his lawsuit against the Hoboken, N.J., police department.
During the 2000 season, Paterno was criticized for allowing Casey to play after he had been accused of assaulting a Hoboken police officer. A grand jury refused to charge Casey.
"I say that because I think some of you ought to take a good look at yourselves and realize that you've got to be careful how quickly you jump on the victims," Paterno said. "Rashard was a good kid. He was caught in a situation that was really something that was unfair to him."
Phillips' arrest hasn't been the only distraction since last season ended with a 13-9 loss to Auburn in the Capital One Bowl.
Drinking problem
E.Z. Smith, 20, one of just two veterans returning on the offensive line, was cited twice in one week this summer for underage drinking at the on-campus apartment where he lives.
"Right now, Smith's got his problems," Paterno said, refusing to elaborate or to say whether Smith would start when the season begins.
And last month, Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar opted not to file charges in an April fight between football players and wrestlers that sent two Penn State wrestlers to the hospital.
Gricar said those involved -- including the injured wrestlers -- were reluctant to talk about the fight, making it difficult to assess blame or bring charges.
But players said the incidents had not affected the team.