JoePa: Penn St. leaders must keep team focused

The veteran head coach will return to the sidelines this season.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Joe Paterno considers himself just as much a teacher as a football coach. One of his first lessons to his No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions this offseason was to stay out of trouble.

The spring and summer have been peppered with headlines straight from the police blotter — most notably an off-campus fight in April involving key safety Anthony Scirrotto.

So Paterno pleaded for leaders to step up to keep the team focused as he prepares to return to the sideline from a right leg injury.

“The biggest thing you learn is you got to think,” said receiver Terrell Golden, who has emerged as one of those leaders. “It’s happened, that’s over with, and right now we’ve moved on and we’re trying to focus on becoming a great football team.”

Schedule favorable

The schedule seems to work in their favor, with the tough games against Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Ohio State at home. A Sept. 22 contest at Michigan should be their toughest road test.

Defeat the Wolverines and the Nittany Lions stand a better chance of capping Paterno’s record-breaking 42nd season as head coach with a Big Ten title. JoePa is set to pass Amos Alonzo Stagg, who led the University of Chicago for 41 seasons (1892 to 1932).

Penn State has the talent to succeed this season at several skill positions.

“We’re a pretty good football team right now, we’re not great. We’ve got a ways to go,” Paterno said.

The receiving corps is chock-full of options for gunslinging quarterback Anthony Morelli. Deon Butler went from walk-on defensive back to Penn State’s leader in receptions the last two seasons.

Jordan Norwood’s slight 5-foot-10 build hasn’t prevented the junior from roaming across the middle for tough catches. Six-foot-5 sophomore tight end Andrew Quarless emerged as a pass-catching threat late in 2006.

Then there’s speedy junior Derrick Williams, the former top recruit dogged by questions that he underperformed his sophomore year. Williams, who had 40 catches and one touchdown, often couldn’t break away for big plays against wary defenders.

“He’s put an awful lot of pressure on himself, because there isn’t a guy on the team that works harder than Derrick Williams does,” Paterno said. “And I think this is a key year for him.”

Morelli back at quarterback

Morelli had his ups and downs, finishing on a high note with a nice performance in the Outback Bowl against Tennessee in January. The senior said he’s ready to improve in this, his second season as starter.

But to stay close to Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State, the Nittany Lions will need more consistency in the red zone, where many drives often stalled last year.

“That is something that we’re talking about all the time, working on it, trying to make some plays,” Paterno said.

He would like improvement from the offensive line, which has been reshuffled this season with the loss of left tackle Levi Brown to the NFL. And Penn State needs a capable replacement for hard-nosed tailback Tony Hunt, now with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Redshirt senior Austin Scott, hampered by injuries throughout his collegiate career, hopes he can step in and build on his last game — 110 yards and two touchdowns against Florida State in the 2006 Orange Bowl.

On defense, Paterno will again turn to his linebackers for big plays — this is Linebacker U., after all.

No Paul Posluszny? Should be no problem, with senior Dan Connor moving from outside to inside linebacker now that “Pos” has moved on to the Buffalo Bills.

Connor leads defense

Penn State’s second leading tackler (113) last year behind Posluszny, Connor might be a step quicker and more explosive than the two-time captain.

“Leadership? It’s fine by me. They can put it on me,” said Connor, the only senior likely to start on defense. “I’m the oldest guy on defense, so I’m expecting that.”

While Paterno has been harping about his lack of seniors — only four returning starters are seniors — there are several capable juniors with lots of experience, like outside linebacker Sean Lee, another playmaker in the mold of Connor and Posluszny.

Junior Josh Gaines is the only returning starter on the defensive line, which may be a concern. There’s a bevy of promising sophomores for defensive coordinator Tom Bradley to plug in, though no one with starting experience.

The opposite is true in the secondary, which returns three starters, including shut-down corner Justin King. He’s so talented that NFL draft analysts are already wondering whether he’s good enough to leave after this, his junior season.

Hard-hitting Tony Davis (Howland) has moved from corner to safety next to Scirrotto, a ballhawk who emerged in 2006 to lead the Big Ten with six interceptions.