Paterno still in Mills’ corner
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Zack Mills has had a chance to rest his bruised shoulder and sore elbow, but it has yet to be seen whether the Penn State quarterback can return to form for Wednesday’s Capital One Bowl between the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions and No. 19 Auburn. When the season started, it was Mills who looked like a sure thing and Larry Johnson who had doubters. Now, some wonder whether the Penn State quarterback is experiencing a sophomore slump.
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville doesn’t count himself in that group.
“Their quarterback, I think, is their unsung hero,” Tuberville said Saturday. “He’s done a good job of maturing as this season’s gone on, making big plays. He can run, and they’ll run the option.”
But what he hasn’t done is throw the ball – at least, not as much as he once did.
The Nittany Lions came into the season expecting great things from Mills, who twice broke freshman passing records. Early this season he looked ready for a repeat performance, passing for 194 yards against Central Florida and 259 yards against Nebraska, and opening up the field for Penn State’s rushing game.
Mills got back into the record book with a 399-yard passing game against Iowa, the first of three consecutive games with 260 yards passing or more.
But since then, his numbers have fallen. Mills averaged just 132 passing yards in Penn State’s last six games, with only one 200-yard game in the group.
A sophomore slump? Not according to coach Joe Paterno.
“He didn’t have a slump. I don’t know what you guys are talking about,” Paterno said when asked late in the season about Mills’ numbers. “I think Zack has played great football all year.”
Paterno reiterated his support for Mills Saturday.
“I think Zack’s been a very good football player for us, a very good quarterback,” the Paterno said, adding that Mills has been more accurate – and more careful – than he was during an interception-prone freshman year.
“I’m a Zack Mills fan,” Paterno said. “The numbers don’t mean anything to me.”
Perhaps that’s because Mills’ numbers alone don’t tell the whole story.
While Mills was breaking passing records, Johnson was just another running back. When Johnson started putting up 250-yard rushing games, Mills no longer needed to throw as much.
“I think the fact that Zack could do certain things in there made it possible for us to do other things and give Larry some opportunities. It’s all about balance.”
It isn’t clear how much Mills’ wounded shoulder and elbow hindered his performance. Mills implied Saturday that he might have played down the extent of his injuries. Paterno said “bumps and bruises” had limited Mills’ practice time.
With just a couple days left before the bowl game, Mills said he’s ready to take the field again.
“One or two days it was bothering me down in St. Petersburg,” he said, referring to where the Nittany Lions practiced before coming to Orlando on Christmas Eve. “But ever since we got to Orlando, it hasn’t been bothering me at all.”