Ernesto expected to crash Penn State-Akron opener
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – For all the preseason talk at Penn State about the debut of the starting quarterback, the rebuilt offensive line and the new faces on defense, all eyes at Beaver Stadium on Saturday might be focused on the skies and a soggy field. Ernesto, or what was left of the tropical weather system, planned to crash the 19th-ranked Nittany Lions’ season opener against Akron, dumping possibly a couple inches of rain on State College.
Sloppy play might be the order of the day, so quarterback Anthony Morelli hopes those wet-ball drills at the end of practice pay off.
It is Morelli’s first game as Penn State starter and he wouldn’t mind making a good impression.
“I just want to go out and win as many games as I can,” Morelli said. “Just win and get to another bowl game.”
There’s lot of bowl talk in Happy Valley after last year’s resurgence, when coach 79-year-old Joe Paterno proved the game hadn’t passed him by. The Nittany Lions finished 11-1, captured the Big Ten title and won the Orange Bowl. Paterno grabbed coach of the year honors.
But JoePa isn’t done.
“I think when you get to the point where you’re not anxious to see a bunch of kids play, then I think it’s obviously time for me to get out of it. But I’m looking forward to watching them play,” said Paterno, entering his 41st season as Penn State head coach.
“But I’m not naive about where we are,” Paterno said. “We got a ways to go.”
Paterno may be tested by Akron, which has eight starters back on each side of the ball from last year’s Mid-American Conference champion team. Senior quarterback Luke Getsy threw for 3,455 yards and a school-record 23 touchdown passes in 2005.
Getsy arrived at Akron two years ago after transferring from Pitt, following former Pitt assistant and current Akron coach J.D. Brookhart’s path westward. Getsy redshirted and ran the scout team in 2004 before taking over last season.
“Year three is when it hits you in the system,” Brookhart said. “He’s more advanced because of that now. Probably more efficient at this point.”
All five starters return on the offensive line, though Getsy must incorporate new starters at tailback and wideout. Six-foot-4 Jabari Arthur caught three touchdowns last season and should take over as Getsy’s top target.
The Nittany Lions lost three linemen and the entire secondary from last year’s stellar defense. All-American linebacker Paul Posluszny returns after leaving the Orange Bowl with a serious right knee injury.
Posluszny said he’s 100 percent. An intense competitor with a tireless work ethic, Posluszny believes he still has room to improve, including getting better on the blitz. That might be important if Paterno gets worried that his athletic but young defensive line isn’t pressuring opposing quarterbacks enough.
On Saturday, “Pos” hopes the weather helps him out.
“Any time it rains, throwing the ball becomes really difficult,” he said. “Then you have a running game, and that helps the linebackers in a big way.”
Penn State should be OK at tailback with 1,000-yard rusher Tony Hunt, but Paterno isn’t sure yet what he’ll get from his offensive line. Only left tackle Levi Brown returns from last year’s crew.
If he gets time, the strong-armed Morelli will have inviting targets in game-breaking wideouts Deon Butler and Derrick Williams, who is back for the first time in 10 months after breaking his left arm in last October’s loss to Michigan.
Pass-rusher Jermaine Reid (seven sacks) and run-stopping tackle Kiki Gonzalez lead Akron’s unusual three-linemen, three-linebacker defensive scheme that Brookhart says could match up well if Penn State runs a spread offense.
“We’ve got to play really well,” Brookhart said. “They are going to make mistakes here and there, and we have to take advantage of it. If I ever sat here and said we can’t win, then they need to fire me.”