There’s no player or position that has given Penn State U. football coach Joe Paterno a lot to be pleased about.
During Tuesday’s Big Ten coaches’ spring teleconference, Paterno said after watching his team scrimmage Saturday, one thing is clear: The Nittany Lions have a lot of work to do.
“We’re not a very good football team right now,” Paterno said. “We’re just not very good.”
Paterno said the quarterbacks are “very average,” but their youth gives him optimism. While he doesn’t have a quarterback that has played more than 20 plays during the season, he didn’t want to blame his team’s mediocrity on inexperience.
He said while the team is young at key spots, he wants veteran skill players on both sides of the ball to step up.
Along with the quarterbacks, the “average” offensive line and the “terrible” kicking game, Paterno said his team needs to make the most of its remaining spring practices.
Penn State’s spring season concludes with the Blue-White Game on April 24.
“I think we have to be realistic and stop dreaming about all of a sudden the good Lord’s gonna come down and bless us,” Paterno said. “We’ve gotta go to work.”
Big Ten Expansion
It was an issue that was on every coach’s mind.
With every question that came up surrounding Big Ten expansion, Big Ten coaches said they know one thing is certain: They won’t be involved in the decision-making process.
However, that didn’t stop Paterno from speculating on the addition of at least one more team.
“When all of this happens, I’ll probably be out of this thing,” Paterno said. “I’d like to see our particular conference, the Big Ten, move east a little bit. I would like to see at least one team in the East because it would give us a little broader television market and a little bit more exposure.”
But coming up with this ideal pairing is something Paterno compared to a marriage. He said the Big Ten has to be willing to find a team — or teams — that share the same interests as the other 11 schools, both on and off the field. The school would have to place a high value on academics and wouldn’t be a school the other teams in the Big Ten could just “kick around,” he said.
With Paterno’s estimation, conferences may expand to as many as 16 teams. He said it would be naïve to think the Big Ten could keep pace if it didn’t move ahead.
And the other coaches agreed expansion will continue to be talked about until a plan is settled or dismissed.
“On one hand I would say it’s inevitable,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It just seems to be the way college football is going right now. If it happens, and when it happens, I won’t be surprised. If it doesn’t happen
that won’t shock me either.”
Pryor continuing to mature
Ohio State U. coach Jim Tressel said his junior quarterback is playing well through the first seven spring practices, but his expectations for Terrelle Pryor are rising.
Pryor spent the spring working on his footwork, something Tressel said has helped the quarterback as he progresses through his reads. Tressel said he started seeing improvements in his quarterback during Rose Bowl practice, and he’s using that maturation as a springboard into this season.
With two seasons under his belt, Pryor has a much better understanding of his receivers’ routes and is comfortable taking the check down, Tressel said. While Pryor’s demeanor through spring practices was described as calm, Tressel said the quarterback needs to increase the tempo of the offense.
On the field, Tressel said he isn’t surprised by the success Pryor had during his first two seasons, but he wants his signal caller taking on a more prominent role.
“The other thing Terrelle will continue to work on, and it’s going to be important for this team is to have him continue to emerge as a leader,” Tressel said. “I think the better you do your craft and the more confidence you have in your craft, the more you have a chance to be a leader.”