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Another league title would be rewarding for QB, who will have young WRs, line.
Daryll Clark’s mantra this week was “more of the same.”
Not that the Penn State quarterback would let on if the offense were going to be dramatically different from last season. But dusting off the old playbook from 2008 sounds just fine to him.
“I think the only thing different is just the new faces,” Clark said. “Nothing’s really changed with the offense and the playbook. It’s basically the same stuff as last year, and I’ll run the plays accordingly. Just moving the chains and executing.”
When the Nittany Lions open up the 2009 campaign at noon today against Akron, they’re hoping that the new numbers on offense add up to the same results. Namely 10-12 wins and a second consecutive Big Ten title.
Much of the focus will be on the new starters at receiver and on the offensive line. Just as important, however, will be Clark maintaining the same role in the offense.
There had been some hand-wringing this offseason that Penn State would have to play it safe with Clark because of a lack of experience behind him.
With Pat Devlin’s transfer to Delaware, the Lions enter this season without a backup who has taken a single live snap in a college game. The top two reserves will be true freshman Kevin Newsome and redshirt freshman Matt McGloin, a former walk-on from West Scranton who was awarded a scholarship for this season in August.
Might the coaching staff ease up on designed running plays for Clark to make sure he stays healthy?
“No, and Daryll can’t play that way,” quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said. “The minute you start to play with a fear of something happening or coach with a fear of something happening, then bad things do happen. Because you start to play the game the way you shouldn’t play.
“Most guys don’t get hurt when they’re being aggressive; they get hurt when they’re being conservative. So we’re gonna play our game and he’s gonna play his game. That’s what makes him Daryll.”
Clark’s running ability – improvised or otherwise – resulted in 282 yards and 10 touchdowns for him on the ground, a significant portion of the Lions’ offense.
Heading into today’s opener, it’s too early to tell if Clark will be forced to run more because he no longer has Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams around as targets.
With the first three opponents on the schedule being Akron, Syracuse and Temple, it might take a bit to see exactly what the offense’s deficiencies are.
“We can’t say we’re only going to do this or that with Clark if we don’t have certain people that can (help) him,” coach Joe Paterno said. “We’re out to win games. We’re out to have the best team we can have. That means if we have to use Clark to run the football, we’re gonna use Clark to run the football.
“If we have really good wideouts and an offensive line that can do a good job in pass protection, I’d prefer not to run him a lot until the other kids come along.”
Those kids would be Newsome and McGloin, whom Paterno would like to take a look at in the game today – if only because it would mean the Lions were winning big in the second half.
McGloin impressed Paterno with his work on the scout team in 2008. Newsome got a leg up on his college career by graduating from high school a semester early and enrolling at Penn State in January.
“Both Kevin and Matt, they’re freshmen. There’s a lot of things to learn,” Joe Paterno said. “One of the problems we have in an opening game is we’re not quite sure what they’re going to get defensively. So you have to throw a lot of stuff at them.
“But we’re not gonna go out there and fall behind against Akron and say, ‘Well, we don’t want to get Clark hurt.’ I can’t isolate it for you that way. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to do until I find out what kind of team I got. And I won’t know that until a few weeks from now.”
NOTES
Redshirt freshman linebacker Michael Zordich was charged with DUI and underage drinking on Thursday, according to Centre County court documents.
The date of the alleged incident was not listed.
According to the criminal docket, Zordich, 19, was pulled over by university police for driving without his headlights on.
His blood-alcohol content was listed as being above .16. The legal limit in Pennsylvania is .08, but anything above 0.0 is punishable by law for drivers under 21.
Zordich, the son of former Penn State All-America safety Mike Zordich, has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 7.
PSU GAME DAY
Akron (0-0)
at No. 8 Penn State (0-0)
Noon, today, Beaver Stadium
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: WILK-AM (910, 980, 1300)
Web: www.gopsusports.com