|
QB
Anthony Morelli |
|
|
2006
Statistics |
Coach:
Joe Paterno
363-121-3,
41 years |
2006
Record: 9-4 |
|
AKRON |
WON
34-16 |
at
Notre Dame |
LOST
17-41 |
YOUNGSTOWN
ST |
WON
37-3 |
at
Ohio State |
LOST
6-28 |
NORTHWESTERN |
WON
33-7 |
at
Minnesota |
WON
28-27 (OT) |
MICHIGAN |
LOST
10-17 |
ILLINOIS |
WON
26-12 |
at
Purdue |
WON
12-0 |
at
Wisconsin |
LOST
3-13 |
TEMPLE |
WON
47-0 |
MICHIGAN
STATE |
WON
17-13 |
OUTBACK
BOWL |
Tennessee |
WON
20-10 |
|
2006
Final Rankings
AP-24, Coaches-25, BCS-UR
|
2007
Outlook |
As
long as he keeps bringing in great
recruiting classes and can stand on
the sideline (or sit in the booth,
as he was forced to do last year),
Joe Paterno will continue producing
a winner there at State College. He
solved their losing woes when he brought
in Galen Hall to replace his son Jay
as OC, but QB Anthony Morelli struggled
last year as a junior first-year starter
in Hall’s system, so the difference
between finishing with three or more
loses and contending for the Big Ten
title as a top 15 team will be the
strong-armed senior. In ’06,
State lost to the teams that were
better than them and beat the rest,
solidifying the conclusion that there
are just a few adjustments needed
for them to return to the upper echelons
of college football, but that they
are a respectable club that has an
especially strong back seven and offensive
line. Besides Morelli needing to step
up, the other major component most
needing attention is the defensive
front, which was gutted by departures.
And just in case you are new to this
sport/team, PSU will continue to play
“Pennsylvania Mountain Ball”
– old-school, smashmouth, no-frills
offense with a big, speedy defense
that grinds out physical wins. The
good news is Wisconsin, Ohio State
and Notre Dame all come to Happy Valley;
the bad news is State lost to all
of them in ’06, making the results
against these three (plus Michigan)
the simplest measurements of how far
the Lions have come. Expect the same
disappointing three-to-five loss season
that keeps Penn State from climbing
back to prominence.
Projected
2007 record: 9-3
|
|
PENN
STATE
*POWER RATINGS |
Offense |
Defense |
QB
- 4 |
DL
- 3 |
RB
- 3 |
LB
- 4 |
WR
- 4.5 |
DB
- 4 |
OL
- 4 |
.. |
|
RETURNING
LEADERS |
Passing:
Anthony Morelli, 208-386-8, 2424 yds.,
11 TD
Rushing: Rodney Kinlaw, 39
att., 199 yds., 0 TD
Receiving: Deon Butler, 48
rec., 637 yds., 2 TD
Scoring: Kevin Kelly, 22-34
FG, 30-30 PAT, 96 pts.
Punting: Kevin Kelly, 1 punt,
30.0 avg.
Kicking: Kevin Kelly, 22-34
FG, 30-30 PAT, 96 pts.
Tackles: Dan Connor, 113 tot.,
70 solo
Sacks: Sean Lee, 5.5 sacks
Interceptions: Anthony Scirrotto,
6 for 122 yds.
Kickoff returns: A.J. Wallace,
16 ret., 24.2 avg., 0 TD
Punt returns: Derrick Williams,
25 ret., 12.0 avg., 1 TD
|
|
|
LB
Dan Connor |
|
|
|
PENN
STATE |
|
|
OFFENSE
- 9 |
----RETURNING
STARTERS---- |
DEFENSE
- 6 |
|
KEY
LOSSES |
OFFENSE:
BranDon Snow-FB, Tony Hunt-TB, Levi
Brown-OT, Robert Price-OG |
DEFENSE:
Jay
Alford-DT, Ed Johnson-DT, Paul Posluszny-ILB,
Donnie Johnson-FS, Jeremy Kapinos-P |
|
|
2007
OFFENSE |
After
huge self-made expectations resulted in
a rather ho-hum 2006 performance, QB Anthony
Morelli can hopefully take a modest step
back and realize that he doesn’t automatically
have what it takes to lead this team. That
doesn’t mean the hugely talented senior
can’t learn/acquire the tools for
success; he just has to put that much more
work in. After the team struggled on offense
(only broke the 30-point barrier four times),
the tall Pittsburgh native will show why
he was such a highly regarded recruit (No.2
dropback prospect), especially if he doesn’t
try to win games by himself. Losing Tony
Hunt shouldn’t mean a step back at
TB – Rodney Kinlaw looks ready to
again be a workhorse and produce accordingly,
while the biggest surprise on this side
of the ball may continue to be A.J. Wallace
(2006’s top CB prospect) as a regular
rock carrier. The speed these two bring
is enough to keep foes chasing them for
an entire 60 minutes, especially with senior
starting FB Matt Hahn again plowing holes.
Where Hunt may be most missed is in the
flat (27 receptions) as neither new TB is
a proven snarler. Not to worry…all
of the Lion’s receivers (three deep)
are back, giving Morelli proven role players
whom he should know well. Look for Derrick
Williams to continue to get at least three
or four carries per game in an attempt to
get the speedster more touches. The loss
of All-American left tackle Levi Brown should
be minimally felt with four of the other
five starters back on the line. The well-sized
unit needs to get back to superior run blocking
– State’s backs averaging 4.3
ypc will not get this team back into the
top 10. Some bad news...OG Elijah Robinson's
football career has ended as a result of
a neck injury sustained in spring practice.
Morelli coming to fruition would make coordinator
Galen Hall’s system again flourish.
As Morelli’s worth goes this season,
so goes Penn State.
|
|
WR
Deon Butler
|
|
|
PENN
STATE 2007 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/Key
Players |
OFFENSE |
QB |
Anthony
Morelli-Sr (6-4, 232) |
Daryll
Clark-Jr (6-2, 232) |
FB |
Matt
Hahn-Sr (6-0, 236) |
Dan
Lawlor-Sr (6-2, 244) |
TB |
Austin
Scott-Sr (6-0, 222) |
Rodney
Kinlaw-Sr (5-9, 201) |
WR |
Derrick
Williams-Jr (6-0, 203) |
Brett
Brackett-So (6-6, 241) |
WR |
Deon
Butler-Jr (5-10, 168) |
Terrell
Golden-Sr (6-3, 217) |
WR |
Jordan
Norwood-Jr (5-10, 172) |
Chris
Bell-So (6-2, 210) |
TE |
Andrew
Quarless-So (6-5, 252) |
Jordan
Lyons-Jr (6-5, 249) |
OT |
Gerald
Cadogan-Jr (6-5, 313) |
Johnnie
Troutman-Fr (6-4, 311) |
OG |
Lou
Eliades-So (6-4, 305) |
Rich
Ohrnberger-Sr (6-2, 289) |
C |
A.Q.
Shipley-Jr (6-1, 293) |
Patrick
Weber-Sr (6-1, 272) |
OG |
John
Shaw-Sr (6-4, 303) |
Austin
Hinton-Jr (6-2, 288) |
OT |
Dennis
Landolt-Jr (6-4, 294) |
Ako
Poti-Jr (6-3, 302) |
K |
Kevin
Kelly-Jr (5-7, 167) |
.. |
|
|
2007
DEFENSE |
Inverse
to the offense, the line on this side only
returns one starter. Obviously, this is
sure to impact last year’s No.7 run
stopping unit. Junior end Josh Gaines is
solid in his efforts, and the youth movement
seen here will infuse new guys sure to become
household names there in central PA. Maurice
Evans, proven in run support, looks a lot
like the other end after earning 3.5 TFLs
out of his 12 tackles last year. Big men
(especially tackles) are stacked in the
wings, and how long they take to procure
will be the other major factor (besides
Morelli) that dictates how far PSU goes.
All-American Dan Conner could move inside
(ala Posluszny last year), and after having
more sacks, INTs, safeties and forced fumbles
than Posluszny, the Wallingford-native seems
poised to be the next great one to grace
the Lion’s LB Hall of Fame. Returning
starter Sean Lee has proven why the junior
is also in line after his breakout campaign
on the outside. This area is also laden
with four-star recruits hungry to play for
Joe Pa, so expect little drop off from the
corps and expect they can lend a hand up
front. Junior corners Justin King and Tony
Davis are smother-types who can take chances
and still recover if they seem beat. Classmate
Anthony Scirrotto had a breakout 2006, earning
all-Big Ten honors as his six INTs tied
for most in the nation amongst underclassmen.
“HERO” Scirrotto plays deep
center, focusing his speed on foe’s
passing game way more than run stopping.
The rest of the secondary looks extremely
underdeveloped, meaning new nickel, dime
and other types of role players have to
be found before State is solid here. Sure,
the starters are great, but after them…one
big question - will A.J. Wallace switch
back to DB or possibly play two ways, like
King did? It’s all just another wacky
year under coordinator Tom Bradley, who
has done better with worse, so expect holes
to be filled and guys to be ready by fall.
|
|
DB
Anthony Scirrotto
|
|
|
PENN
STATE 2007 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/Key
Players |
DEFENSE |
DE |
Josh
Gaines-Jr (6-1, 264) |
Aaron
Maybin-So (6-4, 238) |
DT |
Phillip
Taylor-So (6-4, 337) |
Jared
Odrick-So (6-5, 280) |
DT |
Abe
Koroma-Fr (6-3, 312) |
Chris
Baker-Jr (6-2, 305) |
DE |
Maurice
Evans-So (6-2, 269) |
Chris
Rogers-Sr (6-2, 261) |
OLB |
Sean
Lee-Jr (6-2, 232) |
Jerome
Hayes-So (6-2, 236) |
ILB |
Dan
Connor-Sr (6-3, 233) |
Dontey
Brown-Jr (6-2, 236) |
OLB |
Navorro
Bowman-Fr (6-1, 228) |
Tyrell
Sales-Jr (6-2, 237) |
CB |
A.J.
Wallace-So (6-1, 195) |
Lydell
Sargeant-Jr (5-10, 186) |
CB |
Justin
King-Jr (6-0, 186) |
Knowledge
Timmons-So (5-10, 186) |
HERO |
Anthony
Scirrotto-Jr (6-0, 195) |
Cedric
Jeffries-Fr (6-2, 207) |
FS |
Tony
Davis-Jr (5-10, 197) |
Spencer
Ridenhour-Jr (6-0, 193) |
P |
Jeremy
Boone-So (5-9, 183) |
.. |
|
|
|
2007
SPECIAL TEAMS |
Junior
kicker Kevin Kelly has to work on his consistency
– he was 3-for-10 from 40+ in the Lion’s
last eight ’06 scrimmages. Kelly has the
leg, and maybe he will become the new punter as
he is the only one on the roster with a try last
year. Derrick Williams and A.J. Wallace are solid
return men on kicks and punts, respectively.
|
|
|