Joe Paterno was in front of the media on Friday afternoon at Lasch Building for the first time in the 2011 season and he was ready to talk some football. The subject matter was wide ranging. There was talk about injuries. Talk about the defense. Talk about the offense. But, of course, a lot of the spotlight was shed on the quarterback race as Penn State holds yet another open competition for the starting job this spring. For Joe's full comments, head over to the transcript here. If you don't have time for all that, though, here are the important bullets.
Here is video of the beginning of Joe's remarks.
Joe lamented the fact Penn State hasn't been able to practice outside yet this spring season.
There is an open competition for the starting quarterback job but Joe says Matthew McGloin and Robert Bolden are ahead of the others in the race.
There is an expectation that Bolden will return in the fall. Joe says he is looking good and displaying enthusiasm and leadership qualities in the early going.
There will probably not be a decision on the quarterback job by the end of spring practice.
Said Kevin Newsome's troubles in the classroom are keeping him out of serious consideration for the job.
On the running backs: "Well, we don't have a super guy in there. But I think we have a couple guys that could end up being really good if they can learn to do some little things particularly in the area of the pass play."
On Derrick Thomas: "He's got to go to school first. His lifestyle's not what we'd hoped it would be. He certainly is getting better. He's getting better. But, again, our secondary's pretty solid. He's got a long way to go to beat the other kids."
On Brandon Ware: "He's doing really well. Had a good semester academically, and the player's got ability. He's 320 pounds now, and he was 340, 350. We got him down by 20 pounds. He moves well, and he's got everything. He's going to be a really good football player."
Joe believes the offensive line needs a lot of work.
Brushed off discussion about the legal troubles of some of the players.
Joe had no comment on either the Jerry Sandusky or Ohio State situations.
On the team in general: " Yeah, I like the team. I think we've got a chance to be decent. I think, you know, it depends on a couple of kids getting into school first, and whether we can get some of those kids back."
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