Blue White Illustrated

T H E M O N T H I N . . . Joe Moorhead's arrival as the Nittany Lions' new offensive coordinator signals the dawning of an era not seen in these parts. Nothing against the past. Joe Pa- terno's emphasis on defense and special teams followed eventually by offense obviously was tremendously successful, evidenced by five perfect seasons and two national titles (1982, '86) that should have been three (1994). Bill O'Brien, great in his own right as well, brought an up-tempo offense that featured what he called NASCAR, but that kicked in more often after first downs as an effective change of pace. Moorhead is committed to 60 minutes of it. The Lions won't be huddling, they won't be in danger of allowing the play clock to expire, and they won't let the defense rest. Fresh from the dismissal of offensive coordinator John Donovan, under whom the Lions' offense seemed to be a slowed down version of the Paterno era, James Franklin was upbeat in seeing Moorhead's first public de- but. NEIL RUDEL ALTOONA MIRROR What you saw from McSorley on Saturday was about the one takeaway that was worthy. He threw the ball on the money. He threw it with zip and confidence and had a presence out there. I got a lot of grief from certain readers a couple of weeks ago when I suggested McSorley's arm strength wasn't of a caliber of Christian Hackenberg's and that might pack the defense against him and tailback Saquon Barkley in certain circumstances. That still holds true. But if McSorley can hit the intermediate throws with the precision and quick release he did on Saturday, it won't matter nearly so much. Of course, when live fire arrives in September, that will also be a function of how much the offensive line has improved. Which we won't be able to tell a thing about until then. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM Ultimately, no matter how "open" this race might be on paper, it certainly seems to be McSorley's job to lose. It's hard to ignore the accuracy he showed on Satur- day, the touch he put on some deep passes and sound decision making. Couple those skills, his footwork and an ensemble of receivers to complement a poten- tially deadly ground game, and the quarterback is only going to be a small piece to the puzzle. BEN JONES STATECOLLEGE.COM O P I N I O N S FOOTBALL Barbour: Renovation is 'direction we're heading in' Penn State would most likely be better o< renovating Beaver Stadium rather than replacing it altogether, athletic di- rector Sandy Barbour told a gathering of sports editors and reporters in April. Speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Region meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, Barbour addressed a number of questions related to the university's fa- cilities master plan, which is being as- sembled by the Kansas City-based ar- chitecture ;rm Populous and is expect- ed to be completed this summer. The plan will provide a roadmap for the ath- letic department's needs for the next 15 to 20 years. Barbour said that although no ;nal decision has been made, based on what she's seen so far, the university would be better o< making improvements to the existing stadium rather than building a new one. "It's very clear to me from our analysis that a renovation is the direction we're heading in," she said. Barbour made similar comments last fall, telling the AP that renovation "would absolutely be my preference, no doubt about it." But while improving Beaver Stadium would be less expensive than replacing it, the upgrades would have a he>y price tag, as the 66-year- old stadium has extensive needs. Uni- versity o=cials have pointed to the plumbing system, elevators, concourses and concessions as areas that need to be improved. During her visit to the APSE gather- ing, Barbour said the master plan is in- tended to address a wide range of needs that will impact Penn State's 31-sport athletic department in the coming decades. "We are trying to create resources to do all the things we want to do," she said. "The facilities master plan is going really well and by late summer we should have some initial feedback." ■

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