Blue White Illustrated

The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News reported April 22 that during the contract discussions, the Paterno family declined an offer to rename Beaver Stadium after the Nittany Lions' longtime coach. Penn State officials later took issue with an ESPN story that they said alleged the university was using the offer to rename the stadium as leverage to get the family to renounce its right to sue Penn State. Both Penn State officials and the Paterno family have since said that there were never any formal talks about renaming the stadium. "Neither the Penn State board of trustees, nor its attorney, ever dis- cussed possible renaming of Beaver Stadium in any connection with discussions regarding making pay- ments under coach Paterno's con- tract, as amended in August 2011," the university's statement reads. "The assertion that the board or its attorney attempted to 'leverage' a name change on Beaver Stadium in connection with the contract dis- cussions is false." Family spokesman Dan McGinn WEB SURVEY COMING OUT OF SPRING PRACTICE, WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CONCERNS REGARDING THE NITTANY LIONS HEADING INTO THE 2012 SEASON? way: QB, QB, QB. Is this a trick question? I would order them this WeAre Given that Paul Jones' academic issues seem to be behind him, will he become more adept at run- ning the offense? If he can make big strides, his superior athleticism will make it awfully hard to keep him off the field. Also, keeping Mike Mauti healthy will be of supreme importance given the spring linebacker injuries. ptomaselli In order: 1.) QB, as usual. The most important position on the field where PSU has underper- formed for the last two years. Will 2012 make it three years? 2.) Can the new defensive staff uphold the PSU tradition of stout defenses, the cornerstone of the PSU program? 3.) Last, but not least: Can Bill O'Brien coach? Can he call plays, manage the game, coach up the players, and all of the other things that we took for grant- ed over the last 46 years? That's the biggest area of concern. delcoLion There needs to be a balance between how many points the offense can produce and how few points the defense can allow. Last season the bal- ance worked because the defense held teams to less than 15 points per game, while the offense produced just enough to win. My major concern is, can that balance take place this year? As of now I have my doubts that the offense will be able to put up enough points to overcome the weaknesses 6 J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 2 S I T E L I N E S C OMME N T A R Y F R OM B L U EWH I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C OM of a defense that may end up allowing 20 (or more) points per game. My concern is Ted Roof. I don't know enough SJLuvsLions After watching the Blue-White Game, the two main concerns I would have are the inexperience of the offensive line, specifically the offensive tack- les, and the overall defensive scheme. Can this Ted Roof guy coach up the defense to its maximum capability? dab1213 Going into the Blue-White Game, there were concerns about offensive line and running back depth, QB development and cornerback depth. Moves by the staff during the spring practice were designed to alleviate those problems. After the Blue-White Game, the emergence of Paul Jones as a viable candidate at QB means there are three guys possible for QB next fall and a possible fourth with the incoming freshman QB. The emer- gence of two solid tackles in Adam Gress and Donovan Smith means major concerns along line have been resolved. Running back depth with the switch of Bill Belton has been very positive, as Belton reportedly hit the hole well during Blue- White Game and has developed nicely into second running back behind Silas Redd. My biggest con- cern is still the depth at cornerback and safety. Our best cornerback Amos was moved to safety to help with depth there, and that leaves little experi- ence. Thomas has potential but has not proved himself in the classroom. Curtis Drake, who switched from offense helps, but he lacks experi- ence and needs to learn a new position. That leaves little experience in the entire backfield and thin depth. Perhaps incoming freshmen can help fill out the depth chart, but one injury and Penn State's backfield is hurting. locopsu about him to pass judgment, but I believe that O'Brien will not jeopardize his future if Roof isn't up to par on his side of the ball. Therefore, I'm not going to fret about it. Without question it is the success of the PASS- ING GAME. Everyone is focusing on the QB play, and certainly one of them has to step up and improve, but we lost our best receiver to gradua- tion and will be playing a lot of unproven receivers. So for me, it is the success of the receivers getting open, QB getting the ball to the wide receiver, running back, tight end and them catching it for gains. The obvious short answer is quarterback. However, what I am specifically anxious about is the starting QB's ability to use the complicated playbook to our advantage, making reads and adjusting plays at the line. If he can't take advan- tage of the playbook and audible, this will severely limit the whole offense. cmjumper The biggest concern I see is the QB position. O'Brien is installing a much more complex system of read, respond, and deliver than was utilized in the past. It's one thing to read what the defense gives you. It's another thing to accurately deliver the ball to the designated area so the receiver can catch it. To be honest, I didn't see a lot of that while watching the Blue-White Game. I think a summer of intense, dedicated practice will improve the QBs' abilities to recognize which receiver should be getting the ball, but it's a whole different ballgame for them to deliver the ball accurately. I'm also a bit concerned with what lb235 CHAT ROOM 4.24.12 buzzr15 NYNY Do you think PSU gets to the Ohio State game 7- 0 next season? PHIL GROSZ On Penn State's non- conference schedule in September, there isn't a game like Alabama that people would con- sider a loss. PSU will probably be favored in its noncon games against Ohio, Virginia, Navy and Temple. Then it will play at Illinois with a new head coach and will be favored there. It gets Northwestern at home and then Iowa on the road at night. If Penn State can get reasonable play from its QB, and stay healthy on defense, particularly in the sec- ondary, there's a chance that it could be 7-0. I think the true indication will take place on Sept. 8 when Penn State travels to Charlottesville to play Virginia. If it can defeat the Cavaliers, who were 8-5 last year and played in a bowl game, then 7-0 is a possibili- ty. But a lot will have to happen for that to take place. concurred in a statement issued on behalf of the Paternos. "The state- ment by the university that there were no formal discussions regard- ing naming the stadium in honor of coach Paterno is correct," McGinn said. "Statements to the contrary are inaccurate. This was not an honor coach Paterno ever desired. The family understands, however, appears to be some undersized offensive linemen. The Big Ten especially has some big dogs at the defensive tackle position. It's difficult for a 275- to 285-pound offensive lineman to move a 310- pound defensive tackle. It also creates an oppor- tunity for the defense to push offensive linemen deep into the offensive backfield on passing plays. I hope the strength and conditioning drills are able to improve that aspect of things over the next four months. JoeHomsey W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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