Joe Paterno evaluates Penn State, Ohio State quarterbacks

Questions about quarterbacks made for interesting reading during Joe Paterno's press conference this afternoon...

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Q.Can you compare how Terrelle Pryor is playing this year compared to how he played last year?

A. I think they've done some things a little differently in the offense to take advantage of his tremendous ability. He started a little bit slow, to be frank with you, but the last few games he's been very, very overpowering, really. He's running well, he's throwing the ball well deep.

We obviously don't have Joe's experience at evaluating quarterbacks (though really, who does?), but we're just not buying "the last few games he's been very, very overpowering."

Here are the passing stats from Pryor's "last few games"...

• at Purdue: 17 of 31, 221 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions (And only 18 points for the Buckeyes in a monster upset loss.)
  
• Minnesota: 13 of 25, 239 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception (These stats look much better than they should as Pryor's two scores of 62 and 57 yards were thrown to wide-open receivers on completely busted coverages.)
• New Mexico State: 11 of 23, 135 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions (Not exactly the stuff legends are made of, especially considering it was a Division I-AA opponent.)

Joe later had this curious exchange...

Q. Following up on Daryll Clark, over the last five weeks especially, has he made any adjustments since the Iowa game that helped him get the success or is it a reflection of the offense overall?

A. No, I resent that question, to be frank with you. I've said several times I thought he played a heck of a game against Iowa. I don't think our getting licked by Iowa had anything to do with Daryll's performance. He throws a pass that the guy should have caught and he doesn't, and the ball slips through his hands and they intercept it and run it back down, we don't cover, they block a punt. We were playing against a fine defensive football team, you can't do those things.

We had some silly penalties. No, I think Daryll Clark has played well all year. I would not qualify his performance by saying, "Well, we lost to Iowa." It was not his fault we lost to Iowa, he played a heck of a game.

We agree with Joe that it wasn't Daryll's fault we lost to Iowa (or rather, he wasn't the ONLY reason we lost to Iowa), but "he played a heck of a game"???

Wow, 12 of 32 for 198 yards, one score and three picks isn't exactly what we consider "a heck of a game." Especially considering it was 11 of 31 for 119 yards, no scores and three picks after Daryll's first pass, a 79-yard TD strike to Chaz Powell.

Oh well, what do we know? Joe has been coaching college football since long before we were born.
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