You know how sometimes you’ll be watching a basketball game and it feels like a certain player is doing nothing, and then you look at the box score and he somehow scored 20?
I swear, that’s how it is with me and Anthony Morelli. When I looked at the final stats from Penn State-Buffalo and saw that he’d gone 20-for-27, I honestly thought it had to be a mistake.
And this happens again and again. Morelli thinks his stats are overrated. I think his statistics overrate him. Something like that.
It is possible I’ve underrated him. Part of it might be that he’s generally a slow starter in games, and by the second half of non-competitive games I’m usually concentrating more on my work than the game. And let’s face it, Penn State has had three non-competitive games in three tries this year. Maybe I’m missing his best stuff.
Of course, it could also be that his best stuff coming when there’s nothing on the line is not a coincidence….
One area where Penn State has improved greatly over last year is red zone efficiency. The Lions have been in the zone 18 times, and have come out with 14 touchdowns and three field goals. Andrew Quarless in the lineup - an athletic 6-5 tight end who makes tough catches in traffic - is only going to help….
The TDs Buffalo scored Saturday were the first allowed by the def ense since the first half of the Outback Bowl. The last time the D allowed 21 points in any quarter was during a turnover-laden meltdown at Boston College in 2003….
OG Stefan Wisniewski, son of Leo, nephew of Steve, from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, became the first true freshman to play this year for Penn State.
The offensive line remains a work-in-progress, but we’ve yet to hear from the two JUCO-tranfer OLs brought in last year…
