Nastasi unleashes flurry on Wolverines

Nittany Lion wide receiver Joe Nastasi should be in his own little utopia come noon tomorrow at Michigan Stadium.

Michigan and snow. Nastasi couldn't ask for much more.

"There's something about playing in snow," Nastasi said. "I seem to play better."

And he also seems to play better against the Wolverines.

Last season, Nastasi, who served primarily as the team's holder on extra points and field goals, went from anonymous special teams player to crucial touchdown scorer in the fourth quarter of Penn State's eventual 27-17 defeat of Michigan. He took the snap, but instead of cleanly putting the ball down -- laces out, no doubt -- and letting kicker Brett Conway boot it, Nastasi stood up and started sprinting.

A second or so later, having followed a convoy of Penn State linemen, Nastasi was in the end zone celebrating his 2-yard touchdown run on a perfectly executed fake field goal. The score, with two minutes and 40 seconds remaining in the game, gave the Lions some breathing room.

"I remember everything," Nastasi said. "It was my first touchdown."

And of course, it came in the snow.

Nastasi is no longer just a kick holder, though he is still doing the job and doing it well, as Conway has never missed an extra point attempt Nastasi has held.

"Joe Nastasi is the best holder I've ever seen," Conway said. "He's wonderful."

This season, though, Nastasi is doing more than contributing on special teams. The redshirt sophomore is now one of the team's starting receivers.

"Joe's been doing a solid job for us," Penn State quarterback Wally Richardson said. "He's been a bigger part of the passing game. He's a guy I feel confident getting the ball to and know that he's going to do something with it after he catches it."

Nastasi's 21 catches are third best on the team while his 234 receiving yards are second to Joe Jurevicius' 693. His first touchdown reception, an acrobatic 7-yard grab in which he somehow managed to keep a foot in bounds, came against Northwestern two weeks ago. And again, Penn State was playing the Wildcats in snow.

Catching the football, though, is something Nastasi is much more used to than holding it on kicks. During his days at Northern Bedford High School in Loysburg, Nastasi never held for kicks. He said his team always went for two, but when the Penn State coaches asked him to try holding, Nastasi was all for it. He just wanted to help the team.

In high school, Nastasi did nearly everything to help his football squad, playing five different positions as a senior. It seemed the only thing he didn't do was coach the team. That was his father's job.

What could've been a tough situation for Nastasi, playing for his father and starting at the varsity level when he was a freshman, was not difficult at all. There could've been people saying the only reason he was in the lineup was because his dad was the coach. Nastasi never gave them the chance.

"He was special because there were a lot of expectations," said his father, Joe Nastasi Sr. "He handled it very well in that he performed at a top quality of play to quiet his critics."

The younger Nastasi said he is glad he had the opportunity to play for his dad.

"We had a strong relationship," he said. "It helped me develop as a person and an athlete."

Nastasi was more than a football player at tiny Northern Bedord, a Class A school. In addition to starring in football, he was named to the small school all-state basketball team four times and averaged 38.8 points per game as a senior.

"He slashed and went to the hoop," said Lew Ewak, his high school basketball coach. "He had a quick first step and could hit the three-pointer."

When the spring rolled around, Nastasi put on the baseball uniform he wore to earn three varsity letters at shortstop. However, when it came to pick a sport to play in college, football was the game of choice.

"I was better at football," he explained. "I felt I had a better chance to do something with it."

Come noon tomorrow, the 5-foot-11, 182-pound Nastasi will be playing against one of the best secondaries in the country. As Penn State coach Joe Paterno put it, Michigan's defensive backs "will make a lot of really good wideouts look almost inept. It is going to be a real challenge."

But at least for Nastasi, there should be some snow on the ground to help him.