"Maurice has got a lot of potential," Penn State football coach Joe Paterno said. "As you can see he has very good speed and very good body control. I think he can be very good."
Both Humphrey and Johnson shredded Indiana's zone defense for a combined 260 yards and four touchdowns on the day. It was the first, and one of the last times the two would be on the field at the same time. Johnson's suspension from the team a few weeks ago opened the door for Humphrey to become the Lions' primary receiver.
"Me and Tony were making some good plays at the beginning of the game," Humphrey said. "We would come over to the sidelines and [Paterno] would grab us and say, 'you guys have to win this game, it's on you, we're going to throw the ball a lot this game.' "
Humphrey's noticeable improvement week-to-week has been the buzz on Penn State internet chat rooms. Fans already looking forward to next year view Humphrey as a bright spot of otherwise lousy and forgettable 2003 season.
"When I first got in there in the beginning of the year, I was a lot more nervous," Humphrey said. "These past two games, it just feels like everything is going so slow."
His relationship with quarterback Zack Mills has progressed week-to-week. In the first quarter, the southpaw connected with Humphrey for the freshman's career best 41-yard reception. Mills hit him in stride as the reception was made on a similar pass play to the one against Northwestern on which Humphrey let a sure touchdown pass slip through is fingers.
"Zack is telling me to come down and take some breaths," Humphrey said. "Being young, Zack helps me out a lot to stay calm, and everything goes good."
The ironic thing about Humphrey's fruitful outings as of late is that fact that come next year, he still might not be lined up as a wideout. Depending on how things shape up in the offseason, the cornerback turned receiver may move back to his most familiar position as a defensive back.
"I feel real comfortable at receiver now," Humphrey said. "They may need me to play defense. If that's so, I'll play defense. I think right now I made a good impression with the coaches. Next year, I think I'll be back at wide receiver."
Like many other players on the team, Humphrey took in the atmosphere and even pandered to the crowd a little bit as he enjoyed his newfound fan-favorite status.
With only minutes remaining, Humphrey succumbed to the chants from the student section for him to hop on the warm-up bike that was only feet away from the screaming fans.
"There's this kid that's in my class and he wearing my jersey and all the fans over there wanted me to get on the bike, but I didn't want to," Humphrey said. "So finally I got on the bike for a few seconds just to make them happy. We were all having fun, so it was nice for a change."
