It is well known that Joe Paterno likes things done a certain way.
Everything from the uniforms that Penn State wears to the rituals it performs before games has been carefully molded in his image over the course of his 40-year tenure.
One tradition that may be lesser known than the bespectacled one's famous ban on facial hair, but one that is enforced with the same ardent fervor, is the extreme secrecy that surrounds Penn State's practices.
Nobody watches the Nittany Lions play unless it is on Saturday morning.
Nobody.
But times are changing at Penn State, and rules are made to be broken, so the media has been invited to the last 15 minutes of not one, but two practices this fall.
The second of these took place last Friday afternoon and culminated with a fascinating series of plays.
First team offense vs. first team defense. Three yards out.
It would be another week before Penn State took the field against a real opponent, but the intensity was undeniable.
"Joe really creates the atmosphere where it's fourth-and-goal, the national championship is on the line and we have to win the game. I think guys just like to rise to the occasion," said Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson.
The much-beleaguered offense did just that on the first two reps of the drill, scoring both times and letting the defense know about it.
"That's two, baby. That's two," Robinson said in the general direction of linebacker Paul Posluszny after taking in an option keeper.
The defense responded with a number of high-energy stops, and practice ended with a bang as Austin Scott carried multiple defenders into the end zone during the second team's reps.
Afterwards, Robinson talked about the intensity of the practice and how playing against such an elite defense day in and day out has helped an unproven offense this offseason.
"Our offense feels like we have something to prove this year, and we are not going to back down from anybody, even if it is our defense, and even if they go against us every day," Robinson said. "It's an honor to go against those guys and to be able to score on them."
"Those guys" were the only defense in the country to not give up more than 21 points in a game last season, and their attitude can best be summed up by their leader, Posluszny, who said earlier in the fall that he disliked non-contact practice because, "You get kind of edgy because you feel like sooner or later you need to hit somebody."
Posluszny absolutely buried tailback Tony Hunt during the aforementioned series, and though practicing against such a hard hitting defense day in and day out can be tough on the bodies of the offense, they are quick to admit that
it provides an outstanding opportunity for improvement.
"If you are having a bad day, you just have to think to yourself, 'These are some of the best guys I'm going to go against, and I'm going to practice against them every day so it's only going to help,' " said redshirt freshman wideout Deon Butler.
Butler is one of the young receivers Penn State will be counting on this season in the wake of Mark Rubin's season-ending injury, and Robinson agreed that going against a secondary that includes standout seniors Alan Zemaitis, Anwar Phillips, Calvin Lowry and Chris Harrell has accelerated the development of the talented-but- untested group of wideouts.
"Who is bigger and more physical than AZ?" Robinson said. "Going against him every day in practice, he has beaten the young guys up. At first they couldn't get off the line. Now they are getting off the line and making plays."
Highly touted freshman receiver Derrick Williams agrees.
"The defense was great last year, and we go against the defense every day in practice. That's going to make us even better," said Williams at a dinner in York in June. "We're not looking forward to winning games by a little bit. We want to put points on the board just like an offense should."
