MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- While stretching for Saturday's practice, Penn State football defensive tackle Jay Alford was quick to point out the obvious temperature difference between Pennsylvania and south Florida to wide receivers coach Mike McQueary.

“It's like 40 degrees in Pennsylvania today,” Alford said.

McQueary joked that at least the team was not in Alford's home state of New Jersey.

“It's tropical in Jersey. We're tropical,” Alford replied.

Temperatures were in the upper 70s on Saturday as the Nittany Lions practiced without pads at Barry University.

Injured wide receiver Derrick Williams practiced with a green cross on his jersey and did not show any discomfort catching McQueary bullets during drills.

**“Speed kills”**

Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims is confident that Penn State has yet to face a defense that features the amount of speed the Seminoles will bring to Dolphins Stadium for this week's Orange Bowl.

Still, Sims and his defensive teammates were quick to add that this year's version of Penn State is not the lumbering, power-oriented team it has been in years past.

“Speed kills,” Sims said Friday. “They have exceptional speed just like we have. That's going to be our main objective in beating them; flying to the ball.”

Florida State has long been known for sporting speedsters like Deon Sanders and Terrell Buckley in the secondary, and, this year, even the Seminoles front seven has speed to burn.

“I think we are a little bit quicker than most defenses,” safety Kyler Hall said. “We're undersized, but we make up for that in speed, and I think playing a fast quarterback, you have to have fast defensive players. They have great skill players, and I think we'll match up well because of our speed.”

Florida State's defense will be more undersized than usual when it takes the field on Tuesday due to the suspension of run-stuffer extraordinaire and leading tackler A.J. Nicholson.

Penn State wideout Justin King said that while he respects the speed that the Seminoles have on defense, it will not be the first time his offense has lined up against a unit that can run with it stride for stride, and that people are still underestimating the team speed of the Lions.

“I think we got speed and they've got speed,” King said. “People think Florida State players have more speed, but we have fast guys, too.”

**Hall the way**

The seldom-heard-from man who sits behind the thick, paned glass up in the booth spoke with the media for the first time this season yesterday.

Lions offensive coordinator Galen Hall broke his silence while putting rest to scattered reports, dating back to last year, that cited he and quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno diverged over the team's play-calling.

“It was untrue,” Hall said of the reports. “Jay and I have gotten along very well. There is no friction, there are no problems, and whoever started that is looking for something to write.”

Hall is in his second season as the offensive coordinator for the Lions, and quarterback Michael Robinson has continually said Hall has been instrumental in the offensive turnaround for the Lions.

As an interesting side note, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden credits Hall's play at quarterback with the Lions during his college days as the reason Bowden traveled by train and then hitchhiked a ride to Penn State to study how the team used him offensively.