For 11 games, Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli has downplayed the importance of his statistics. To the junior quarterback, just two games shy of completing his first season as a starter, wins are all-important.
But to say that he thought he'd be standing at the cusp of a bowl game with just eight touchdowns to his name wouldn't be close to the truth.
"It's been tough this year," Morelli said.
Morelli has one more shot to up his touchdown total before the Nittany Lions likely take on a strong South Eastern Conference (LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas are all possibilities)in the Outback Bowl if Penn State earns the bid.
So, when Michigan State -- ranked next-to-last in the Big Ten and No. 98 in the country in pass defense -- enters Beaver Stadium tomorrow, it could prove to be the perfect situation for Morelli to get the King Kong-sized monkey off his back with a big game.
"Yeah, that'd be nice," Morelli said. "I'd like to have a breakout game, get the pass game rolling and use the pass game to open up the run or something like that."
And though senior running back Tony Hunt has received most of the attention on offense so far, Morelli isn't doing a terrible job, either.
After last week's game against Temple, he has thrown for 2,007 yards on the season, just the 11th time a Lion quarterback has eclipsed that mark. That total puts Morelli ninth-place on the all-time single season list at Penn State, and within reach of the 2,350 passing yards that Michael Robinson tossed for last year.
Morelli has also completed 177 passes thus far, placing him third on the all-time single-season list at Penn State. He needs 22 completions to surpass Wally Richardson for the all-time lead.
"Anthony has played well for us. He has done what we have asked him to. He has taken care of the football and that is the main thing," offensive coordinator Galen Hall said. "He has to work on everything. I don't think any player, right now, being a junior, totally knows everything he has to do ... reading coverages, timing, setup technique."
Morelli has played admirably in tough situations, facing three top-5 teams, two on the road. Against No. 1 Ohio State, Morelli, playing under a conservative gameplan, kept his team within striking distance of the Buckeyes until the final three minutes when he threw two interceptions in a comeback attempt.
The next week, he approached the coaching staff, saying he wouldn't be adverse to an increased aerial attack. The result: Arguably Morelli's best game of his career, as he threw for 288 yards, of which a record 216 went to sophomore wide receiver Deon Butler. The only downer? No touchdowns. The upside? A 33-7 win.
Since then, playcalling has reverted to the same style used against Ohio State.
"It's been a little bit conservative. We've got a lot of speed in the receivers, and we haven't taken many shots downfield," Morelli said. "But that's not my call. I'm not the coach. I can't make the calls and whatnot. The coaches make the calls, and we just have to execute it to the best of our ability."
Execution at times has been the problem. Penn State ranks next-to-last in the Big Ten in red zone efficiency, scoring just 75 percent of the time.
Once the offense gets close, Penn State's highly praised wide receivers also disappear -- a Penn State wideout hasn't snagged a touchdown pass since the Sept. 9 game against Notre Dame, more than two months.
"Every game, we get better in practice," sophomore wideout Derrick Williams said. "Everybody can say we don't have the numbers we have last year, but everyone's really talented and everyone in that receiving corps has a year left."
But this year still matters, and a strong performance from Morelli and the Penn State passing attack could do much to ease the offense's mind before a bowl game.
