Anthony Morelli stood on the Nittany Lions practice field a few weeks ago, surrounded by different reporters for most of an hour, the normal scene for a Penn State starting quarterback at media day.
He fielded questions about confidence, what he learned last season, his take on the running backs, the wideouts and more. He answered some of them more than once.
In short, he got the starting quarterback treatment.
But according to EA Sports, the makers of the popular yearly college football game, NCAA Football 08, the crowd should have been centered on Morelli's backup, redshirt sophomore Daryll Clark.
For the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, QB No. 14 (Morelli) is rated lower than QB No. 17 (Clark).
The difference is slight -- Clark's rendering an 86 overall and Morelli's an 85 -- but it's the order that has Morelli, now a senior captain, feeling disrespected and confused following what he thought was an encouraging performance in the Lions' Outback Bowl win against Tennessee.
The real-life criticism Morelli has felt, heard and read during his brief career as a starter has followed him into virtual reality.
" 'It never ends,' is almost what I want to say," Morelli said at media day. "You go down to Tampa and beat up on a good Tennessee team, with a bunch of athletes, throw the ball around the yard, and you're not even the starter on that game. That's bad, but whatever."
Clark is confident in his abilities -- "There's not a throw that he [Morelli] makes that I can't," he said at media day -- but even he was shocked when he saw his number and likeness line up behind center as the starting quarterback without making a roster adjustment.
"Believe it or not, they have me as the best guy," Clark said with a smile. "I would think he'd be the higher rated. I don't know where they get the numbers from. I don't know what the EA guys go through, if they're looking at stats, or anything like that. I feel pretty good about it, but it's just a video game, it's all fun."
EA Sports could not be reached for comment.
But whatever the reason for the slight, it has resulted in one definite thing.
"It's just another motivating factor that I put in my book," Morelli said. "With all the hundreds of other thousands that I have."
After last year's regular season, Morelli admitted he received death threats via e-mail, extreme signs of the disapproval of his play shared by some fans.
Morelli, who Clark described as a good friend, appeared most bothered to Clark in the wake of last season's loss at Ohio State.
Morelli tossed three interceptions, two that were returned for touchdowns late in the game.
"He got it pretty hard on campus," Clark said. "A lot of people wanted to have his neck."
But, as Clark knows, scrutiny is usually part of the deal when the ball is in your hands every offensive possession.
"He's the starter," Clark said. "What do you expect? You get all the attention and the media when you're the starter."
And according to fourth-string quarterback Paul Cianciolo, there's not a player on the roster at his position that would not welcome Morelli's burden.
"None of us come here trying to be fourth, third, second. All of us came here because we wanted to be the starting quarterback for Penn State," Cianciolo said. "We don't really shoot for backup positions."
Especially if you're the starter, even in a video game.
