BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Joe Paterno wants to send Valentines to anyone who now shares his favorable opinion of Anthony Morelli.
After Morelli finished Saturday's game 22-for-32 for almost 200 yards, two touchdowns and just one interception, Paterno repeated the phrase -- "I think Morelli's a good quarterback." -- a belief he's voiced in various forms during the past few weeks.
Then Paterno gloated to the media crowded around him beneath the concrete stands of Memorial Stadium. His words were louder than most during an otherwise softly toned seven-minute question and answer session.
"You guys don't want to eat your words. First one that puts in the paper, 'Morelli's a good quarterback,' ... I'm going to send you a box of chocolates," Paterno said.
Morelli threw his one interception on the Nittany Lions' second drive of the game. It was a play that quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said he was hesitant about calling, given Indiana's deep coverage schemes, even though it was on Penn State's predetermined offensive script.
The deep pass attempt to Deon Butler left Morelli's hand wobbly, and Indiana safety Nick Polk had time to camp out in the end zone for one of two Penn State turnovers.
The Lions rarely attempted deep passes the rest of the way, instead choosing to throw mainly short outs and the occasional slant. Morelli threw efficiently and finished the first half 16 of 20 for 143 yards and two touchdowns -- the first on a 13-yard slant to Terrell Golden and the second, a 12-yard in route to Jordan Norwood.
"They were scared to death of letting us beat them deep," Butler said. "You saw all game we were throwing short passes. They never came up on it. In the fourth quarter, we're still throwing short passes and getting 10 yards. If they're going to play off, then we have to dink and dunk them down the field."
But the offense also had its shortcomings, specifically scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Penn State scored points during each of its seven trips inside the Indiana 20, but following two fumbles by Hoosiers quarterback Kellen Lewis the Lions managed just two field goals early in the fourth quarter, allowing Indiana to make a late-game charge.
Jay Paterno attributed the red zone trouble to, "A little bit of execution. A little bit of play calling."
But Penn State was able to the find the end zone when it needed to late in the fourth quarter.
After an Indiana scoring drive that made the score 29-24, in favor of the Lions, Penn State went 77 yards for a touchdown. Morelli threw on four of the first five plays, completing them all. The next four plays, including Rodney Kinlaw's 5-yard touchdown, were all runs.
"They were sitting back, weren't going to let us run by," Morelli said. "We were just taking what they gave us -- get the ball to those wideouts, let them move the chains. We had to put on a few long drives. That's what we had to do to win."
OFFENSIVE NOTES: Right guard Mike Lucian did not make the road trip. He suffered a mild concussion against Wisconsin and was not cleared to play this week. Freshman Stefen Wisniewski started in Lucian's spot, but was replaced in the first half by senior John Shaw, who played the rest of the game. ... Kevin Kelly now owns the school record for career field goals (52).
