On The Clock
Morelli's Time To Shine Is Here
By Tony DeFazio

Heads turned. Players exchanged glances. Coaches pretended not to notice, but their eyes too were fixated on No. 14 in blue. Tennessee's LaMarcus Coker had just busted loose for a 42-yard run that tied the Outback Bowl at 10-all late in the first half, and the quarterback wanted no part of the head-hanging that was starting to take place on the Nittany Lion sideline.

He was in the face of his wideouts. He was pounding the shoulder pads of the offensive linemen. Fist-bumping his tailback. Firing up the freshman tight end.

Those players who were not in his line of fire did a collective double-take to make sure this was their normally reserved quarterback.

Sure enough, it was Anthony Morelli.

"The coaches on the field were telling me I wouldn't recognize this kid on the sidelines," said Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno. "One of the things that happened in that bowl game, really for the first time, he was on the sidelines getting on guys, talking to guys, just being real aggressive leadership wise. And we saw that a lot in the spring, so I think more is coming."

If indeed is indeed coming, it had better happen soon.

Morelli is about to write the final chapter of his Penn State career, one that seems to be ending far too soon for the teenager who arrived in Happy Valley in 2004 amid much fanfare, hype and controversy.

One of the top quarterback recruits in the country as a high school senior, the former Penn Hills star committed to the hometown Pitt Panthers in August before his senior year, only to change his mind and sign with Penn State in February.

His college career got off to a sputtering start. Penn State burned Morelli's redshirt as a true freshman, and he threw just 13 passes while Penn State went 4-7. He mostly watched, frustrated, as quarterbacks Zack Mills and Michael Robinson ran an inefficient offense that threw just 10 touchdowns and was intercepted 19 times.

Although the fortunes changed for the Lions the following season, as Robinson led Penn State to an 11-1 record, Morelli endured another long autumn of watching and waiting.

GROWING PAINS

His turn finally came last year, with mixed results. A slow start-mostly attributable to Penn State's brutal early season schedule, which included games at No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 1 Ohio State-turned into boos at Beaver Stadium and, Morelli later revealed, death threats on campus. The worst of it came after Morelli threw two interceptions in the final 2:30 of the Ohio State game, as the Lions were mounting a comeback.

Joe Paterno felt that his young quarterback received far too much blame.

"I tried to downplay some of that extra criticism because I don't think a lot of it was fair. I think he played against some really good, tough teams," Paterno said. "We threw him in there in the second ball game against Notre Dame. Out there we turned it over four times and expect him to win the football game. Then we go back out and play Ohio State for our fourth game and it is on the road. Here is a kid who has 35 or 36 snaps going into the games prior to the year. He might have been a little shell shocked because of the criticism he got, but I think he worked his way through, kept his poise."

Morelli says the criticism taught him some tough lessons about college football, the big stage, and the fickle, often cruel, nature of fans.

"It's tough being a starter, especially at a big university like this, but I know what to expect and I know how to handle it now," he said. "You've got to have a thick skin and put that stuff behind you."

As the season wore on, Morelli seemed to do just that. After dropping two of their first four, Morelli threw just four interceptions the rest of the way as Penn State won seven of their last nine games. By the time his junior year was in the books, Morelli had moved into third place all-time on the Penn State single season passing charts with 2,424 yards. He also set PSU's single season pass completion (208) and attempt (386) records.

After a strong finish to the regular season, Morelli put an exclamation point on his junior campaign with an outstanding performance in the Outback Bowl. His numbers were not eye-popping (14-25, 197 yards, 1 TD), but it was his leadership and poise in the contest that caught the attention of his coaches.

"I thought in the bowl game he played about as well as a guy can play," said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. "He looked so sharp and so comfortable back there, and I could just see him getting more comfortable each week. I saw it for Kerry Collins in the Citrus Bowl (in 1993), and he came back in '94 and had that great season."

Jay Paterno says the same thing is happening with Morelli.

"The first time we stepped on the field this spring, we saw a totally different demeanor in the way he walked in and out of the huddle," Paterno said. "He threw an interception in a scrimmage, and Joe got on him. And the next play, he came back and just made a phenomenal throw. And that's how you respond - that's confidence."

CONTROVERSY

In spite of the successful end to the 2006 season, the controversy hasn't completely gone away for Morelli.

Two weeks before the Outback Bowl, Morelli publicly criticized his high school coach, Penn Hills' Neil Gordon, saying Gordon sabotaged his recruitment and perpetuated the idea that Morelli struggles with the mental aspect of the game.

"I'm tired of everybody thinking I'm this idiot quarterback," Morelli said at the time. He added, about Gordon, "He just wouldn't help me out."

His Penn State teammates, and Morelli himself, said that it was almost therapeutic for him to get those thoughts off his chest. If so, it certainly seemed to work as he went out and played the best game of his career in the win over Tennessee.

"I know that Anthony has a lot of respect for Neil Gordon, as we all do," said Jay Paterno about Morelli's pre-Outback Bowl comments. "He's had a lot of success at Penn Hills."

It was while playing for Gordon at Penn Hills that Morelli first become embroiled in controversy when he flipped his commitment from Pitt to Penn State.

When he originally committed to the University of Pittsburgh, many Penn State fans in western Pennsylvania called him a pampered athlete who couldn't read defenses. When he later decided on Penn State, the very same Pitt fans who had just weeks before defended Morelli were now the ones calling him a "dumb quarterback."

Local newspapers were full of rumors as to why Morelli made the change. A perceived all-star game snub involving his father Greg. An inability to grasp then-coach Walt Harris's complex playbook. Morelli and his father maintained it had to do with rumors-which ultimately proved true-that Harris would depart Pitt when his contract was up in 2004.

The subject of Morelli's father has also been a source of controversy. Some said Greg Morelli spoiled Anthony. His father is too involved and overbearing, said others. The dad will be a pain in the neck for whatever college eventually lands the kid, they said.

"When we got Anthony, a lot of people said, 'Yeah but you also get his dad,'" acknowledged Jay Paterno. "The truth is, Anthony's dad has been fantastic, nothing but supportive.

"His dad taught me a lesson last year. We were leaving Ohio Stadium at Ohio State, and I was about to jump out of the press box the way the game ended, and I was really down. And his dad grabbed me and said, 'Hey, just keep working with him and he's going to be fine. For 57 minutes of that game, you couldn't tell me which quarterback was the Heisman Trophy candidate and which was the first-year starter.'

"I learned something from his dad that day and I carried it with me the rest of the year."

CLOCK IS TICKING

"This summer has been flying by, and I'm trying to figure out a way to slow it down because before you know it the season will be over and done with," Morelli said shortly before Penn State began summer camp. "I really want to focus on winning football games this year."

This year is it for Morelli as a college quarterback. All the controversy, all the hype, all the potential - it all comes to a head this fall. Will he blossom into the superstar that he clearly has the potential to become? Will he lead Penn State to the Big 10 championship?

"He is ready to become a big time quarterback," Joe Paterno pronounced this spring.

Paterno also said that he feels this Penn State team has just as much talent as the '94 team that went 12-0. The bar has been set, by none other than the Hall of Fame head coach himself.

"Yeah, I think this team has as much talent as anyone in the country," Morelli said. "Just look around and match our guys up with players across the country and you'll see that yourself. It's all a matter of whether we play together as a team and take care of the little things and let the big things take care of themselves."

The big things Morelli talks about will be expected to come from his right arm. The offensive line returns four starters, the receiving corps is loaded with talent, a rejuvenated Austin Scott returns to the backfield, and the defense should again be stellar. Will Morelli come through?

"It comes down to experience. I have a whole season under my belt and the guys, I think, know they can count on me whenever we might need an 80-yard drive or a big play. They know they can count on me," he said.

"This can be one of the last great teams for probably the greatest coach in college football. That would mean a lot and be something to talk about forever. Words can't really describe what it would mean to me."

Tony DeFazio is the editor of the Pittsburgh Sports Report. He can be reached at tdefazio (at) psrpt.com.