Anthony Morelli never once, by himself, accounted for a single loss on Penn State schedule a season ago. He also was never one who totally took the spotlight in a win either.
Still, with a year under his belt as a fulltime starter, and a pretty little bow on top of a tumultuous season, people still have doubts. National pubs wonder if he is a problem and still not ready for primetime.
But there is some history on Morelli's side. I'm a numbers guy, I'll admit, and nines times out of 10, they never lie.
Consider these if you will.
-Senior quarterbacks at Penn State are a 129-40 under Joe Paterno since 1978.
-Senior quarterbacks have led Penn State to 11 bowl games, including the Sugar twice, Fiesta three times, Orange twice and Rose Bowl once. Included in that stretch are four national title appearances and one that should have been for the title. Penn State is 8-3 in those 11 games and has two national titles out of four chances.
-In seven of those seasons since 1978, the Nittany Lions won 11 or more games, including three undefeated regular seasons. Twice during this stretch they've finished 12-0. Eight times they won 10 or more.
-Two of the better quarterbacks during that stretch, John Shaffer and Kerry Collins, went a combined 45-3 in their final two years, respectively. In their senior years alone? 24-0.
Tell me, better yet, tell Morelli that the junior year doesn't mean a lot in terms of grooming a kid for what's to come.
The Sentinel Online : Sports
07-20-2007, 07:00 AM
How good is Anthony Morelli? 
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