After Anthony Morelli threw three interceptions in a loss at Illinois, Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno offered his player a sincere vote of confidence.
''We were on the way back from Illinois,'' Paterno said, ''and I told him, 'I have not lost faith in you, I will not lose faith in you, and you are our guy. You have to help us go out there and win the rest of our games.'''
For the most part, Anthony Morelli's done just that.
Penn State (7-3, 4-3) has won four of five since the Illinois game, including Saturday's 26-19 victory over Purdue on Senior Day. The Lions' lone loss in that span was to No. 1 Ohio State -- a game in which the Buckeyes dominated the time of possession by about 15 minutes.
''The unfortunate thing [against Ohio State] is that he really played pretty well, but he did not have the ball enough to really do some things that we could have done,'' Paterno said. ''I'm going to miss him.''
Paterno believes Penn State fans will feel the same way in the future, but there's always a tendency to criticize the current starting quarterback. When former quarterback Zack Mills struggled several years ago, some of the fans called for Robinson. When Robinson made some mistakes in early 2005, those same people wanted to see Anthony Morelli.
But Anthony Morelli's been steady since the rough outing against the Illini. He's completed 61 percent of his passes in the last five games for five touchdowns and four interceptions (only one of those -- a fourth-quarter pick against Ohio State -- came in a losing effort).
For the year, Anthony Morelli's completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,060 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. And, with his second straight 2,000-yard season, he's the only quarterback in Penn State history to accomplish that feat more than once.
Even so, Paterno merely laughed when asked to name the best quarterback he's worked with in his eight seasons as Penn State's quarterbacks coach. No matter which one he would select, hypothetically, it could lead to phone calls and messages from the others.
It's sufficient to say Paterno believes Anthony Morelli's record will speak for itself in the future.
''We have a chance to win 10 games this year, and obviously, we will take them one at a time,'' Paterno said. ''I don't care who you beat, who you lose to ? if you win 10 games, that is a good year. Obviously, we all want to win every game we play.
''People will appreciate him more down the road -- a lot more than they do now probably. I think he has done some really good things for this program leadership-wise. He has been loyal and never complains about anybody. He puts up with a lot of baloney, and I'm happy to see him go out the way he did [on Senior Day].''
Bryant's big play: Dorien Bryant's 98-yard kickoff return to start the game was the longest allowed by the Lions since Derrick Mason had a 100-yard return for Michigan State in 1994. That was also the last opponent kickoff return for a touchdown in Beaver Stadium.
Penn State last allowed the return of a game-opening kickoff for a touchdown on Oct. 30, 1972, when West Virginia's Kerry Marbury returned the opening kick 100 yards. Penn State went on to beat the Mountaineers, 28-19, in Morgantown, W.V.
Notes: The Lions had a total of 762,419 fans in attendance at their seven home games for a record home-average of 108,917 per game. The previous record was 107,576 (for a six-game home schedule) in 2001. ? Junior wide receiver Deon Butler had four catches against Purdue, giving him 120 for his career and moving him into third place at Penn State for career receptions. He trails O.J. McDuffie, who had 125 catches in his career from 1988-1992, for second place. ? A.J. Wallace made his first career start at cornerback (Penn State opened the game with a nickel defense). ? Penn State improved to 17-1 on Senior Day since 1990. The only loss was to Michigan in 1999. ... The Lions recorded a season-high 29 first downs. ... Purdue lost for just fifth time when leading after three quarters in Tiller's career..
