SAN ANTONIO -- Penn State senior quarterback Anthony Morelli did not need any of his coaches or teammates to defend him yesterday.

He took care of that himself.

Morelli made a surprise visit to the Nittany Lions' news conference at the Alamodome.

He arrived approximately 10 minutes after a handful of defensive players already had been fielding questions, and a little more than 24 hours after he became the most talked-about no-show at the Alamo Bowl.

Morelli spoke with reporters yesterday for the first time in 47 days.

He blamed his absence from the Wednesday news conference on crossed signals, saying he was at Sea World with his family.

"It was just a little mix-up that turned into a big ordeal, and I apologize for that," he said.

Outside linebacker Sean Lee said there was no reason for Morelli to say he's sorry.

"I don't think he's hiding or anything like that," Lee said. "I think he just wants to win and he wants to just stay focused."

Even so, Morelli has come under heavy criticism for both his play and his apparent unwillingness to answer questions about his performance, or the team's, since a Nov. 10 victory against Temple.

"You can take shots," Morelli said. "I don't need to come out and defend myself. I'm a football player. I'm ready to go out and play football, focus on my team and do what I need to get done. That's the most important thing.

"No, I haven't been unfairly judged. People have their own opinion. They're allowed to say what they want. That's just part of the game. I have to keep moving forward."

Morelli, 17-8 as the starter, will play his final game tomorrow when Penn State meets Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl.

The tri-captain has passed for 2,508 yards this season and needs 172 more against the Aggies to break Kerry Collins' single-season record for passing yardage.

"Time flies," he said. "I'm excited about it, but I'm sure after the game I'll be sad to leave all my friends here at Penn State. We want to go out on top, execute to the best of our ability, and just get another win."

Morelli, who is 6 feet 4 and 231 pounds, wishes he had another year of eligibility remaining.

Coach Joe Paterno has been chastised for not redshirting Morelli as a freshman in 2004. The Lions finished 4-7, and Morelli played sparingly that season, completing 5 of 13 passes for 45 yards and one interception.

"I'm not going to lie," Morelli said. "I do wish I had another year. I'd love to come back and play another year at Penn State. I really enjoyed it here. I enjoyed playing for coach Paterno and [quarterbacks coach] Jay [Paterno]. It was a lot of fun, but I can't look back now. I got to move on."

Morelli, who rejected an invitation from the Hula Bowl and will instead play in the East-West Shrine Game Jan. 19, said one of his biggest regrets was not beating Michigan. He was 0-2 as the starter, the team 0-3 in his career. Overall, the Nittany Lions have lost nine games in a row to the Wolverines.

"We just weren't able to do it, weren't able to get it done, and that hurts," Morelli said. "There's just something about them, we just can't beat them."

He expects to get invited to the NFL Scouting Combine at Indianapolis in late February. NFLDraftScout.com rates Morelli as a "6th- or 7th-round" draft pick.

"I'm anxious to play this game, do my best, give it everything I have and then move on," he said. "And then I'll do whatever I need to do to get ready for the next level."

Alamo Bowl

Who: Penn State (8-4) vs. Texas A&M (7-5)

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Alamodome, San Antonio.

TV: ESPN.