Sunday, August 10, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- After a record-setting season in which Larry Johnson became the first player in Penn State history to rush for 2,000 yards, Coach Joe Paterno said the Nittany Lions could be a predominantly passing team this season.

	Joe Paterno hosts his 38th preseason news conference. (John Beale, Post-Gazette) Related article Notebook: Paterno has few answers for off-field incidents

Now that Johnson has moved on to the NFL, the Lions are without a proven commodity at tailback and they also have an inexperienced offensive line. Their most experienced players on offense are quarterback Zack Mills, receiver Tony Johnson and tight ends Casey Williams and Mike Lukac.

"If we had to play tomorrow, I'd tell you we'd have to throw the ball a lot more than maybe I want to," Paterno said at yesterday's media day news conference. "We might have to throw 40 or 45 times. Maybe that's the best thing for this football team. I don't know yet."

Mills was among the passing leaders in the Big Ten last season, despite decreased attempts late in the season when Johnson was tearing up defenses on the ground. He threw for 2,417 yards, third best on Penn State's all-time list.

With Larry Johnson gone, Mills should get the opportunity to put up bigger passing numbers this season and he is looking forward to it.

"I'm excited," Mills said. "I hope we chuck the ball around 30 or 40 times a game. I think that's what this offense has kind of evolved into over the past couple of years. With Larry running for 300 yards a game last year, we couldn't really throw the ball as much. But you look at first five or six games of the year, we were throwing the ball at least mid to high 20s if not 30s in a lot of the games."

Paterno will rely more on the passing game because he has yet to determine which running back will replace Larry Johnson, a Heisman Trophy finalist last season.

Several unproven running backs are vying for the starting position, including Mike Gasparato, Chris Wilson, Tim Shaw and Donnie Johnson. True freshman Austin Scott, who last year set a Pennsylvania high school record for most yards in a season, could be in the mix as well.

Paterno said he would like to know who will be lining up Aug. 30 against Temple by next week.

"I hope to have some of that resolved by the middle of next week," he said. "After about 10 days we'll have to resolve who is making an impact."

There is precedence for Paterno playing a true freshman at tailback. He did it in 1995 with Curtis Enis and again in 1998 with Eric McCoo. Paterno said running back and receiver are the easiest positions for true freshmen to play.

"We have to be patient," he said. "We have some good players. We have Gasparato, Wilson, Johnson. These guys are all out there. I'm not going to neglect these guys. We're going to analyze it after every practice."

Paterno said the only thing that could change his mind about throwing more is the development of the offensive line, which only has one returning starter -- tackle Chris McKelvy.

"The offensive line has to rise up to the challenge," he said. "If they do that we may not have to throw the ball as much as it appears we have to right now. A couple of years ago when Zack was a freshman, we evolved into a different thing after we were 0-4. Last year, the stronger Larry got, the less we threw the ball. I don't want to make a prediction as to what we'll do. We've just had three days of practice."

Despite the uncertainty in the running game, Paterno has some high expectations for his team.

"Right now, I'm really happy with this football team," he said. "I think it's a heck of a squad. They have a lot of potential. Whether they realize that potential this year or next year, I don't know. But I think we've got a good football team."

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