Thursday, August 28, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Penn State coaches still won't say whether Anwar Phillips will return to the football team after being acquitted of sexual assault charges Tuesday. But Phillips' high school coach said yesterday that Phillips has already returned to the team.

"He's right back out there. He was on the field [Tuesday]," said Randy Trivers, Phillips' coach at Northwestern High School in Germantown, Md. "Everything is back to normal. I'm expecting he'll go back to living a normal life for a college football player. He's going to go back to being a student-athlete."

Phillips was suspended by the university in January for two semesters after a hearing with the university's office of judicial affairs. He served out his punishment during the spring and summer semesters.

Trivers spoke with an emotional Phillips after the verdict.

"He's very relieved to have it behind him," Trivers said. "Even though you're innocent, it's still in someone else's hands. I'm sure he had a lot of anxious moments. But I think it will be all downhill from here. I'm sure he'll have to deal with people who say things or believe things. But clearly, the truth came out. For his sake, I hope people just let him go and let him live his life."

Phillips worked out at Northwestern High during the spring and summer, and Trivers did not believe it would take long for him to work his way back into playing condition.

"He did a nice job with the set of circumstances he had," Trivers said. "He had an understanding that if this thing worked out the way we all knew it would that he would go back. He's a very dedicated kid. Mentally, he'll have no problem picking up whatever they added during the off-season. Physically, it will take some time for him to work himself back into football shape. But it's not like he was sitting around on the couch. He was lifting weights and running."

Phillips played in all 13 games as a redshirt freshman last year. He started two games, had 20 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. If and when he is reinstated, Phillips will join a crowded defensive backfield. Chris Harrell, Andrew Guman, Yaacov Yisrael and Calvin Lowry will all see time at safety.

Senior offensive tackle Dame Jones said the team is glad it has one less distraction to deal with.

"It definitely is a sigh of relief that it's over," he said. "It's one less cloud hanging over our heads."

The unknown factor

Penn State goes into the game against Temple with some level of trepidation because the Owls have so many new players. Temple Coach Bobby Wallace brought in 17 players from junior college.

"They lost a lot of kids and had to replace them with some people we don't know," Coach Joe Paterno said. "It is a challenge. We have to play our game and be as good as we can be. ... It's going to be a tougher game than a lot of people think."

Players are a little leery of the Owls as well.

"We don't know a thing," Jones said. "It's really a scary situation. A lot of people are overlooking Temple. I'm from Philly and I don't know who these guys are. I haven't seen any of these [junior college] guys they brought in on tape."

Robinson's role

Backup quarterback Michael Robinson will play Saturday, but Paterno did not specify where he would be lining up. Robinson, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt sophomore, was used as a quarterback, running back and slot receiver last season.

"If I told you, I would be telling Temple," Paterno said. "He is going to play. Some of the things we did with him last year, we will do with him again this year. Zack Mills is the quarterback. The thing with Michael Robinson is that he gives you so much insurance at backup. His passing has really improved."

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