Saturday, September 29, 2007

Morelli Must Be Benched

As the Nittany Lions lose for the 2nd straight week, it has become glaring that changes are needed at QB. Anthony Morelli must be benched. He should be relegated to 4th string behind Clark, Devlin, and Cianciolo. Not just because of his horrendous game today. But because of his horrendous career. In the 18 games Morelli has started, Penn State is 12-6. Mediocre considering 6 of those wins are against cupcakes (Akron, Yougnstown State, Temple, FIU, Notre Dame (2007), and Buffalo). In those 6 wins hes thrown for 12 TDs and 2 INTs. Not bad. Except that the statistic most important to any QB is his rating. Morelli has topped 100 in those 12 games ONLY 3 times (Akron 2006, FIU 2007, Buffalo 2007). Even against inferior opponents he's statistically terrible. In important, meaningful games he's 6-6 and has had a QB rating under 70 in 6 of those 12 contests. Also in those 12 games he has thrown just 8 TDs versus 9 INTs. Wow. He is not a good QB. He has shown no signs of improvement. He can't beat good teams. He makes terrible decisions. He can't hold onto the ball. He MUST be removed. If he can't lead this team someone else must get a chance. Personally I think it should be Pat Devlin, the prize recruit of the 2005 class who rescinded on his verbal commitment to Miami to sign with Penn State. Devlin redshirted last year. He must start and the staff has to evaluate his raw skills and determine if he is the QB for the rest of this year and 2008, 2009, and 2010. He would gain massive amounts of experience this year and be poised for a steady campaign in 2008. The Penn State team this year is not devoid of talent (excluding the offensive line). Devlin wouldn't be playing on a bad team (like Jimmy Clausen). It would build his game management skills and he would gain live action experience, the most important component to building a successful QB. Devlin must get the start Saturday versus Iowa in Happy Valley.

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