TodayThere’s faith in the backup QB
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Article RatingLOS ANGELES — If pressed for action, Paul Cianciolo has all the confidence from his teammates and coaching staff.
Cianciolo, the fifth year Penn State senior, was ushered into the backup quarterback role earlier this month after Pat Devlin’s transfer.
The extra practice time and reps are apparently paying off.
“He knows the offense, knows everything. We probably wouldn’t change a thing with Paul in there over Daryll and he’s practiced very well,” offensive coordinator Galen Hall said at Monday morning’s media session.
“He’s been with us and he’s been competing all along for five years now so we feel comfortable with the way it is.”
Cianciolo’s most extensive action to-date was a fourth quarter fill-in during the 2006 season when starter Anthony Morelli and then-backup Daryll Clark were knocked out with concussions in a 17-10 loss to Michigan.
Cianciolo saw action in four games this season.
“He can make the plays we need to win games. Guys are real confident if he has to come in, hopefully nothing happens to Daryll, but if we have to go to Paul, guys are confident in him and he’s been around so long that he really has a good grasp of the offense,” receiver Deon Butler said.
Wide receiver Derrick Williams, who has lined up in the Wildcat formation, could also get some reps regardless of the health of Clark and Cianciolo.
“Williams will be in and out just the way we have used him, probably the latter half of the season. They’re (USC) going to have to know he might be anywhere. I think that’s the thing about it,” Hall said.
“Paul is our backup and we can do with Paul anything we do with Daryll. If two of them go down, Williams is there, we’re probably going to have to slice some things off what we can do but Derrick has practiced there and he can go in and play there.”
NORWOOD WILL BE READY
Receiver Jordan Norwood, who sprained his foot in the season-ending victory over Michigan State, said he will be ready to go once kickoff comes Thursday.
“I’ll be ready to play. I made sure of that. The doctor also,” Norwood said. “Since we got here I’ve been practicing as much as I can and holding back just to make sure I am ready to go.”
Norwood missed time earlier this year due to a hamstring injury.
The senior receiver also said he is going to take a crack at the NFL, but hasn’t thought too much about it despite Thursday being his final game.
“I’ll think more about that after the game when I go home. I’ll think about training and all that kind of stuff. For right now in helping me for the next level having a big game here and us winning, our team and offense we run will help me out the most,” Norwood said.
CLAIMING ‘LBU’
For years Penn State has been dubbed ‘Linebacker U,’ for it’s distinct heritage at the position. USC linebacker Rey Maualuga said the times are changing.
“We’d like to think that,” Maualuga said. “All our running backs like to talk that this is ‘RBU,’ just last year Keith Rivers (now with the Cincinnati Bengals) would talk about ‘now this is LBU, we’ve established something,’ and we would like to think that. That’s just something we can think within our linebacking room. That’s what we’ve been saying out there before game day. ‘One, two, three, LBU.’”
A SECOND CAREER?
Sunday night the entire Penn State team went to the Improv comedy club and it might have been a sign of things to come for one current Nittany Lion.
During the night’s festivities, which included a set from comedian Joe Rogan, Penn State offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger got up on stage and ... well, improved.
“He just told a....I’m not really going to tell you guys exactly what he did,” Clark said.
“For him to get up and freelance like he did he did really well, he handled himself really well. He just had his own flavor, brought his own style and was funny.”
Clark did say that Ohrnberger didn’t do his famous A.Q. Shipley impression, but he did crack jokes on the club owner, whom the team signed an autograph for earlier in the night.
“It’s definitely a good break from the football scene. We get a chance to go somewhere and have a chance to laugh and see some famous people that some of us have heard of. It was fun,” running back Evan Royster said.
