The Daily Collegian QB move shows assistants’ influences By Brendan Monahan Joe Patemo tapped lightly on the table in front of him, smiled softly and sighed. The sigh was probably a tired, foreboding response to the multiple quarter back questions about to be fired at him during his Tuesday press conference. But he didn’t seem bothered. MY OPINION The head coach was introspec tive, calm, soft-spoken and ready to talk. His steady eyes and calm voice said he enjoyed the presea son practices up to that point, as if he carried a lesser burden. “Another year,” Patemo said after the 30-minute meeting with the media. It must seem like another year for the legendary coach, but it’s one unlike any other. Field hockey looking for revenge against UConn By Joe Mclntyre COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Revenge is a dish best served cold. And the Penn State field hockey team has been preparing all week in the hopes of serving that frosty meal Friday night in Connecticut. In three games against the Huskies since 2007, the Nittany Lions have lost to Connecticut by a com bined score of 6-2. In three games, the Lions have scored only two goals. And to prevent that losing streak from reaching four, the Lions have been work ing hard in practice to improve their discipline on defense, something the team lacked in its 3-0 loss to Virginia last Sunday. The Lions will face No. 5 Connecticut at 5 p.m. Friday in Storrs, Conn. Coach Char Morett said the team is working on keeping the ball going in one direction toward the opposition’s goal. Against Virginia, the defense was fre quently out of position when it didn’t have ball possession and Morett said it led to breakdowns and odd-man rushes and in the end, a shutout loss. If the Lions want to have any chance of beating UCONN this weekend, Morett said all of that needs to improve. “We got to chasing the ball against Virginia and we got tired out, so we’re going to work on that,” Morett said. “We need to improve that quickly this week.” The team has been doing a lot of 1-on-l and 2-on-l drills in practice this week to prepare for a tough Huskies team that won the Big East Championship last season. Brown finds success in first professional baseball season By Andrew Robinson COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The first time he stepped to the plate Thursday night, Kelson Brown drove a ball into the gap in right center field. Brown rounded second but had to stop quickly to dive back to the base, nar rowly avoiding an attempt ed tag. Thursday night, Brown went 2-for-4 in the State College Spikes 3-2 loss to the Auburn Doubledays at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. With his second inning double, Brown extended his hitting streak to eight games, just the lat est string of success in a strong season. “I just attribute it to showing up each day with a plan and going about my busi ness and carrying it out onto the field,” Brown said. “Baseball, the great thing about this game is if you have a bad game, there’s another day to play.” The second time he stepped to the plate, Brown got that third base. Leading off the inning, Brown sent an offering from Doubledays pitcher Sam Strickland over the head of the left fielder and off the wall. During the outfielder’s scramble to recover the ball, Brown strode into third standing up. But as loud as Brown’s bat has been on the field, the infielder has been rather quiet with his hosts, the Kilpatrick family of State College. “He was at the house already when I met him and he’s just very quiet,” Lisa Kilpatrick, Brown’s host, said. “He’s a real ly nice guy. He doesn’t go out much. He just comes home after the games and hangs out.” All season, Brown has covered most of the infield, playing third base, shortstop and on rare occasions, second base. Not only is he versatile, but Brown can flash the glove a little as well. In the fifth inning, a ball looked to get A true freshman, Robert Bolden, will start the season at quarterback Saturday against Youngstown State, the first time that’s happened in the Patemo era. A calm, steady, smiling Patemo, and more importantly, a historic decision to pick Bolden shows the coach has delegated more decision making to his assistant coaches. No one can blame him, not after the intestinal flu sidelined him from several public events this summer. “That’s obvious that he’s been delegating more,” Penn State football historian Lou Prato said. “But you can tell over the years that he’s been delegating more. Joe has reached the age where he is realizing that his career is coming to an end, like we all do.” Prato isn’t saying Patemo lets others make the decisions for him, that he doesn’t watch film, that he doesn’t see Bolden is the best choice to lead the Penn State And redshirt sophomore Hannah Allison said the team doesn’t plan on losing to Connecticut again, and is practicing like it. “We’re going to practice this whole entire week like we’re playing for the national championship game. We’re not going to take anything for granted,” Allison said. “We’re going to work every day com petitive and come to practice with things to learn.” FIELD HOCKEY To make things even more difficult, not only is Penn State playing a top five team, but it’s playing its first road game of the season. And after the team’s bout with the Huskies, it doesn’t play again for nine days. Redshirt junior Lauren Alloway said for each one of those nine days, the team will be thinking about the result of the game, win or lose. So it’s important for the team to improve on defensive positioning and discipline in practice, so they can come home with a win and have a positive atmosphere on the bus ride home and in practice the following week. “A win on the road is huge, because I think it’s harder when you’re traveling. It’s exhausting,” Alloway said. “I think against UConn would be amazing... So I think if you have that win in the air brings energy to practice, where as a Doss] it might be harder. It’s always nice to have a win dur ing a long break.” Morett knows it will be no easy task to go into Connecticut and get a win, but she knows the team will improve in practice this week and hopefully leave Connecticut with a little revenge in its back pocket. “It’s difficult to play there,” Morett said. “But I feel that our team is going to be in the right mindset when we step on the field against Connecticut and play for the win.” past Brown at third base, but shortstop Drew Maggi recovered, flipping the ball to Brown who started a run down with Doubledays shortstop Gustavo Pierre. Brown sprinted off third, going almost 90 feet before flipping the ball to catcher Miguel Mendez who made the tag for the out. SPIKES Brown said he didn’t know what hap pened to the ball but he went into motion when he heard the crowd and called it an instinct play. For Kilpatrick, who has hosted Chase D’Amaud and Tyler Cox in the last two seasons, it’s a defensive image that defines Brown in her eyes. “He does this thing when he’s on third base where he makes these amazing catches and in the air will throw to first,” Kilpatrick said. “He’s mid-air, twisting and throwing, that’s the total Kelson Brown moment.” Brown scored both of the Spikes’ runs on Thursday and had two of the team’s seven hits. The Spikes have three games left on their schedule and Brown said teams around the league are tired and if he can step his game up, it will be a lift for the Spikes. Spikes manager Gary Robinson said despite Brown’s unorthodox defense, “there’s something to this guy.” “The biggest compliment I think you can give any player in any sport is ‘He’s just a damn winner,’ ” Robinson said. “He will beat you, he’s always around to beat you. I love the kid to death, I think he’s going to be a heck of a player. He’s going to give our organization value.” Kilpatrick said her family has enjoyed having Brown live with them and talking baseball Once the season ends, Brown said he plans to go home and rest, but feels his first year in the minors couldn’t have happened in a better place. “I loved it, it was a great first profession al experience,” Brown said. “You see other ballparks, other facilities and it’s realty obvious how lucky we have it. I thought it was an outstanding experi ence.” “Prato isn’t saying Paterno lets others make the decisions for him, that he doesn’t watch film, that he doesn’t see Bolden is the best choice to lead his team right now. Prato believes Paterno is just changing with the times.” team right now. Prato believes Patemo is just changing with the times. The trend started around 2004, when Penn State named Mike McQueaiy the recruiting coordi nator and continued in 2005, when freshmen Derrick Williams and Justin King were key players instrumental in bringing Penn State back to prominence with an Orange Bowl victory over Florida State. But the Bolden decision proves Patemo’s assistants may now have more influence than ever before. No one disagrees the quarter back decision was Joe’s, just that the assistant coaches may have had more input than in years past. To e-mail reporter: jrms4ol@psu.edu To e-mail reporter: ardso79@psu.edu SPORTS Nathans “All Beef” Hot Dog $1 Popcorn 75C a box Soft Pretzels David slarge Cookies • ***•• »*•**•*«•*•*»*#•••** *-*•** Choadate Chip • NSM • Oatmeal Raisin • Peanut Butter Mift Cflugs $1.39 Shin * 2% • Chocolate SEBTSf 9PM-2A«ii»;4sS Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza $l a slice Pasta Special $1.99 Meatball Hero..- $1.99 - Sutter Mjlb ftliiOC 1 IfVtl #****••*****»•*****♦•*»•*•«*•»«***«•*♦•> There is another side to the story, though. “He’s always done it his way, always tried to give the older guy a shot first,” former quarterback Todd Blackledge said. “But Joe is a whole lot more flexible and open-minded than people give him credit for.” Which begs the question has Patemo become more open minded in the twilight of his career? Has he delegated more of what used to be his work to his assis tants? Or is it a combination of the two? Maybe Bolden, though a true freshman, is good enough to con vince Patemo to make a historic decision. ly Size Fountain Soda $1 J. 9 Oasis Fruit Smoothies $1.99 «*:#•»»■**#*•****■• •*•«**•* 75(a box Pretzels if#**#***'***********.#****#*************#'****** $1.29 $ Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 I 9 “I’m sure he asks the opinion of the staff,” former broadcaster Fran Fisher said. “Probably Galen Hall and Jay [Patemo] had input, but ultimate ly it’s Joe’s decision.” Ultimately, Patemo’s body lan guage may tell the tale best. On Tuesday, his easy demeanor depicted Patemo carries a lighter burden. “I don’t coach on the field as much as I used to,” Patemo said last month, admitting his assis tants are probably more involved. “They’re doing most of the coach ing on the field.” Brendan Monahan is a senior majoring in English and is a football reporter for The Daily Collegian. His e-mail address is bjmsl46@psu.edu. ■ -. . - 9PM-IAM 9PM-
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