Plenty of yuks and NFW's in this article -g-
Casey shines in first start
by KIMBERLY JONES
Centre Daily Times
SAN ANTONIO - That Rashard Casey's disappearance from the offense
mirrored the Penn State Nittany Lions' three-game collapse in November
warranted only a shrug from the fourth-year quarterback.
"I wasn't given an explanation" for the decrease in playing time, Casey
said earlier this month. "I think coach (Joe Paterno) just felt a
certain way about things and he stuck with it. I didn't ask him
anything; I didn't plan on asking him anything. I just went with the
flow and when I got in there I tried to make the best of my
opportunities."
Those opportunities dwindled as the regular season progressed. Casey,
considerably more of a threat to run than starter Kevin Thompson, tossed
94 passes in the regular season. Only 14 of those throws came in the
final three games, all of which ended in defeat for the Nittany Lions.
"If (Paterno) was comfortable with (the distribution of playing time),
then I can't say anything about it," said Casey, who had shared the
signal-calling duties with Thompson at the beginning of the season but
made his first career start in the Alamo Bowl in place of an injured
Thompson. "I was waiting to be called, and when I did get called I tried
to make the most of my opportunity to keep the team moving. Sometimes it
happened, sometimes it didn't. Right now, I'm not even thinking about
what happened in the past."
The future is all Casey's, or so it seems. With Thompson ex-hausting his
fifth year of eligibility in Tuesday night's Alamo Bowl, and with Casey
having one season left, the job would appear to be his and his alone.
"Casey will be the guy you're looking at coming out of this (bowl)
game," said offensive coordinator Fran Ganter.
Ganter said he thought the two-quarterback system "worked out great" for
the Nittany Lions in 1999.
"I don't think we would have done it differently," Ganter added. "For
all our apprehensions, worries, none of that stuff happened. And that's
a credit to the squad and to the quarterbacks."
Ganter said Thompson, a co-captain, brought "a lot of intangibles" to
the field.
Casey, obviously, brought a considerable degree of entertainment. His
mad scrambles against Indiana and Illinois resulted in highlight-reel
touchdowns and were classic displays of athleticism and instinct that
can't be taught.
But Casey was more than just a scrambler. He led the Big Ten in passing
efficiency and would have ranked among the national leaders had he
averaged the requisite number of throws per game. He completed 62.8
percent of his passes for six touchdowns and three interceptions.
"To have Rashard sit down for a whole football game doesn't make sense,"
Ganter said, recalling the rationale that went into using two
quarterbacks. "He's good enough to play. It's no different than playing
two tailbacks as far we're concerned."
The decision on which quarterback to use when was all Paterno's.
According to Ganter, Paterno told Thompson and Casey: "I don't want you
calling up to Dick (Anderson, the quarterbacks coach who views games
from the press box) or looking down to Frannie. I'm gonna call it."
Next year, the Nittany Lions likely will go back to using one
quarterback: Casey.
"Look at the NFL. The mobile guys are the ones creating all the
problems," Ganter said. "You get yourself an (Antwaan) Randle El or a
Rashard Casey or someone like that, and that creates a lot of problems.
I think everyone would like to have someone like that."
Penn State does have a guy like that.
"It could be real fun" with Casey running the show, said sophomore
tailback Larry Johnson, a State College Area High School graduate.
"Trying to catch up with him sometimes is hard; you don't know which way
he's going. I wish we were an option team so we could really break teams
down."
Don't count on that.
"I don't think we're ever going to be an option team," Ganter said.
"That's just not our style."
Casey said he will adapt to whatever style Paterno chooses.
"I'm up for whatever they give me," Casey said. "I have no choice but to
accept it."
Casey isn't looking for wholesale changes by a coach who's been on
campus since 1950 and a head coach since 1966.
"He's not going to change for nobody," Casey said. "He's going to go out
and do what he thinks is going to win. If he feels that me being a
drop-back quarterback is going to get it done, then that's what he's
going to do. I think that he's confident in me that I can do it."
Senior flanker Chafie Fields has been confident in Casey for a while.
"That guy could play right now and we would win," said Fields, who
caught a team-high 39 passes for 692 yards. "But there's a whole lot of
other things that go into stuff like that. But Rashard's going to be
fine."
Next season, when Fields hopes to be in the NFL, he said he'll still be
interested in charting Casey's progress.
"He's just an exciting player," Fields said. "If he was here or if he
was in Little League, I'd watch him. That dude makes plays. He's taught
me how to do some things with the ball, so it's always fun to watch him
play."
It may become even more fun in 2000. Ganter hinted that the Nittany
Lions offense might "incorporate more things" to accommodate Casey's
strengths. One goal would be putting Casey on the corner, where his 4.46
40-yard speed could take over.
Casey received that news cautiously.
"I don't think they're going to change too many things," Casey said.
"Coach (Paterno) is stuck in his ways. We're all going to have to adapt
to what he wants to do. I don't think he's going to change anything next
year."
Fields and some of his teammates laughed when the words "stuck in his
ways" came out of Casey's mouth. Then Fields agreed.
"Coach Paterno's been around for a long time," Fields said. "This
offense is going to remain the way it is, regardless of what I think or
what anybody else thinks."
A follow-up questioner asked: Isn't there a chance, considering Casey's
strengths, Paterno will budge from his offensive strategy?
Fields smiled before responding with a query of his own: "How long you
been watching Penn State football?"
Everyone in the room laughed, including Casey.
Later, after a dozen of so questions about the upcoming season, Casey
seemed to tire of the subject. He was polite in his responses, which
became repetitious.
Finally, Casey took a deep breath before saying, "I'll worry about next
year when it gets here." |
