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Radio recap: O'Brien on Jones, Massaro and more

  • Here's some bullet-point notes from Bill O'Brien's Thursday radio show:

    -- The first question was about Paul Jones. O'Brien said that the quarterback wanted "a fresh start" and that he told O'Brien he would finish out the semester at Penn State and look to transfer in the spring.

    -- Defensive end Pete Massaro will not play this week, O'Brien said (he did not add if he would make the trip), but the team hopes he'll be ready to return for next week's Northwestern game.

    -- I can't remember if this was discussed last week or not, but in any case, O'Brien said the team decided to take five of the 70 players who showed up for walk-on tryouts last week. He said it was unlikely that any of them would play this season or do more than anything but work on the Dirty Show until the spring. He did not mention any names or any positions.

    -- O'Brien defended the Big Ten conference, which has received a lot of national criticism after a dismal non-conference slate. He thinks the media should wait and see what happens in the bowls in January before it makes judgment. He also said the MAC has become a stronger conference thanks to, among other things, the 85-scholarship limit.

    -- O'Brien wants Penn State to play in a "bowl-type" regular-season game in a place like Hawaii some time in the next couple of years as a reward to the players and the fans. The team is still trying to work out details.

    -- The coach has a pretty quick wit. Steve Jones was talking about freshman quarterback Steven Bench, saying he was from "Cai-ro," Georgia. O'Brien quickly corrected him on the pronunciation: "It's 'Cay-ro.' 'Cai-ro' is in Egypt."

    -- Walk-on fullback J.R. Refice will travel with the team to Illinois this week, O'Brien said.

    -- O'Brien wants to see his players enjoy their touchdowns with some more enthusiasm. Like predecessor Joe Paterno, he said he's not one for crazy dances or individual celebrations but wants to see the players celebrate scores as a team.

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    Follow me on Twitter @jeffrice247 jrice@247sports.com

    Jeff Rice ●

  • Man, Massaro just can't stay healthy.

    Love BOB's response to Steve Jones regarding Bench's hometown. God I love our coach.

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    PSUjosh11

  • He is definitely good with the interview stuff. I have been impressed.

    Anywho

    "-- O'Brien defended the Big Ten conference, which has received a lot of national criticism after a dismal non-conference slate. He thinks the media should wait and see what happens in the bowls in January before it makes judgment. He also said the MAC has become a stronger conference thanks to, among other things, the 85-scholarship limit. "

    Is something that has been slowing occurring through the years and will continue to do so. It really does help some in 'leveling the field'

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    If you havent signed up for premium 247 yet..take my word for it...its worth it!

    Seltz

  • wonder if JR going on the trip means Zordich won't be able to play

    Nittny65

  • -- O'Brien wants to see his players enjoy their touchdowns with some more enthusiasm. Like predecessor Joe Paterno, he said he's not one for crazy dances or individual celebrations but wants to see the players celebrate scores as a team.

    That's awesome!

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    PSUnFrank25

  • Nittny65 said...

    wonder if JR going on the trip means Zordich won't be able to play

    I don't think so. I probably should have included this, but I'm pretty sure O'Brien said Refice earned the trip because of how well he'd played on the scout team. The trips are a way of rewarding those guys for the work they put in during the week.

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    Follow me on Twitter @jeffrice247 jrice@247sports.com

    Jeff Rice ●

  • It seems like it was just never meant to be as far as PJ playing QB. If I had to guess I would say he was never able to pick up the playbook. This may be a blessing in disguise if BOB can bring in a JUCO that can operate his system. I wish him luck, hopefully he catches on somewhere as long it's not Pitt!

    PSUJT0409

  • Seltz said...

    He is definitely good with the interview stuff. I have been impressed.

    Anywho

    "-- O'Brien defended the Big Ten conference, which has received a lot of national criticism after a dismal non-conference slate. He thinks the media should wait and see what happens in the bowls in January before it makes judgment. He also said the MAC has become a stronger conference thanks to, among other things, the 85-scholarship limit. "

    Is something that has been slowing occurring through the years and will continue to do so. It really does help some in 'leveling the field'

    I know we all have stories, and have heard how before the 85 limit teams like PSU, OSU, UM would take kids they never intended to play, or knew would never play, just so other schools did not get them. Here is another...

    A salesman who calls on me at work played at UM under Bo in the late 80's...OL. Was being recruited by Purdue, Indiana, MSU a little bit, but his dad was a big Michigan fan, the family lived in Kalamazoo. Got some letters and stuff from UM, but hadnt really had any contact with them and had pretty much decided to follow a cousin to Iowa and play for the Hawkeyes since UM appeared not to be interested. Anyway... getting close to signing day, he gets a call from a UM coach saying Bo was coming to the house for an in home visit... Bo walks in, talks to the dad for literally a few minutes, says "this kid is coming to Michigan, I aint letting the G'damn Hawkeyes have him"... and he went to UM... pretty much never played a meaningful snap, but has 3 Rose Bowl rings, and a ton of memories to show for it. If Bo didn;t have an extra 25 schollies to throw around, pretty sure he wasn't going to be a Wolverine.

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    NotoriousGMan

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    bigsuge71

  • Zordich is going to make the trip and will play. However, I think it sounds like he is going to be more of a role player (special teams and blocker). His knee is not 100% and they do not want to risk it.

    MillerLatte

  • PSUJT$ said...

    It seems like it was just never meant to be as far as PJ playing QB. If I had to guess I would say he was never able to pick up the playbook. This may be a blessing in disguise if BOB can bring in a JUCO that can operate his system. I wish him luck, hopefully he catches on somewhere as long it's not Pitt!

    A Juco ? We will have Hack and Bench next season. Lets hope to hell we don't need a Juco running our system!

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    I_Billieve

  • I_Billieve said...

    A Juco ? We will have Hack and Bench next season. Lets hope to hell we don't need a Juco running our system!

    I guess you wouldn't want the next Aaron Rodgers?

    Lion_in_CBus ●

  • I_Billieve said...

    A Juco ? We will have Hack and Bench next season. Lets hope to hell we don't need a Juco running our system!

    Two scholarship QB's with only a game or two of experience between them. Yeah...I want a JUCO.

    This post was edited by psubills62 on 9/28/2012 at 9:47 AM

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    psubills62 ●

  • I_Billieve said...

    A Juco ? We will have Hack and Bench next season. Lets hope to hell we don't need a Juco running our system!

    Not saying we should pin our hopes of a JUCO but I want atleast a kid with alittle college experience. I believe in BOB's ability to coach kids up and you never know, sometime a kid gets recruited for a school and it doesn't work out and go to JUCO for a year. Doesn't mean the kid sucks.

    PSUJT0409

  • PSUJT$ said...

    Not saying we should pin our hopes of a JUCO but I want atleast a kid with alittle college experience. I believe in BOB's ability to coach kids up and you never know, sometime a kid gets recruited for a school and it doesn't work out and go to JUCO for a year. Doesn't mean the kid sucks.

    With Jones gone, PSU is going to need to find another QB. You really can't have 2 QB's on the roster. It is going to be hard to run spring practice with only two capable kids.

    MillerLatte

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    Lion_in_CBus ●

  • Lion_in_CBus said...

    The second point that gets ignored is that Bench would have three years of eligibility...if we can RS Hack in 2013 and Bench is the clear starter going into 2014 & 2015...it might make Hack consider a transfer, ala Devlin.

    The RS situation for Hack is unclear (may not even be an option). I have no doubt the coaches will make the starting job a competition. As highly as I think of Bench, Hack should win.

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    psubills62 ●

  • psubills62 said...

    The RS situation for Hack is unclear (may not even be an option). I have no doubt the coaches will make the starting job a competition. As highly as I think of Bench, Hack should win.

    Sorry I had a typo! I forgot not.

    If we can not RS Hack, it puts in a difficult situation if Bench wins the starting job in 2013 and beyond. Hack would be Bench's backup for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Leaving him one year of eligibility left, this could make him consider a transfer.

    At least with a Juco, we can try to RS Hack.

    This post was edited by Lion_in_CBus on 9/28/2012 at 10:06 AM

    Lion_in_CBus ●

  • Lion_in_CBus said...

    Sorry I had a typo! I forgot not.

    If we can not RS Hack, it puts in a difficult situation if Bench wins the starting job in 2013 and beyond. Hack would be Bench's backup for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Leaving him one year of eligibility left, this could make him consider a transfer.

    At least with a Juco, we can try to RS Hack.

    IMO, unless PSU is in a situation where they hafta start having walk-on tryouts for their starting QB, Hackenberg should RS. The kid has too much talent and will be too important in the years ahead to not have a chance to develop.

    PSUJT0409

  • Thank you for this Jeff!!

    MtNittMoonshine

  • I_Billieve said...

    A Juco ? We will have Hack and Bench next season. Lets hope to hell we don't need a Juco running our system!

    1 QB in the spring
    2 QBs on the fall roster
    0 QB starts (barring injury) in college

    JUCOs aren't all aacademic risks, especially JUCO QB prospects.

    Its a VERY good idea to bring one in. Very good.

    MTayl72 ●

  • Wasn't Cam Newton a JUCO guy. Just sayin'. (Not encouraging BOB to pay a kid, because god knows the purse strings will be tight for a few years - just send a scary picture and a letter saying "YOU'RE NEXT" to Rod and he'll give you $1,000).

    In all seriousness, there's no way in hell we can scrape by with just Bench and Hack. The only way those two kids work together is if Hack starts from day one or if the RS creates a few years of separation. Either way, we need more than one backup to create sufficient depth.

    This post was edited by psume06 on 9/28/2012 at 12:17 PM

    psume06

  • MTayl72 said...

    1 QB in the spring 2 QBs on the fall roster 0 QB starts (barring injury) in college

    JUCOs aren't all aacademic risks, especially JUCO QB prospects.

    Its a VERY good idea to bring one in. Very good.

    Or a Sr. Transfer from N C St.

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    Fantastik! Is really formula 409! WE ARE....

    psufankc63

  • psume06 said...

    Wasn't Cam Newton a JUCO guy. Just sayin'. (Not encouraging BOB to pay a kid, because god knows the purse strings will be tight for a few years - just send a scary picture and a letter saying "YOU'RE NEXT" to Rod and he'll give you $1,000).

    In all seriousness, there's no way in hell we can scrape by with just Bench and Hack. The only way those two kids work together is if Hack starts from day one or if the RS creates a few years of separation. Either way, we need more than one backup to create sufficient depth.

    Cam Newton got kicked off the Florida Gators

    ezcheez2000

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