Scott's season starts with a whimper
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- What is the deal with Austin Scott?
The sophomore tailback did not touch the ball in Penn State's 21-7 loss against Boston College on Saturday. Scott, the team's leading rusher last season, played only on the kickoff-return unit.
Tony Hunt started and carried 14 times for 41 yards. He was ineffective, especially in the first half, when he had seven carries for 6 yards.
Yet, Hunt was the only running back to carry the ball. The only other runs were by Zack Mills (three carries, minus 3 yards) and Michael Robinson (four carries, 35 yards) on quarterback keepers.
In the fourth quarter, with the Nittany Lions scrambling to score, seldom-used senior Mike Gasparato went in at tailback. The reason, according to coach Joe Paterno, is that Gasparato is better at pass protection than either Scott or Hunt.
When asked why Scott did not play, coach Joe Paterno shrugged and said that Hunt "right now, is a little bit better than Scott."
Paterno offered no clues as to how to interpret that comment.
With a straight face, Robinson said he didn't even notice that Scott never got on the field with the offense.
"I guess Austin just didn't get the call tonight," Robinson said.
A week earlier, Scott was demoted to backup status for the season-opener against Akron after arriving late for two team meetings. He showed the same sort of lax behavior last season -- and was reduced to just 31 carries over the final seven games of the season.
On Friday, a Penn State fan site on the Internet reported that Scott was late for another midweek meeting and as a result would not make the trip to Boston College.
The Internet rumor seemed to be proven false when Scott stepped off the team plane Friday night. Or was it?
As things turned out, Scott might as well have stayed at home.
Time to rebound ... again
After the game, Paterno sat slumped in a chair in an interview room. He rested his chin in his hand and never smiled. When asked to assess what needed to be shored up before the next game, Paterno sighed deeply.
"I don't have all the answers right now," he said. "I've got to go home, look at some tape, see if maybe we've got to change some people."
A big-time lineup shake-up likely won't happen. Paterno often threatened to do so during the turbulent 2003 season, but rarely followed through.
The one thing the Lions have to guard against is the type of raise-the-white-flag attitude that festered after the loss against BC last season.
"This isn't last year," Mills insisted. "We have to come back, even as bad as we feel now, and put it behind us. We can do one of two things (Saturday) against Central Florida: come out flat or give an all-out effort."
Good news, bad news
Linebacker Paul Posluszny (Hopewell) made a career-high 12 tackles (nine solo), including three for minus-16 yards. Penn State's leading tackler was safety Andy Guman, who had a career-best 14 stops (11 solo).
It's rarely a good sign, though, when a member of the defensive secondary tops the team in tackles -- especially when the opponent's offense is focused on the running game.
Eagles tailback Andre Callender rushed for 114 yards on 27 carries. Bad news: Callender is a redshirt freshman. Worse news: it was his first collegiate game.
"This is only the second game of the year, "Posluszny said. "On defense, I think we did a lot of things right and made progress. The mistakes we made, I think we can correct them."
Offensively, a handful of Lions posted career highs. Five players reached personal landmarks in either receptions and/or receiving yards -- Gerald Smith (five catches for 74 yards), Robinson (five catches), Hunt (seven catches for 55 yards), Isaac Smolko (two catches) and Ryan Scott (first career catch for 13 yards).
Mill's 23 completions were tied for second-most in his career and tied for the ninth-highest total in team history. He was a perfect six-for-six in pass attempts in the first quarter.
The bad news: all those milestones amounted to just one touchdown.
