John Beale, Post-Gazette Will Anthony Morelli make Beaver Stadium his own in his first season as starting quarterback at Penn State. Click photo for larger image. Related article Penn State Football Notebook: Bradley might try WVU's defense

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- By now, everyone in the free football world has heard about Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli's arm strength and his lightning-quick release. But zipping a pass into tight coverage or completing a long pass is not the way Morelli would like to beat his first opponent.

Morelli, the much-ballyhooed junior who is taking over as the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions, would much rather call an audible at the line of scrimmage and outsmart a defensive coordinator. That would put a big smile on his face.

After all, Morelli's mental acuity has been the biggest question mark surrounding his game from the time he was playing at Penn Hills. Fair or not, things were said, repeated and spread like wildfire. The knock is that he can't read defenses, make quick decisions or comprehend the playbook. It's sort of a modern-day Terry Bradshaw story.

"I get tired of it, but it doesn't bother me anymore," Morelli said. "If anything, I just can't wait to get out on the field and prove people wrong. I've been hearing that since I was in high school. Whoever started that, it doesn't matter to me. It's always been around. I don't know if it was people from high school or what. It doesn't matter. I'm the quarterback at Penn State now. I just want to help my team win games."

Quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno dispelled the notion that Morelli has trouble with decision-making.

"I've told people the only reason he's gotten that rap is because he's Italian. And I resent that," Paterno said, joking. "People have asked me that question, and it's one of those things that has no basis of truth. The truth is in high school he wasn't asked to do a lot of things in terms of reading. [Penn Hills coach] Neil Gordon has had a ton of success, but his offense was predicated on run first and passing second.

"When Anthony got here, we were asking him to do more things in the pass game and reading things, more than he would have in high school. We were going to have more things to read. He's picked up the things we want him to pick up in the time we've wanted him to pick it up in. He's done everything we've asked of him. He's a little further ahead where I thought he would be at this point."

That's good news for a Penn State offense that is hoping to pick up where it left off last season when Michael Robinson was at quarterback. Paterno cautioned that there would be a transition period with Morelli, who has just 33 career pass attempts, all in mop-up duty. But he expects Morelli's natural talents to shine through.

"With every quarterback, you have to figure out what they do best and go with that," Paterno said. "Anthony is not going to run for 800 yards like Mike did. You take advantage of things he brings to the table. He has a great arm. He can attack anywhere on the field effectively. The great thing about him is he has great arm strength, but he also has a really quick release. Those two things combined allow you to do some things in the pass game. I'm really excited about this season to see what he does."

Morelli will enter his first season as a starter with high expectations. Coming out of Penn Hills, he was rated as the No. 12 prospect in the country by Rivals. Those accolades made it difficult for Morelli to handle riding the bench the past two seasons, but he said he is better for the experience.

"It was tough at first," Morelli said. "But you have to realize you're taking a step up into the college ranks. I had great guys ahead of me. It wasn't like I was going to walk in here and take over. I learned that. I took it as a learning experience. I was behind two great quarterbacks and they taught me a lot. Now I'm excited to go to the field and do it myself."

Head coach Joe Paterno has said all summer that he regrets not giving Morelli more playing time last season. Robinson's spectacular 2005 season prevented any on-the-job training for Morelli.

Jay Paterno said one of the biggest developments in camp will be how quickly Morelli finds his comfort level and develops confidence among his teammates.

"As he has more success in practice, he'll be more of a leader out there," Jay Paterno said. "The first time you walk in there to take over that No. 1 offense, it's not easy to command respect. Once he starts to have success scrimmaging and things, the leadership will start to emerge."