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Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2008 > October > 20 > Entry
Meet Daryll Clark, Penn State destroyer
Joe Paterno can’t get all the credit. As the octogenarian coach sits high above the stadium wearing his cockeyed headset and watches Penn State roll over opponents, it is Daryll Clark who does much of the destruction on the field (along, of course, with the very strong defense).
We heard for years about Anthony Morelli before he took over Penn State’s offense and was mostly lackluster for two years or so. But not many people outside Happy Valley knew much about Clark before he took the reins this season and made the Nittany Lions into one of college football’s best offenses.
So, here he is:
Clark went to Ursuline High School in Youngstown, where he threw for 1,800 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior. He was a second-team All-Ohio pick in Division IV. When he signed his letter of intent with Penn State, Clark was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star athlete (average, at best) as Derrick Williams and Justin King led the recruiting class in publicity.
As a freshman and sophomore, Clark was a combined 20-of-36 for 147 yards while playing behind Morelli. Then, this season, Clark exploded.
(As a side note, Morelli, for some reason, has his own Web site.)
Let’s go to the numbers: Clark has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 1,531 yards and 11 touchdowns against two interceptions. The Nittany Lions have the Big Ten’s best offense, as they average 45.4 points per game and 482.1 yards per game (Illinois averages more yards, at 484.6 per game).
He’s big at 6 feet 2 and 231 pounds, has a strong arm and is very elusive (elusive QBs ring a bell, we’re sure, for Ohio State fans).
Added up, that makes for a quarterback worth fearing this weekend when Ohio State plays Penn State.
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By Tim
October 20, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this
Mobile or not, I hope lil animal puts a bonecrushing hit on this 1st year starter early to deflate a little air from penn state’s big head.By Matt
October 21, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this
Granted he is a junior, but he doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of experience. He hasn’t faced a defense the likes of ohio state, and ohio stadium at night can definently be a tough place to play. I am predicting a rough outing for this guy, which will lead to an ohio state victory.