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Pat Devlin Extras

In case you haven't noticed, the newspaper is getting smaller (Don't tell my editors I spilled the beans). This is one reason why we decided to have a Penn State blog. Anything that doesn't get in the paper because of space will hopefully wind up here (among other things). I'm a notoriously long-winded writer. So, in some cases, my stories will get chopped of what I obviously consider pertinent information to the story. My hope is to make sure, you the reader, get that extra information on this blog.

For instance, my Pat Devlin story that ran in Sunday's paper was shorter than I had liked, and thus, I couldn't give all the little anecdotes I had reported. Here are a few about the redshirt sophomore quarterback from Downingtown:

Devlin ran a pretty sophisticated offense at Downingtown East under coordinator Dan Ellis, who played quarterback at Virginia. Here he is on the adjustment he had to make when he first came to Penn State: "I thought I had a good grasp on the offense the day I got here. And I knew a lot about defenses because of my coaches in high school. … And it's just progressed since I got here."

Devlin's high school coach, Mike Matta, had a few stories to illustrate what kind of leader Devlin is. For instance, one day as he was nursing a separated shoulder he injured early in his senior year, Devlin saw his coach coming off the field with the team. Matta had told the kids to stop practicing because they were being particularly sloppy and lazy. Devlin saw this and "told them, 'Turn around and go back on the field. We're getting this right,'" Matta recalled. "And he didn't yell or curse. The just followed. And he then ran practice."

Both Matta and Devlin's father, Mark, recounted a story around the same time when East was playing in an early season game and Devlin was still sidelined. It was hotter than a honeymoon hotel. "About halfway through the second quarter, the kids ran out of water," Mark Devlin said. "So what did Pat do? He grabs the damn water bucket and ran into locker room … and filled up the water bucket. That's just the kind of kid he is."