Penn State's Brackett steps up at wide receiver

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Brett Brackett came to Penn State as a quarterback but has spent his career getting lost in the shuffle at wide receiver, catching only three passes all of last season.

But Saturday, the 6-foot-6, 242-pound fifth-year senior seemed to be everywhere grabbing passes - eight in all - from true freshman quarterback Rob Bolden, and matched his career total of touchdowns with two.

If he was excited about his performance after the Nittany Lions' 44-14 victory over Youngstown State, he didn't show it.

"I just try to go out there and do whatever I can to help the team win the game," said Brackett, a cocaptain. "Today it was me catching passes. Next week I could catch zero passes but I'll be making blocks or doing whatever I can. I'll do whatever it takes. I really don't care."

Brackett was lined up Saturday at what Penn State coaches call the "R" position, usually on the line split a couple of yards off the tackle's outside shoulder. Bolden found him early and often, and he scored both touchdowns on good second efforts after receptions.

Brackett, who passed for more than 3,800 yards in his career at Lawrence High in Lawrenceville, N.J., was generous in his praise of Bolden.

"You really have to commend him," he said. "He did a great job back there, showing poise, showing leadership, and taking what the defense gave him."

It doesn't matter to Chaz Powell that he has moved from offense to defense and back to offense since the last time the Nittany Lions played a game. He still knows how to make plays.

Powell made one of the biggest plays Saturday, returning the second-half kickoff 100 yards to sustain the momentum Penn State had generated at the end of the first half.

"That basically was a boost for us, just to come out there and show them that we've come to play," Powell said. "Those guys might have kept up with us in the first half, but our job is to come in and put points on the board."

Powell returned to wide receiver late in preseason camp after being moved to cornerback last spring.

Powell's return marked the first time a Penn State player ran 100 yards for a TD with a kickoff since Rich Mauti did it against Temple at Franklin Field in 1975. Mauti is the father of current Lions linebacker Michael Mauti.

Joe Paterno conceded that his quarterback plan for this season did not evolve as originally designed because of the transfer of Pat Devlin, the former Downingtown East High star, after the end of the 2008 regular season.

Paterno did not mention Devlin, who has begun his second season as Delaware's starter, by name.

"We are fortunate in a way that we have some kids that can play that position," he said. "We are unfortunate that the timing of it is screwed up because we lost a kid in a transfer. We had zeroed in on someone else to be the backup guy to replace the kid [Daryll Clark] we lost. It didn't work out that way because he transferred. We had to adjust and we ended up with some talented kids that have to learn."

According to Penn State's sports information records, Bolden's 20-for-29, 239-yard performance is the best by a true freshman in school history. Tony Sacca completed 15 of 27 passes for 215 yards (no touchdowns) in a loss to Syracuse as a true freshman in 1988. . . . Sophomore defensive end Pete Massaro, a former star at Marple Newtown High, saw his first game action as a collegian and had one tackle and one assist. Massaro redshirted in 2008 and sat out 2009 after tearing the ACL in his right knee. . . . Youngstown State scored when an inside screen pass from Kurt Hess to Dominique Barnes resulted in an 80-yard touchdown play. "We were mad we gave up the TD," cornerback Stephen Morris said. "We just got careless."