Penn State's Green hoping to earn Paterno's trust

STATE COLLEGE - Penn State running back Stephfon Green runs with such energy and passion that you might think coach Joe Paterno is driving him crazy by keeping him out of the starting lineup.

You would be right.

Paterno and Green find themselves in the middle of a pivotal running back crisis that could swing the Nittany Lions' season in any direction.

Evan Royster, who entered the season with 2,918 yards and was poised to become the most productive runner in school history, has needed three games to net 110. He was yanked from the lineup Saturday against Kent State after losing a fumble on the first play of the second half, underscoring his underachievement.

Green, a productive backup since his redshirt freshman season in 2008, ran over Kent State defenders and moved the chains (11 carries, 59 yards after getting shut out in the second half).

That gave him 104 on 22 carries - nine fewer attempts than Royster this season - pushing his career total to 1,001.

Paterno credited Green for running hard, but admitted he doesn't totally trust him.

"Green has had a problem in other years being durable," Paterno said. "Knock on wood, I hope that's behind him, so we can count on him going in there if something happens to Royster. He can carry the ball 12-15 times.

"That's something we weren't sure he could do, and we're still not sure until we can get him in there and get him banged around a little bit to see if he can handle the bumps and bruises."

Green said such thinking bothers him.

"It's going to drive me nuts that he doesn't trust me," he said. "If he still thinks he has a little bit of a concern, I guess I have a little more proving I have to do."

Still, Green said he understands his place on the team.

"[The coaches] were doing this before I was born," he said.

Earlier this season, Green disputed Paterno's assertion that he had a neck injury; Green said it was a concussion that kept him out of practice. But a few days later, he averaged 5.3 per carry against Youngstown State.

Green dislocated his ankle in the 2009 Rose Bowl, but led the team in rushing that day against USC with 57 yards on 10 carries, giving him 578 for the 2008 season. The injury caused him to miss spring drills but he returned to back up Royster last season.

Green insists it's not necessary for Paterno to treat him so cautiously.

"Right now, this Stephfon Green sitting right here in front of you guys is 100 percent, and can carry the load if the coaches ask him to," he said.

Green said his passion comes from his father Persal Green, who works as a delivery man in the Bronx, and, according to his son, began living almost on his own in the fifth grade.

"He has seen a lot, he has taught me a lot, and we've been through a lot," Stephon Green said. "For a guy to come that far and raise me into the man I am today, you have to give him all the credit."

Green said he wants to make his parents proud, but he refuses to allow them to brag about him.

"There is no bragging necessary," he said. "I just made the right choices in my life."

He prefers to hear praise from his locker room.

"I hope I sent a message to my teammates and the coaching staff that I can play football," he said.