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Paterno Says Nothing

Big surprise here: Joe Paterno gave away almost zilch during his 12-minute interview with the Big Ten Network during its broadcast of today's practice. Here's a brief summary:

1. Paterno doesn't think the offense will change much even though his son, Jay, keeps trumpeting the Lions' new "Spread HD" offense. "Do you guys have the playbook from the 11 or 12 games [it's 12, Joe] we're going to play?" he said. "If you gave me that I could probably tell you what we're going to do. We're going to play it by ear."
2. He likes this team. [Zzzzzzzzzz.] The team's had some problems. The kids that stayed are good kids. [Blah, blah, blah.]
3. The Lions need to improve their kick return coverage. [That should get them over the hump against Michigan.]
4. Paterno doesn't have the slightest idea if he will use primarily one running back or a running back-by-committee. "We might end up with two tight ends and two running backs," he said. [Who-hoo! A return to the glory days! Where's Franco?]
5. Joe is happy he's kept his staff together after all these years. [I'm falling asleep.]
6. One of the BTN geniuses asked if defensive ends Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines would continue to get better. [What a probing question.] Joe said, "Yeah."
7. News flash: Paterno still enjoys coaching and he still hates the media.
8. Paterno is nervous about the new 40-second rule. In case you missed it, the NCAA implemented a new rule that the play clock will count down from 40 seconds once the ball becomes dead instead of 25 seconds on the referee's signal.

One final observation: How couldn't the BTN guys at least ask about the quarterback competition between Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin?