Drake sees more TDs in PSU future

MADISON, Wis. - Curtis Drake, the Penn State redshirt sophomore wide receiver out of West Catholic High, really wanted to celebrate the first touchdown reception of his college career, which also happened to be his longest play as a Nittany Lion.

It's just that it's difficult to seem too joyful when your 44-yard trip to the end zone is followed by 45 points for the guys in the different-colored jerseys.

Drake sneaked behind the Wisconsin secondary for the deep ball delivered by Matt McGloin in the first quarter when the Badgers blew the coverage in Saturday's regular-season finale in Camp Randall Stadium.

"We'd been practicing it all week," Drake said of his TD reception. " 'Moo Moo' [slot receiver Devon Smith] had a bench route. When I broke on my post, I expected the safety to come with me. He went hard to Moo Moo and I was wide open. And nervous. You don't ever want to miss the ones when you're wide open.

"The whole time the ball was coming down, I was, like, 'Please let me catch it.' If I had dropped that one, I never would have heard the end of it."

Drake, who had three carries for 50 yards in Penn State's version of the Wildcat formation that was so productive the previous week at Ohio State, said he was surprised he and freshman wideout Bill Belton never really got a chance to reprise that success against Wisconsin.

"I do not know," Drake said of the Wildcat mostly being put back into mothballs. "I'm trying to figure that out. We were looking to make it a big part of our offense again, and we'd been practicing it a lot. Then we came out and . . . I don't know."

What Drake does know is that he will return for his junior season, regardless of whether interim coach Tom Bradley or someone else gets the job for 2012.

"This is Penn State," he said of the uncertainty over the coaching situation moving forward. "They're not going to bring in just anybody. I know it's going to be somebody who has a name.

"If 'Scrap' [Bradley] stays or they bring in somebody else, I just want to keep it rolling. We've got too much talent to be losing like we did today.

"I can only speak for myself, but I'm here, I love Penn State, I love my teammates. We've got a good team, and we will have a good team. I'm just hoping everybody sticks with it."