STATE COLLEGE — After Joe Paterno, Anthony Morelli might have the second-toughest job in Happy Valley.

It's no surprise then that Penn State's head coach stuck up for his quarterback in the days leading up to Morelli's last regular-season start, Saturday at Michigan State.

"Anthony has had a tough time at Penn State, and mostly because of the media," Paterno said. "I think nobody has given Anthony Morelli the credit he deserves."

Morelli has certainly compiled some gaudy statistics since taking over as the starter last season. The strong-armed senior has become the first quarterback in Penn State history to throw for back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons. Morelli is tied for third in school history with 11 career 200-yard games.

Perhaps most impressively, Morelli is 360 yards shy of breaking the single-season Penn State mark of 2,679 set by Kerry Collins in 1994.

"He's got one of the strongest arms I've seen," receiver Deon Butler, the recipient of many of Morelli's passes, said Wednesday. "It'll be great looking back, when you see him up top and say that I played with him."

Morelli seems to have benefited from a second year of experience, relying more at times on touch passes than rifle throws to get balls to receivers. He's also shown more ability to sense and escape pressure in the pocket.

Yet some fans of the Nittany Lions (8-3, 4-3 Big Ten) aren't impressed.

Morelli appears sometimes to get flustered under pressure, leading to some ugly throws. He has fumbled the ball away at least a couple times while scrambling.

So, some fans have resorted to one of Happy Valley's favorite pastimes — calling for the backup quarterback.

"Just from going through this year, it's tough playing quarterback. You get blamed for a lot of things that aren't your fault," said receiver Terrell Golden, a co-captain with Morelli and Dan Connor.

Golden said Wednesday critics may not see other mistakes by other players that may instead be blamed on the quarterback. For example, a receiver may run the wrong route, or a breakdown in pass protection might lead Morelli to rush a throw.