The Penn Stater Magazine

Senior cornerback A.J. Wallace’s long trip out of Joe Paterno’s doghouse began over the  summer with a wake-up call.

No, not one of those cliched moments in which everything becomes crystal clear. This was literally a wake-up call. From his father.

Wallace’s dad is an early riser, a 6 a.m. kind of guy. Wallace himself is not, as evidenced by his inability to attend a 9:45 a.m. class, which prompted Paterno to say Wallace wouldn’t play for the first few games of this season because he was missing too many classes. (Both Paterno and Wallace call that “a challenge.”) So Wallace’s dad started calling every morning at 8:30, just to make sure Wallace was awake and aware that his class would be starting in 75 minutes.

That worked so well that it impressed Paterno, who allowed Wallace to play in the first game. And this semester, Wallace said, he’s getting himself out of bed. He said it’s not much of a problem.

“It takes seven days to make a habit, 21 days to break a habit,” Wallace said. He got the advice from one of his teachers, but he can’t remember which one. “I wish I could, so I could give credit,” he said.

Wallace spent most of Saturday getting credit. He was one of the defensive stars of Penn State’s 20-0 shutout of Minnesota, shutting down the Big Ten’s leading wide receiver, Eric Decker, and making a spectacular fourth-quarter goal-line stop (with roomie Navarro Bowman) that preserved the Nittany Lions’ first shutout in two seasons.

Defensive backs aren’t normally the guys making those goal-line stops. That’s generally for the aggressive linebackers, the massive linemen. But Wallace was ready—the coaches had informed him that he would be primarily responsible for covering Decker. (Yes, the coaches and Wallace call that “a challenge,” too.) He had spent the week not only priming himself physically for the task, but preparing mentally.

That involved a change in his playlist. No more Fabolous, a rapper Wallace described as “more relaxed.” He switched to the peppier, more aggressive Jim Jones. (No, not the Kool-Aid guy.)

So, will he be listening to a little more Jim Jones before the Michigan game next week? Wallace smiled. “Exactly.”

Lori Shontz, senior editor