For a teleconference, Penn State running back Brandon Beachum went a little deep on Wednesday.

Typically a forum for canned responses from student athletes caught somewhere between breakfast, classes, workouts or afternoon practice, reporters get a few quotes to share among themselves, news is rarely divulged, and most players try to simply decipher drawn out questions over broken cell phone connections while a TV blares in the background somewhere.

So casual are the teleconferences that a few years ago, renowned pranksters Rich Ohrnberger and A.Q. Shipley pulled a fast one on reporters. Ohrnberger had long ago perfected a Shipley impersonation, so when a scheduled call with Shipley occurred in late-November, Ohrnberger's work took center stage for a full 20-minute question and answer session with reporters none the wiser.

Penn State had to send out a note apologizing and rescheduling Shipley - the real one this time - for another teleconference.

Legendary joke, and not a big deal, for the reporters or the players.

Reporters still joke about the time quarterback Anthony Morelli warned the media before his conference call was under way that he was expecting a package to arrive sometime during the teleconference. No more than 10 minutes into reporters' questions, Morelli excused himself to sign for a new laptop delivered by FedEx.

The truth is, few players take teleconferences very seriously, and few reporters blame them for having that attitude.

Because really, how many questions about picking captains, preparing for the first game of the season, or the quarterbacks, should any one player have to answer?

Occasionally, though, a player will provide some real insight or candor.

Daryll Clark's call used to be the weekly, never-let-you-down event of the teleconference schedule. Nearly every reporter on the beat would call in and within the first weeks, Clark repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to talk at length about seemingly any and every topic.

Maybe it's a Youngstown thing.

After this week's first round of teleconferences for the 2011 season, Beachum jumps out as an early contender for media favorite on this year's team. He's already widely regarded as one of the genuinely nice, humble, and hardest working guys on the team, among teammates, coaches and now the media that covers the program.

So, it wasn't that much of a surprise when he spoke earnestly of how challenging the past two years had been for him, failing to recover completely enough to avoid a redshirt season in 2010 after a catastrophic knee injury against Indiana late in the 2009 season.

He's certainly had to answer the same questions dozens of times through the course of this summer, but there was no sense of impatience when he spoke of his helplessness at watching from the sidelines - even though he was back to 100 percent early in the season - while his teammates came up on the losing end of games that could or would have been wins with his contributions.

"Getting back to health wasn't the hardest part," he said of his rehabilitation. "The hardest part was really just sitting on the sidelines and knowing that no matter what happens, I'm not going to be able to make an impact this season.

"Knowing that I could have made some kind of impact and maybe the game could have gone a different way. Maybe our offense could have given a different look. It was really difficult to sit back and watch that happen and watch us take losses that, you know, we shouldn't have taken, to be honest. We shouldn't have lost as many games as we did last year, but now that I'm back, hopefully we won't have to worry about those kinds of things. We should be able to work our offense around two really great backs and a ton of great receivers."

Which, of course, leads to the other topic Beachum has handled deftly this off-season:

Teammate Silas Redd. Specifically, the high expectations surrounding him this season.

Bouncing onto the scene with a tremendous true freshman season, his 437 yards and two touchdowns on 77 attempts have made Redd a hot topic among fans and media. So much so that Beachum's return has been relegated as an afterthought or aside to the expectations for Redd this season.

The reality is that Beachum will carry his fair share of the load, as offensive coordinator Galen Hall has indicated this summer, creating a one-two punch of talented tailbacks.

In his answers, Beachum has gently alluded to the contributions he plans to make this season as a complement to Redd's.

"I'm probably 15-20 pounds heavier than Silas, so you're going to get that kind of difference," Beachum said. "People might say he's more elusive than I am, or I'm more of a power back than he is, but I really think it's whatever the moment calls for. Silas can be really powerful when there's a linebacker in the hole and he has to run through somebody to make a first down.

"At the same token, if I need to make a move to get to the outside or make somebody miss, I wouldn't call myself short of making that move. I think I'm just as capable as he is, and he's just as capable as I am.

"I really think it's just whatever the situation demands. It really kind of depends on what the defense is doing, what the offense is doing, on who we want to play and that sort of thing. I think we'll be successful either way. I don't think our offense is short with either of us in the backfield."

With opening kickoff just two days away, and 655 days passed since he last participated in game action, Beachum is just happy to be back.

His studies in public relations might keep him from being anything but honest with the media in the next two seasons anyway, but for the time being, who can blame his genuine anticipation for this weekend's home opener against FCS bottom-feeder Indiana State?

"My emotions coming on Saturday, I don't know. I hope it will be like I never left, but I'm sure it will be pretty much overwhelming, just because I was out there on the field but it's a completely different atmosphere when you're dressed, you're playing, you're making that impact," he said. "I think knowing that, it will be a little bit different and probably an even better feeling than the first time I actually ran out, because I kind of feel like this is like my rebirth into football."