Assault charges were dismissed against Penn State quarterback Rashard Casey Tuesday.

Casey and a high-school teammate had been accused of beating an off-duty police officer outside a Hoboken, N.J., bar on May 14.

Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Ed DeFazio told the Associated Press that Hudson County has charged Casey’s former teammate, Desmond Miller, with third-degree assault. The Nittany Lions quarterback could be called on to testify against Miller.

The police officer, Patrick D. Fitzsimmons, has not yet dropped a civil suit he filed against Casey, which seeks compensation for “severe and painful injuries,” the AP reported.

Several newspapers erroneously reported last week that Casey had been indicted by the grand jury. Penn State president Graham B. Spanier held a press conference Tuesday after the grand jury cleared Casey.

“Shame on the news media for their atrocious handling of this story,” Spanier said.

BOOSTING MORALES: Purdue hasn’t had any trouble finding people to catch footballs from Drew Brees this season. But one man — perhaps the most unexpected contributor to the Boilermakers — has come up with the big plays when they were needed the most.

Sophomore wideout Seth Morales started out his college career at Butler, but decided to transfer to Purdue, against the advice of Boilermakers coach Joe Tiller. He then walked on, earning a scholarship this season.

“Just when he initially approached us I said, ‘You better think about this, young man,” Tiller said. “‘You’re a very good player where you’re at. Often times you’re better off staying where you’re at versus transferring.'”

But over the past two games, the diminutive wideout — Morales is 5-foot-10, 170 pounds — has stepped into the role of Purdue’s go-to guy. He caught the game-winning touchdown on a 64-yard pass with 1:55 left against Ohio State, and grabbed his first career touchdown on a 78-yard bomb against Wisconsin the week before.

Morales now has 26 catches for 443 yards on the year, and it could have been more had he not had a 59-yard score against Ohio State called back on a holding penalty.

“It wasn’t until spring practice when he made a couple of exceptional catches and really dove for the football,” Tiller said. “We saw a guy who was reckless with his style of play and disregard for his body and we thought, hey, this is the type of guy who’s got the chance to come up with a key catch for us here or there.”

SMOKER STILL THE STARTER: Michigan State coach Bobby Williams announced he will start freshman Jeff Smoker Saturday at Ohio State, not the more experienced Ryan Van Dyke, who has battled a hand injury much of the year.

Smoker has been the primary quarterback in all four of Michigan State’s wins, but Van Dyke had been given the opportunity to keep his starting role.

“I thought Ryan really struggled last week in the game and the two turnovers really were costly turnovers,” Williams said of Van Dyke, who was pulled for Smoker in the Spartans’ 14-10 win over Illinois Saturday. “It was a tough decision because I know how hard Ryan had worked to get into this position and how much he wanted to be a leader.

“We had to make the decision that was best for the team and we came up with the decision to start Jeff this week.”

Also, tailback T.J. Duckett will be back in action after carrying only once against Illinois. He hasn’t fully recovered from injuries to his knees and shoulder, but he’ll get the start.

“I don’t think anybody at this point in the season is 100 percent healthy but he’s going to start this week,” Williams said. “He’s ready to go.”