Blue White Illustrated

BLUE-WHITE GAME PREVIEW | PENN STATE VS. HOUSTON we're going to be, then we're on the right road." Much of the attention this spring has been on the areas where depth is lacking (the secondary, the offen- sive line) and other areas where the coaching changeover is likely to have dramatic effects (quarterback, tight end). Given the emphasis on players this spring, it's easy to for- get that the coaching staff is learn- ing, too. This is O'Brien's first head coaching assignment, and he's dis- covering that there are lot more de- mands on his time than there were when he was an assistant. "A lot of different things come across your desk," he said. "I would- n't say it's hard; it's just a matter of budgeting your time and making sure that you go into your day and you have your daily routine. You know: What are you going to do from 6 to 7 a.m.? From 7 a.m. to 8? "Basically, we work on academics as a staff, work on recruiting in the morning and then we work on foot- ball in the afternoon. But the chal- lenge for somebody who's never been a head coach is that all these things come across your desk. When you were a coordinator, all you were concerned about was the offensive side of the ball and schemes and the evaluation of your own offensive talent. There are more tasks that you have to perform, and that's what I've been doing every single day." The Nittany Lions are getting set to stage their 15th and final practice of the spring April 21 in the Blue- White Game. Looking to make every second count, O'Brien is approach- ing the game as another tool in his evaluation process, not as an after- noon of fun in the sun (or rain, as was the case last year). Here's a look at the biggest questions facing the team as it prepares to wrap up the spring drills… 1. How are things shaping up at quarterback? Holding steady. There had been some talk that the competition be- tween Matt McGloin, Rob Bolden and Paul Jones would turn out to be largely moot. But then Danny O'Brien, Maryland's highly regarded soon-to-be-former quarterback, an- nounced two days after paying a second visit to Penn State that he was planning to transfer to Wiscon- sin. So unless senior walk-on Shane McGregor pulls off a major coup this spring or incoming freshman Steven Bench wows everyone in August, it's a three-man race. Bill O'Brien was quick to empha- size that the three quarterbacks he inherited went into spring practice on equal footing. He avoided watch- ing tape of the offensive players after arriving on campus in February, preferring to base his evaluations on their performance in the spring, rather than judging them on what they did in the previous coaching regime. That's probably a good thing, because the Nittany Lions were last in the Big Ten in pass efficiency in 2011 and next-to-last in 2010. It's been a while since O'Brien has dealt with a situation like this. When he was scribbling down depth charts in the NFL, he rarely needed to use an eraser. "There were no quarterback controversies in New England," he said. Having Tom Brady on your roster will do that. As for Penn State, no matter what transpires between McGloin, Bolden and Jones this off-season, it won't be called a "controversy." "I can't stand that word," O'Brien said. "It's a competition, a battle for the quar- terback job. And there have been [battles] at places that I've been. The way we did it was to be as fair as we possibly could be with these guys and give each one of them an equal amount of reps with the first team and the second team, and also to keep stats. Make it as scientific as possible, keep scrimmage stats, keep seven-on-seven stats and talk to them about completion percent- age and all those things, decision making, accuracy. "We'll keep a library on these guys, and when we go to make a decision on who starts the football game, it will be an educated decision and it will be a fair decision." Reports out of the Coaches Clinic indicated that Jones was looking decisive and displayed an ability to deliver the ball to receivers in the intermediate pass zones. Jones, of course, has yet to play a game for the Nittany Lions due to academic concerns. But if everyone's getting a fresh start under the new coach- ing staff – and that's been a major talking point since the new staff ar- rived in town – the redshirt sopho- more from McKees Rocks, Pa., could end up being one of the ben- eficiaries. 2. Any position changes this spring? Aren't there always? This year's ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Penn State's weight room is getting a major overhaul this spring, with new equipment set to arrive next month. Steve Manuel 18 A P R I L 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 big experiment involves Curtis Drake. The junior-to-be has in- trigued all of the coaching staffs for which he has played at Penn State. When Joe Paterno was in charge, Drake was at wideout. Then Tom Bradley took over on an interim ba- sis and Drake became the team's Wildcat quarterback, playing a big role with 50 rushing yards on three carries in a 20-14 victory at Ohio State. Now, with O'Brien leading the program, Drake is getting a look at cornerback. O'Brien said Drake has the physi- cal ability and instinctiveness to shine at his new position, and there's opportunity aplenty, as the W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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