Blue White Illustrated

MATT McGLOIN "Matt McGloin will be our starting quarterback," O'Brien said. "He was the most consistent guy throughout the spring. He has good command of the offense at this point. He's a tough kid, he's a competitive kid, shows good leadership qualities, so I just felt like he's the No. 1 quarterback." And so that's that. The Nittany Lions have their guy. If you were planning on finding out the starter's identity the usual way – by tuning in to Penn State's radio call-in show on the Thursday be- fore the season opener – you can now feel free to make other plans. And if it feels as though a rift has opened up in the time-space continuum and that June has somehow mysteriously crashed into August, be advised that things are moving even faster than you suspect. McGloin himself knew about the decision weeks before O'Brien made his announcement. "I kind of knew a little while after spring [practice]," he said. "But what- ever happens in Coach O'Brien's office, we kind of keep it a secret. Then, a cou- ple of weeks later, I knew he was go- ing to announce it. I was kind of sur- prised he did it at the event that he did it at. But I'm real happy and excited that he got it over with." McGloin, a fifth-year senior and a May graduate of the university, said O'Brien met with the quarterbacks after spring drills and told them where they stood. He described the coach's style as "bru- tally honest" but said he appreciated the candor. Redshirt sophomore Paul Jones presumably appreciated it, too, as he jumped to the second-team spot after sitting out last season for academ- ic reasons. Junior Rob Bolden is now listed as the third-team quarterback af- ter an up-and-down spring that end- ed inauspiciously when he threw three Breaking down the outcome at QB PHIL'S TAKE If you analyze Penn State's quarterback situation closely coming out of spring practice, it appears Bill O'Brien had no choice but to name Matt McGloin the Nittany Lions' starting quarterback for the 2012 season. It became painfully obvious watching both Rob Bolden and Paul Jones in the Blue-White Game that neither player was prepared to be Penn State's starting quarterback this fall. Bolden did complete seven of 14 passes for 78 yards, but he dis- played the same problems operating the offense that plagued him throughout the entire 2011 season. He threw three interceptions and didn't seem to have a firm grasp of the new offensive philosophy O'Brien installed in spring practice. Jones led the team with 113 yards passing, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Matt Lehman in the fourth quarter. But it was quite obvious that he was still getting acclimated to the position. The Blue-White Game was Jones' first opportunity to face gameday competition since he played in the team's spring game two years ear- lier as a true freshman. That's not to say McGloin won the starting quarterback spot entirely by default. O'Brien made it clear that McGloin was consistent in the spring, and that's exactly what Penn State needs. This team also needs leadership, and McGloin delivers that, too. He definitely has his limitations, but in my opinion he is the only player capable of provid- ing the qualities this team needs going into preseason practice in Au- gust. – PHIL GROSZ 16 A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 "It definitely is great to get it off my mind and just not have to worry about it anymore. interceptions in the Blue-White Game. O'Brien said the two backups displayed a "decent command of the offense, are competitive, and they both have inter- esting qualities. We'll see how they do in training camp." The decision to make the depth chart public at this early juncture marks a departure for Penn State. Pa- terno always preferred to keep his thoughts to himself, usually insisting that the competition was wide open unless there happened to be an estab- lished starter returning. Some of those competitions probablywere wide open – think Blackledge-Hostetler, Thomp- son-Casey or Clark-Devlin. Others seemed a little bit more manufactured, contrivances designed to keep the participants on their toes and outsiders guessing. Most of the time, Penn State chose the guy you thought it was going to choose all along. Except for Bolden's triumph over Kevin New- some as a true freshman two years ago, you'd be hard-pressed to point to a genuine upset. But O'Brien had no desire to prolong this year's selection process unneces- sarily. In the spring, he balked when asked about a potential "controversy" at the position – "I can't stand that word," he said – and noted that in his former job as the New England Patri- ots' offensive coordinator, there was- n't any uncertainty about who the starting quarterback was going to be. Barring injury, it was going to be Tom Brady. Last we checked, things were going pretty well in Foxborough. Of course, the team O'Brien inherit- ed at Penn State didn't have an estab- lished starter, with Bolden having start- ed eight games last season and McGloin five. But there are practicalities that come into play, and they don't necessar- " ily allow for a wide-open competition. "When you go into training camp, you've got to make sure that one guy is getting the bulk of the reps," O'Brien said. "You don't have time to give three guys equal reps, so that's No. 1. And in the summertime, without the coach- es being around, you have to have leaders on both sides of the ball. Matt, obviously being a quarterback, is a leader on the offensive side of the ball. … So that goes into the decision- making process. Mostly, it's because you've got to get one guy ready to play. You can't get three guys ready to play, and it's really hard to get two ready to play, so you have to have a starter, and then you go from there." The starter that O'Brien chose com- pleted 125 of 231 pass attempts last season for 1,571 yards, with eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He's been the team's passing leader each of the past two seasons even though he began both of those seasons as Bolden's backup. Mike DeAntona, McGloin's coach at West Scranton High, recently told the Centre Daily Times that he thinks the coaching staff's decisiveness will pay off in the fall. DeAntona awarded McGloin the starting spot as a sophomore, and the young player held onto it for three seasons, throwing for 5,485 yards and 58 touchdowns in his career. He hasn't enjoyed that kind of stability at Penn State. Or any kind of stability, for that matter. But this is a different year, and it's gotten off to a different start. That really does matter, DeAntona said. "This is my opinion, but I do be- lieve this is an advantage not only for Matty but for the Penn State offense," he said. "It's very difficult to be look- ing over your shoulder and wondering where you stand." 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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