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their entire starting secondary and four-fifths of their offensive line. But the off-the-field changes add yet anoth- er element of uncertainty as the team looks ahead to its opener Sept. 1 against Ohio. Here's a position-by-position look at where the team stands heading into spring drills. QUARTERBACK The Nittany Lions have everybody back, but they also appear to have plenty of work ahead, with an unfamiliar offensive system about to be installed and no one really standing head and shoulders above the crowd as the undisputed, every- down, can't-imagine-life-without-him starter. The Lions ended the 2011 season with Rob Bolden under center, but that wasn't by design. After losing the starting job eight games into the sea- son, Bolden rejoined the first-team unit in the TicketCity Bowl after Matt Mc- Gloin suffered a concussion in a lock- er room scuffle in December. The re- sults were all too predictable: 7 com- pletions in 24 pass attempts and three interceptions. Paul Jones had an even less event- ful postseason. Interim coach Tom Bradley had raised hopes that the red- shirt freshman would be able to play against the Cougars, but he reported- ly came up just short in the classroom. He still has yet to play a down for the Nittany Lions after failing to make the necessary academic progress in his first two years on campus. It will be interesting to see how Bolden and Jones fare in this brave new world that Penn State has entered. Do they view O'Brien's arrival as a fresh start after the disappointments of the past two seasons? Or is the new staff more likely to focus on McGloin this coming fall before turning its at- tention to one of the newcomers, either 2012 recruit Steven Bench or the blue-chip quarterback prospect that O'Brien will be looking to sign next February? Bolden is in a tough spot. He's post- ed mediocre numbers at Penn State – a 50.3 percent completion rate, seven touchdowns, 14 interceptions – and while he hasn't used up his redshirt, he's got only two seasons of eligibili- ty remaining. If he wants to go some- Steve Manuel W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 2 27 where else, there might not be a lot of good options open to him. Might he be better off staying at Penn State? There's definitely going to be an infu- sion of fresh offensive thinking with the arrival of O'Brien and new quarter- backs coach Charlie Fisher. As for Jones, he has three more sea- sons remaining. But you have to won- der whether he'll be able to get himself eligible and whether he's going to be able to play catch-up after two years of inactivity. The one player who appears to be ful- ly on board is McGloin. A starter in five of Penn State's final six games last sea- son, McGloin finished 10th in the Big Ten in passing yards per game (130.9) and pass efficiency and was thrilled with O'Brien's appointment as head coach. "He's an offensive guy, and he's a quarterbacks guy," McGloin said. "That's enough right there to get me go- SHAKE AND BAKE The elusive Redd averaged 5.1 yards a carry as a sopho- more and finished fourth in the Big Ten in rushing. ing. I wish we were strapping it up to- morrow." RUNNING BACK Silas Redd is back after finishing fourth in the Big Ten in rush- ing (95.5 yards per game) as a soph- omore. He said he was feeling OK in the TicketCity Bowl after his collarbone was injured against Nebraska in No- vember. He made it clear that there was still some residual pain, but it mostly bothered him in the mornings, before he'd loosened up. Redd's plan for the off-season? "Be a freak in the weight room, be a freak in drills, agility drills, stuff like that. I want to work on my craft as much as I can, because I can gauge what kind of a grind it is now and really work on the things I need to work on for next year." The Nittany Lions had better keep Redd healthy, because they've lost much of their depth at tailback with the graduation of Stephfon Green and Brandon Beachum. The only oth- er scholarship running back on the roster this spring is Curtis Dukes. A rising junior, Dukes shined for the Nit- tany Lions in a midseason reserve role, but there were concerns about his blocking, and when Green was rein- stated after some minor legal trouble early last fall, Dukes returned to the sideline. Redd said he was "just really excit- ed" about playing in O'Brien's of- fense. Can you blame him? He's all but certain to get a lot of carries, no mat- ter what changes are implemented. Take him out of the mix, and the Li- ons' returning tailbacks have combined for 50 career carries. Penn State does have some help ar- riving in the form of freshman recruit Akeel Lynch, who rushed for 2,136 yards as a senior at St. Francis High

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