Blue White Illustrated

YDS PCT INT 00.0 1,548 54.9 1,571 54.1 1,499 61.5 0 TD LG 0 9 14 5 8 2 12 4,618 56.7 16 34 RUSH 0 45 74 45 74 career, the complaint that always seemed to turn up on message boards and helped to put a chip on his shoul- der, was never that he wasn't a good player; the knock was that he was merely good enough. Good enough for a spot on the roster but not for a scholarship. Good enough to leapfrog four-star rivals Rob Bolden and Paul Jones, but only because those guys went bust at Penn State. Good enough to hold down the starting po- sition in a Paterno-coached offense, but not to lead the Lions into their new era. Those complaints are starting to look more and more short-sighted as the season goes on. Maybe that was to be expected. When the new coaching staff arrived last winter, it went out of its way to avoid developing preconceptions about the roster it had inherited. Eager to give everyone a fresh start, O'Brien said he barely watched any game film from the 2011 season. No one embraced the opportunity more enthusiastically than McGloin. He studied hard and absorbed as much of the offense as he could, making a positive impression on Fisher. "When you get a guy who's older, he's got to allow you to coach him," Fisher said. "He's got to put the past behind him, good or bad. There's a new system, a new group of coaches. If a player doesn't buy in, it makes it that much harder. But Matt was excited for this offense. He saw an opportunity with Coach O'Brien's offense [and un- derstood] that it could maximize his skills." ATT YDS 0 13 24 -20 30 67 -16 -2 0 6 AVG 0 0.5 -0.8 -0.1 -0.2 TD LG 0 year-senior quarterback, you have to remain calm. … If you're calm, then everyone can be calm and play their game." Fisher and O'Brien have been critical 0 2 11 0 5 9 7 7 11 Fisher said he began to see McGloin start to thrive during the last 10 days of spring practice. Always an emotional player, he began to exhibit more self- control, and his newfound composure carried over into the season. "The biggest thing with Matt was his demeanor, his emotions, and just keep- ing those in check, staying on an even keel throughout the game," Fisher said. "That's where he's made his biggest strides. He's having fun. He's not beat- ing himself up, getting too emotionally distraught over every play." McGloin hasn't lost any of his brava- do, but it doesn't consume him any- more. "I'm keeping my poise through the whole game now – staying relaxed, staying poised, not flying off the handle, just forgetting about the last play or the last drive and focusing on the play at hand," he said. "Coach Fisher has definitely helped me out with the men- tal game. My mechanics are a lot better and I'm better with my reads. That's all a credit to Coach Fisher. He's really turned me around and made me a successful player so far this season." McGloin's growth was most evident in the Northwestern game, in which he rallied the Nittany Lions from an 11-point second-half deficit, converting two fourth downs on the touchdown drives that allowed Penn State to regain the lead. "I'm still a little a little bit crazy on the sideline," McGloin said, "but once you get on the field, you're able to settle down and just play your game. As a quarterback, especially as a fifth- to McGloin's development, in part be- cause the two coaches work so well to- gether. Fisher is the friendly small- town guy from nearby Allenwood, Pa., quick to offer a word of encouragement; O'Brien is the straight-shooting big- city guy who knows how to get every- one's attention. "It's pretty neat how it works out, because I have a little bit of a temper, and Charlie is probably a lot nicer than me," O'Brien said. "We kind of play off each other. Charlie has done an excellent job of, No. 1, learning our system. [He's] come into this new of- fensive system, and he's learned it himself and so now he's able to teach it. "What stands out to me about Charlie is how he talks to the quarterbacks about mechanics and reads and how to think about plays. I think he's played a big role with all the quarter- backs. He's been around a lot of good quarterbacks and a lot of good re- ceivers, and he's brought that to Penn State." The two coaches have clearly done wonders for McGloin. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he made his share of big plays but also forced his share of high-risk throws, and his touch- down-interception ratio heading into his senior season was 22-14. This year, his decision-making has been stellar, as evidenced by his 12-2 ratio. And making the right decisions in an offense as complex as the one that Penn State is no simple matter. "We put a lot on your plate," O'Brien said. "You have to have a good deal of brainpower and you have to be able to understand what you're watching on film and be able to take that to the practice field and then take it to the game field. Every week, he gets us into the right play and uses little tricks of the trade to help himself to get us into the right play. So I believe he's improved every week." Even though he won't play in a bowl game this year, McGloin is on pace to

• Cover