Blue White Illustrated

With four games remaining, Matt McGloin and Penn State take aim at Purdue THE FINAL COUNTDOWN MATT hERB | M A T T@B L U E WH I T E O N L I N E . C O M There's no bowl game to play for, and the biggest game that it does get to play this season is already in the books as a loss. Under the circum- stances, it's not hard to imagine the Penn State football team struggling to regain its stride as it prepares for the final month of the season. But for quarterback Matt McGloin and his fellow seniors, the season's stark finality is having the opposite ef- fect. Are they disappointed they won't get to go to Florida or California or some other sunny locale in Decem- ber? You bet they are. But that real- ization is helping them stay engaged as the regular season winds down. "We're definitely aware that we only have four more opportunities to take the field at Penn State," McGloin said. "There's no December for us, so Nov. 24 is our last day as Penn State foot- ball players. So we're definitely aware of it, but at the same time we're trying to stay focused on Purdue and pre- pare as if Purdue is our last game. That's the mind-set that we have." McGloin is having the statistical sea- son of his life. That's partly because he has done more passing than any- one else in the Big Ten, and not by a little. His 304 passes are 95 more than Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, who's in second place. McGloin has completed more passes (189) than all but three other Big Ten quarterbacks – Martinez, Ohio State's Braxton Miller and Indiana's Cameron Coff- man – have attempted. Even in the Ohio State game, in which Penn State's offense was inef- fective at times, McGloin posted big numbers. His 327 passing yards were a career-best, and he continues to lead the Big Ten in passing at 264.4 yards per game. He's the only confer- ence quarterback to have surpassed 2,000 yards, having thrown for 2,115 through eight games. He is tied for the league lead in touchdown passes with 16 and has thrown only three inter- POINT LEADER Coming off a ca- reer-high 327 passing yards vs. Ohio State, Mc- Gloin leads the Big Ten in passing with 264.4 yards per game. Steve Manuel ceptions despite his league-high pass- ing attempts. Of course, the most recent of those interceptions was a costly one, as Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier stepped in front of a pass at the Penn State 17-yard line and scooted into the end zone early in the third quarter to help send the Nittany Lions to a 35- 23 loss last Saturday. This week, the Lions have been working to sharpen their communica- tion on offense. Players said there were some breakdowns at the line of scrimmage against Ohio State that stemmed partly from the noise gener- ated by the near-capacity crowd in- side Beaver Stadium. To address the problem, they are blaring music at practice – an ear-splitting mix of hip- hop and metal, mostly – in the hope that it will help them prepare for hos- tile venues. Friendly venues, too, for that matter. Said McGloin, "This is probably the only place in the country where at home you're going to need to use a silent cadence. That doesn't happen too often." Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium isn't known as one of the league's more hostile venues, but the Nittany Lions aren't taking anything for granted. Nor should they, because Purdue is easily the Big Ten's most baffling O C T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 2 11 team. The Boilermakers may be mired at the bottom of the Leaders Division standings at 0-4 coming off a 44-28 loss to Minnesota that cost quarter- back Caleb TerBush his starting job. But they also came within four points of defeating Notre Dame and went to overtime at Ohio State after the Buck- eyes rallied back from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit. Purdue has been opportunistic at times, having amassed 11 intercep- tions as a team, including a league- high four by safety Landon Feichter. "You have to prepare as hard as you can each and every week," McGloin said. "We have to have the mind-set that they're going to do things that we're not going to expect to see. We know it's a tough environment out there and we have to be ready to play. They've played some teams very well this season and they could easily have a few more wins than they have. We know they're a dangerous team and we have to continue to move forward and focus all our attention on them and be ready to match their attention on Saturday." McGloin said Penn State isn't dwelling on its loss to Ohio State. "That game is in the past," he said. "We have four left and we have to keep pushing, and it starts with Purdue." B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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