Blue White Roundtable: Alabama Week Edition
September 7, 2011 – | 1 Comment

Once again, it’s Adam Collyer over at BlackShoeDiaries providing the questions, and we, your humble bloggers, providing the answers. Mine are below, and you can venture off to the remote areas of the blogosphere that …

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For PSU in 2010, it’s McGloin or Bolden

Submitted by on August 17, 20104 Comments

What’s particularly maddening for Penn state fans is Joe Paterno’s lifelong distaste for the media. In other words, reports from practice are scarce and incomplete at best. We’re less than three weeks away from the season opener, and have no idea how the quarterback battle is shaping up.  The last thing we saw was Paul Jones carve up the third-team defense at the Blue/White Game. We hadn’t heard a peep about Robert Bolden until the Big Ten Network dropped by.  And that’s when the ball started rolling.All of a sudden, a kid who completed 65 of 148 passes for 872 yards in his senior season has become the newest sensation.  McGloin has been in the system for more than two years, Newsome for a year and a half, and Jones since last January, and yet it’s Bolden, who enrolled this summer, who’s been turning heads. This was supposed to be Kevin Newsome’s year.  These next three were supposed to be the Kevin Newsome era.  But not so fast, apparently.

Bob Flounders, of the Patriot-News, found someone to collaborate.  As always, remember the dangers of trusting an anonymous source.  But that said:

The greenest of the four contenders, Michigan’s Robert Bolden, has been the talk of preseason camp, according to our guy. An impressive specimen at 6-4, 208 pounds, Bolden did not enroll early — like fellow true freshman Paul Jones — so he could participate in spring drills. No matter. Bolden has a big-time arm and the feet to avoid trouble. This is a huge deal, given the Lions’ road dates with Alabama, Iowa and Ohio State.

Most important, Bolden has shown big-time poise for a young player. And he will use his feet to extend a passing play, then make the throw.  Bolden, clearly, has seized the moment in practices. The same cannot be said for Newsome, our insider said. He has not been consistent.

Do not be surprised, our man said, if sophomore Matt McGloin, the former walk-on, opens the season as the starter. And Penn State could use a two-QB system with Bolden coming in as a reliever, much the same way Ohio State used quarterbacks Todd Boeckman and Pryor in 2008.

Interesting news, and it really backs up the hints and whispers we’ve been hearing.  Heck, if you look at the stories that have been written the past few weeks about the quarterback situation, Matt McGloin seems to be out in front, with Bolden closing fast. McGloin is probably the most poised “game manager” of the four, and if Penn State is really going to tighten up the reins–especially early on–you’d imagine McGloin is the front-runner.  At the same time, they’re going to treat this as a set-up for 2011, or for the next few years, then the more playing time for Bolden the better, even if he wouldn’t give Penn State a better chance to pull of the upset against Alabama.

The surprising thing is the lack of buzz surrounding Kevin Newsome, who seemed destined to replace Daryll Clark, especially after the defection of Pat Devlin.  Until now, I still believed this competition was tilted towards Newsome, but now it seems he’s falling out of favor, and rather quickly. One wonders whether he’d consider a switch to another position–his speed and elusiveness make running back a potential landing spot–or another school.

My personal guess, and it’s just that, is that McGloin will be starting week one–becoming, perhaps, the first walk-on in Penn State history to start at QB–and in Tuscaloosa, with the job falling to Bolden after McGloin struggles on the road.  It really is a no-win situation for whoever’s starting week one–struggle even the slightest bit and the fans will be clamoring for any of the other three guys.

But for McGloin, the pressure will be even higher.  The Penn State faithful isn’t ready to see three blue-chips passed over for a walk-on, and we haven’t seen enough of McGloin to be firmly in his corner.  And it’s not like McGloin earned much trust from the fanbase with his performance in the Blue/White Game this year–10/23 for 110 yards and 2 interceptions didn’t sway anyone onto Team McGloin.  Just as the Pat Devlin supporters continued to bash Daryll Clark, even after a remarkably successful 2008 season, I wouldn’t expect to see too much unconditional support of McGloin, especially if (when) he struggles against a presumably nasty Alabama defense.

We might not see a true freshman week one, but if he really is the complete package, I expect we’ll see plenty of Robert Bolden as the season goes on.

To those who question whether Joe Paterno would start a freshman, or undermine Kevin Newsome–I think you’re reading into things a bit too far.  Just because Daryll Clark didn’t usurp Anthony Morelli doesn’t mean that in a wide-open field that the best player won’t win the job.  You don’t become the best coach in college football history through stubbornness and obstinacy, and Joe is going to put his team in the best possible position to win.  If that means Robert Bolden is going to start games under center, so be it.

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