The Harrisburg Patriot-News reports that true freshman Robert Bolden will lead Penn State next week as they take on Youngstown State.  He will be the first true freshman in Penn State history to start from Day 1.

It’s a brilliant decision by Joe Paterno to let this leak out tonight, when the announcement will be buried beneath reports of the Big Ten’s divisional alignment.

According to the Patriot-News, Bolden, along with sophomores Matt McGloin and Kevin Newsome, was informed of the decision at practice today.  Bolden impressed onlookers throughout the summer, though the hype didn’t reach a critical mass until the Big Ten Network visited Penn State as part of their summer preview program.  Dave Revsine gave most Penn State fans their first glimpse of Robert Bolden, and boy, was he impressed.

Bolden impressed not only reporters, but also the coaching staff, overcoming tremendous odds in the process to get to this point.  Matt McGloin has been in the program for more than two years, Kevin Newsome was an early enrollee in the spring of 2008, and even Paul Jones, the forgotten man in all of this, graduated early to join the Penn State team in the spring.

And yet Robert Bolden, who joined this team less than 3 months ago, proved to be the best option. Bolden became one of the most highly touted quarterbacks in the nation despite playing in a run-first offense, at St. Mary’s Prep in Orchard Lakes, Michigan.  In his senior season, Bolden threw just 152 passes–completing a mere 72–for 1013 yards and 7 TDs.  But most importantly, in that season, as he had the year before, Bolden led his team to the state championship game.  And after the season, Bolden got the opportunity to work with Daryll Clark at the ESPN Elite 11 quarterback camp, where he received rave reviews.

Penn State’s schedule this year isn’t the most becoming to a true freshman.  In 10 days, Penn State will travel to Tuscaloosa, to take on the #1 team in the country under the lights.  Three weeks after that, it’ll be another night game at another top ten opponent, in Iowa.  And then a month later, Penn State will head to Ohio State, yet another tilt against one of the best teams in the country.  But if Joe Paterno, who’s notorious for holding his youngest players back, can put his faith behind Robert Bolden, then who am I to disagree?

Penn State took as long as possible to deliberate before making this move. They had more scrimmages than any other program, as far as I can tell.  This is not a rash decision. Robert Bolden gives Penn State their best chance to win a Big Ten title this year and down the line.

Bolden’s performance in a tune-up game this Saturday will be heavily scrutinized–perhaps moreso than any other quarterback’s performance against a 1-AA team could be.  But it is these circumstances from which greatness arises.  Should Bolden rise to the challenge, steadily improving throughout his four years at Penn State, he could leave Happy Valley as one of the best passers Penn State’s ever had.

Look, this season may be riddled by freshman mistakes. But that’s what the learning process is all about.  If Robert Bolden truly is so good that he was bound to earn the starting job sooner or later, then the more experience he gets, the better.  This season figures to be more of a rebuilding year for Penn State, and to get a freshman quarterback 13 games of experience sets up the Nittany Lions for success as he matures in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

And there’s the JoePa factor. Joe Paterno will either leave Penn State after this season or after the next.  Whoever inherits this program is getting one with a starting quarterback–and, in all likelihood, a pretty darn good one.

There remain some obvious questions, like: what will happen to Kevin Newsome? Will he move to running back, or safety, or Delaware?  But for now, let’s get excited.  Joe Paterno has picked the best man for the job.  And after months of waiting, we’ll get to see just what impressed so many.

To quote Airplane: Good luck, kid. We’re all counting on you.

UPDATE: Penn State confirms the news. It’s official!

“Based on what we have seen to this point, Bolden has a slight edge right now, but we are confident all three quarterbacks are ready to go and hope to give them an opportunity to play until we settle on the one that gives us the best chance to win,” Paterno said.  Paterno said his three young quarterbacks: Bolden, sophomore Matt McGloin (Scranton, Pa.) and sophomore Kevin Newsome (Portsmouth, Va.), would be listed 1A, 1B and 1C on the depth chart at this point and all still have the opportunity to earn the starting nod on a regular basis.