JoePa goes for 400th win amid QB drama
STATE COLLEGE — Joe Paterno has been at Penn State so long, his coaching career could be a course offering for history majors. Hey, the 83-year-old icon arrived on campus in 1950 and replaced Rip Engle as head coach of the Nittany Lions in 1966. If that isn't ancient stuff to your average college student these days, what is?
Since Paterno is downplaying the historic significance of his next milestone — he's going for his 400th career victory Saturday afternoon, when the Nittany Lions (5-3, 2-2 Big Ten Conference) host Northwestern (6-2, 2-2) in sold-out Beaver Stadium — of perhaps greater interest to students and fans is who'll be the starting quarterback.
Will it be true freshman Rob Bolden, who is coming off a concussion that caused him to miss Saturday night's home game against Michigan and much of the preceding contest at Minnesota? Or does redshirt sophomore Matt McGloin, who played well in both games and sparked the previously sluggish offense in back-to-back victories, have the inside track?
Paterno, a creature of habit who prefers to settle on one guy before the season and stick with him as long as his play reasonably merits it, was uncharacteristically coy when asked who'll take the field for the opening offensive series. Then again, he anticipated what was coming and was prepared for it.
"I would have bet a hundred bucks that would be the first question," a chuckling JoePa responded.
Truth be told, the remainder of the season might not come down to pronouncing one player as the No. 1 QB and the other as No. 2. Paterno is daring to suggest that it might be more a case of No. 1 and No. 1A. A dual-quarterback arrangement at Penn State is somewhat untraditional, but strange times call for strange measures.
"I think we'll let them compete and decide at the end of the week who's going to start," Paterno said of the unusual in-season duel for playing time. "But I would imagine maybe we'll have to rethink playing one kid. Maybe we'll play both."
But Bolden has been restricted in part by his inexperience and a raft of injuries to the offense. After some rough stretches, he was having his best game of the season against Minnesota, completing 11 of 13 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, when he went out in the second quarter with a concussion.
Enter McGloin, the 6-1, 209-pound walk-on from West Scranton High, who is as extroverted as Bolden is quiet and reserved. McGloin passed for two touchdowns against Minnesota, and he followed that up with a 17-for-28, 250-yard, two-TD (one rushing) performance in last week's 41-31 victory over Michigan.
Quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, pleased as he was with McGloin's effort against the Wolverines, stressed that Bolden would reassume the starting position this week. But the elder Paterno always has the final say in these matters, and he's apparently not ready to etch any decision in stone.
"They're both very conscientious kids and serious about getting better," Paterno said. "They work hard at it. The kids on the team respect both of them. They have different personalities, but they both have their own way of leading."
