The Penn State Football Show

Since Pete touched on many of the areas of concern from the Alabama game, I will simply refute my previous post regarding the Quarterback situation...

As evidenced by Saturday's game, it has become apparent that Matt McGloin is simply not a major college football QB. He has showed signs of greatness at times, but all against middle-of-the-pack teams (i.e. Northwestern, 2010 Michigan, Minnesota, etc.). He has also showed he cannot handle the pressure and does not have the athletic decision making ability necessary when facing top notch college defenses (i.e. Alabama, Florida, Michigan State, Ohio State). He has many desirable qualities for a Penn State QB, but, plain and simple, he is most likely a Division II QB. He will never play 4 solid quarters against a respectable team. I hate to say it and this is the old "hater" cliche but...there is a reason he was not offered a scholarship!

Rob Bolden, on the other hand, is a QB that really seems to be headed in no certain direction. I agree with Pete in that he really has not gotten any better in the last 12-13 months. Clearly, he is athletic, throws the ball well, and evidently doesn't mind running the ball and sizing up a linebacker in the open field. However, he just doesn't seem to be fitting into the offense like anticipated. Is that because of coaching? Is that because he has the proverbial chip on his shoulder? Or is he just not that good? (Remember, Paul Jones was the higher touted recruit in the 2010 class.)

The 2011 season is certainly not lost because a non conference loss to an Alabama team that played a flawless game against Penn State. But, the QB situation is the glaring weakness and a valid reason for concern. So, what is the answer at QB? At this point I really don't know. There is a part of me that thinks that the coaches are just killing time until Paul Jones gets his act together. But if Jones never reaches his potential as a collegiate, i think it is time to let Bolden get some experience and roll with the punches. Remember...he is only a Sophomore. Daryll Clark was washing jock straps as a Soph. and Michael Robinson was still trying to find his role in his second season. Both of whom eventually led the Lions to Big Ten 'ships.

For the future that we wait...

I SPY...WR Drops - I really cannot believe this did not get more attention in post game media analysis. Regardless of who was throwing them, the dropped passes (I will put Sczerba's fumble in this category as well) just cannot happen in a big game. I would have to go back and look at the tape, but I believe 2, maybe 3, of the drops came on 3rd down.