Joe Paterno said he second guessed himself by taking Rob Bolden out after a few series against Alabama. The decision was made to keep his word with Matt McGloin, stating that both quarterbacks would get to play.
“I might second‑guess myself a little bit, because I thought Bolden threw the ball really well early,” Paterno said during his Tuesday press conference. “I think he just didn’t have any luck. But we had kind of told the kids that’s the way we would operate for a while. So maybe we change that a little bit, but I intend to play both of them.”
For the second straight week, Penn State gave equal playing time to Bolden and McGloin, as a decision on a full-time quarterback has yet to be made and a competition is taking place on the field. Neither quarterback has thrown a touchdown, and both players have had their highs and lows in two games.
“I think we’ve made a decision up to a point that we want to play both of them (Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin) for a while until we find out exactly which one we think might be better for the football team and help them win,” Paterno said. “But, right now, I think it’s a toss up. I think both of them are doing well. There again, I think I said after the ballgame I’m reluctant to have people start blaming it on the quarterback. I mean, I think we’re just not making plays.”
Following the loss to Alabama, the biggest concern for the offense was the lack of a true identity on the field. The switching of quarterbacks, in theory, should not have much of a difference in the offensive production, because the same plays are being called. But there is no argument that different players have different timing. Constantly switching players at such a key position has a ripple effect on the rest of the offense, who is constantly adjusting back-and-forth to different abilities, styles and tendencies.
Experimenting with the quarterback situation was perfectly acceptable for one game, against an FCS opponent such as Indiana State. But to continue the experiment in one of the biggest home games in years with Alabama in town was a tad frustrating for some fans inside Beaver Stadium.
My wife, who attended the game in the stands with her parents, their first Penn State game, told me afterward that fans around their seats in the north end zone were wondering why the switching of quarterbacks was going any further. Up in the press box, many in the media were asking the same questions.
Continue reading the full column on Bleacher Report. Nittany Lion’s Den editor and columnist Kevin McGuire is a Featured Columnist on Bleacher Report.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
