With kickoff against Syracuse looming nine days away, Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien is still making up his mind on who will take the first snap at quarterback against the Orange as he declined to name either JUCO transfer Tyler Ferguson or freshman Christian Hackenberg the starter during his conference call with the media today.
"I think the biggest thing again is that we have two really good young quarterbacks," O'Brien said. "[The decision] might not come until next week. You know, it might come on the first play of the game on offense against Syracuse. It is my job to run the football team and I am always going to do what is best for the football team. As long as I am the head football coach here, I will always do what is best for our program. That has nothing to do with indecisiveness or doing this or doing that. All I care about is that the guys in our team meeting room know where we are headed."
BOB had previously said that he planned to make a decision on who his starter for next Saturday would be by the end of this week, but it sounds like the media, fans and Syracuse will be held in suspense for at least a little longer. Maybe a bit of a stalemate between him and Scott Shafer.
He also noted that some freshmen would be playing big roles with the team including Hackenberg, Adam Breneman, Richy Anderson and offensive tackle Andrew Nelson. Also name-dropped by O'Brien was run-on Von Walker who might see a lot of special teams play as the year progresses. Other praise went to cornerbacks Trevor Williams and Jordan Lucas as well as Bill Belton.
Finally, O'Brien confirmed that linebacker Ben Kline, who had been out since spring due to shoulder surgery, is once again practicing and will see time both on defense and on special teams. Oh, and he has a 4.0 so far in his Penn State academic career [insert HASHTAG CULTURE here].
You can read BOB's full transcript here.
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