Multiple sources are reporting that Matthew McGloin, the pride of Scranton, Pennsylvania, will make his first collegiate start for Penn State on Saturday night against Michigan at Beaver Stadium. UPDATE: Paterno has confirmed it.
Starter Robert Bolden passed a concussion test on Wednesday and has been practicing according to ESPN.com, however, it appears as if Penn State is taking the safe route with the freshman's injury, as Joe Paterno indicated it would do at his Tuesday press conference.
McGloin saw a majority of the snaps in relief of Bolden last week at Minnesota and went 6/13 for 76 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, all the while failing to live down his "McFavre" label, earned with a 10/23, two interception performance in the past spring's Blue-White scrimmage by again throwing a bunch of risky, deep passes.
Here's part of what we had to say about McGloin over the summer while the quarterback race was still ongoing.
McGloin may actually be better equipped to lead the offense than Newsome simply for the simple fact that he does not have elite running skills to try and extend the play. McGloin is also seen as the better and more accurate passer(questions regarding Newsome's ability to read the defense, not lock on to his #1 WR, and throwing motion have been hot button issues during summer camp). McGloin is not Kerry Collins in terms of athletic ability, but he also won't remind people of Michael Robinson. He will need to take what the defense gives him and protect the ball.
Pretty much all of that holds true now as McGloin prepares for the Wolverines. If you're looking from some of those big gallops to the wide side Penn State has run for Robert Bolden over the course of the last few weeks, don't. He's not quite athletic enough to do that. He should be able to stand in against the Michigan pass rush, though, and maneuver himself out of trouble if need be.
Other than that, a lot of the book on McGloin will be written Saturday night. If the way McGloin was used last week is any indication, the gameplan won't necessarily be vanilla despite McGloin's lack experience. Penn State challenged Minnesota's secondary with McGloin in the game and the sophomore was given a couple shots down field. That said, if the Penn State running game finds any success on the ground against the Wolverines, expect the coaches
to go to the well with the run relatively frequently to diffuse some of the pressure on McGloin.
And now, in celebration of the Electric City's hero...