Rob Bolden, Fellow Quarterbacks Officially Back At Penn State

What was tea-leaf reading late Sunday night and early Monday morning has been confirmed: sophomore quarterback Robert Bolden is back in Happy Valley along with fellow quarterbacks Matthew McGloin, Paul Jones and Kevin Newsome and all appear poised to compete for the starting job according to quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno.

The Daily Collegian has some interesting comments on the news from one of Bolden's high school coaches.

Don Buchanan, Bolden’s high school quarterbacks coach at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (Mich.), said Bolden told him sometime around the end of Penn State's spring semester that he planned to return to Happy Valley in mid-June.

"He was competing in the spring to be the starting quarterback and as far as I knew anything, he was going back," Buchanan said by phone Monday. "He had made that decision to stay at Penn State and compete there."

Buchanan's comments beg the obvious question: Why was Bolden telling Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week that he was undecided on his destination if he'd already made up his mind? What was the point of publicly dragging his feet?

Odd.

Regardless, it's nice to have the quarterback race finally crystallize after months of wondering whether any of the four would leave the program. Now that they're all back on campus, everyone can focus on the season. The quarterbacks will have the next couple of weeks to work out with their teammates before classes begin June 29. Hopefully they can make the most of that distraction free time to establish some momentum heading into fall practice.