Senior Tributes: Matt McGloin

McGloin's best asset is his successful direction of the two-minute drill. That bodes well for a quarterback learning the system of a new coach that wants his players to "play fast." If McGloin can play within himself and stretch the field when he gets an open receiver deep, this offense will move well

- Blue/White Game 2012 Countdown - Quarterbacks, April 20, 2012

I'm not sure there's a coach in America that would have been better for Matt McGloin than Bill O'Brien.

The first four years of McGloin's college career weren't exactly the kind that dreams were made of. He spent his first two years buried on the depth chart, and the next two battling highly touted (but supremely underachieving) Rob Bolden in the Great Quarterback Debate of 2010-11.

Throughout his sophomore and junior years, McGloin was the subject of all kinds of criticism. Some thought that the former walk-on had "reached his ceiling" in terms of potential. He was a gunslinger that had too much "moxie" and took too many chances, but didn't have the arm strength to back it up.

Matt McGloin and Bill O'Brien sure fooled them.

It turns out that it wasn't Rob Bolden or Paul Jones that was going to execute this offensive system to perfection. That job ended up going to the kid from West Scranton. As a senior, he was no longer running an unsophisticated passing offense that was predicated on the deep ball. Instead, McGloin was trusted to run O'Brien's system to perfection - playing fast, making good decisions, and throwing short and medium range passes with tremendous accuracy.

The results were astounding. The walk-on who was never expected to play a meaningful down at Penn State set school records for completions (270), attempts (446), and passing yards (3,266). He tied Daryll Clark for the single season passing touchdown mark (24), and is in sole possession of first place for career passing touchdowns (46). He is Penn State's all-time leader in 300-yard games (6), and passed for at least 200 yards and a touchdown in every game this year.

Even so, that won't be his longest lasting legacy here. Like the other 30 seniors that he graduates with, Matt McGloin won't be best remembered for his two-minute drives, his touchdown passes, or his graceful dives . . .

No, Matt McGloin will be best remembered for being one of the thirty-one seniors that saved Penn State football. The Burlsworth Trophy? That’s just gravy.

Thanks for everything, Matt. We'll miss you.