Monday, September 5, 2011

"Bolden" go Where No Man has Gone Before

Saturday’s 41-7 victory over Indiana State couldn’t have been heartening to Penn State fans. The game was not expected to be more than a tune-up for next week’s big game against number 1 Alabama, and, it lived up to expectations. What fans hoped to get out of the game was an indication as to which quarterback should lead the offense, sophomore Rob Bolden or redshirt junior Matt McGloin . Instead, what we got was what we had going in, as the inadvertent graphic on the Big Ten Network broadcast displayed…Rob McGloin. Neither quarterback set the world on fire. Neither was terrible. McGloin's stats were slightly better, but Bolden's two long passes dropped by wide receivers.  My informal exit poll of fans leaving Beaver Stadium on Saturday was that the team looked more energetic with McGloin, and for this reason, he should be the starter.   I agree, they did look more energetic, but disagree in thinking this should make him the starter. This energy burst added by McGloin makes him the perfect reliever.   Bolden is the more talented of the two, but the less experienced (at least in terms of practicing the PSU offensive system).  McGloin, for all his energy, has a few flaws, chief of which is a tendency to attempt to force something that is not there. The more he plays, the more these flaws are exposed. However, if the PSU offense were bogged down, going nowhere, this aggressiveness and energy may prove to be the perfect pick-me- up (see last year’s Northwestern game, Paterno’s 400th victory, as example 1-A.) Bolden may or may not live up to the hype his status as a prime recruit engendered,  but he will have the chance to better develop  by starting and being given the opportunity to show that he can be the man for the next three seasons.  McGloin has shown he can be the energy boost needed to kick start a desultory performance, but when he is overexposed (see his five interception bowl performance), his flaws emerge for all to see.

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