Mills being challenged for starting spot at QB

Zack Mills is facing challenges from Michael Robinson and Chris Ganter.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- For 21/2 years, Zack Mills has been Penn State's starter at quarterback, racking up an impressive list of school records. But going into his final season as a Nittany Lion, Mills still doesn't know if he'll keep the starting job as a senior.
"I wouldn't be able to answer that for you. I'm not the coach," Mills said Thursday, two days before the Blue-White spring scrimmage. "But I'm taking this spring just like I've taken the last two or three springs when it's supposedly been open to competition -- I'm the starter, and it's my job to lose."
It's not like this is new for Mills. In fact, he's been on both sides.
It was Mills who stole the starting job as a freshman from Matt Senneca, who was slowed much of 2001 by injuries. The following spring, coach Joe Paterno said he would let Mills and Senneca compete for the starting spot, but Senneca left the team before spring drills began.
That should have secured Mills' spot, but in 2002 Michael Robinson emerged as an all-purpose offensive threat, playing at quarterback, running back and wide receiver. Mills' subpar performance in the Capital One Bowl prompted Paterno to open the competition again, giving Robinson a shot at the starting job.
Mills won out, but a left knee sprain sidelined him midway through last season, giving Robinson three starts at quarterback.
Record breaker
Mills virtually rewrote Penn State's freshman record book, and since then has set school career records for total offense (6,002 yards) and pass completions (451), and single-game records for passing yards (399) and total offense (418).
"I've been playing and starting the majority of the last three seasons, so sometimes I do feel like I've earned the right to start. But that's what competition is all about," Mills said. "If Joe wants to open that up, like he has the last two or three springs, I just have to go out and prove myself again."
Wide-open competition
Last month, before spring drills began, Paterno said the competition at quarterback was wide open for Mills, Robinson or Chris Ganter, a seldom-used backup. But he also said he was in no hurry to make a decision.
"We are going into the spring with three guys who will get equal snaps," Paterno said. "We will try to put them in the same kind of situations and go from there. At the end of spring practice if something is obvious, then we will make a decision. But if it is not obvious, we will go into preseason still trying to establish who should start."
Mills said he's spent the spring trying to fine-tune the little things, working on timing with his receivers and watching film of his past performances. But he knows the competition is right on his heels, and Mills said Robinson has been improving, too.
"Obviously he's got the quarterback's running game down pat," Mills said. "I think he's gotten a lot more accurate when it comes to throwing the ball, putting a lot more touch on the shoulder passes, and he seems to be making his reads a lot quicker."
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