Open QB job is a hot topic at Penn State

Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno was checking in by phone with his vacationing mother when his father wanted to chat.

Joe Paterno wanted to run ideas by him about the Nittany Lions, but Jay said he quickly begged off the phone. The Nittany Lions’ boss might have had a long list of suggestions for getting the candidates ready for what should be an interesting preseason competition for the quarterback job.

With a month to camp, it’s not clear who will replace graduated, record-setting senior Daryll Clark.

“I said, ‘No, Mom. I got to go, I got to go,” Jay Paterno said with a laugh Friday. “I knew the conversation wasn’t going to be a quick one. I knew he had some ideas for me.”

Contact between coaches and players in this part of the summer is limited, so it’s up to the quarterbacks and wideouts to organize their own drills. There are plenty of both to go around at Penn State — four signal-callers and plenty of young, talented receivers looking to develop rhythm and get an edge.

“We got a lot of wideouts, so whenever one of [the quarterbacks] says, ‘I want to throw,’ four or five guys step up,” said senior receiver Brett Brackett.

Officially, the QB job is wide open. Sophomores Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin, the backups to the charismatic Clark last season, have been joined in Happy Valley by highly touted freshmen Paul Jones and Robert Bolden.

Unofficially, history points to Newsome as the leader. He was second string last year, ahead of McGloin, and JoePa typically places experience at a premium when a job comes open.