We are still waiting for Bill O’Brien to name his starting quarterback, as promised a few weeks back.

It will be a big deal.  Lots of media, and fan speculation.

But, keep this in mind.

Whoever O’Brien chooses, it won’t be his guy.  His guy isn’t here yet.  Whoever goes under center will be a guy recruited to play in the Galen Hall/Jay Paterno system.  As O’Brien recently said, he puts a lot on his QB, and these guys are all learning a whole new language.

Plus, I think the success of this year’s Lions will depend a lot, as it has in recent years, on the offensive line, and whether the defense can keep the game close in the fourth quarter.

We’re all expecting a much more wide open offense under the former Patriots’ offensive coordinator.  But, that won’t happen this year–none of these guys are O’Brien’s players.

He , and they, will do their best, and hopefully it will be good enough for some good records and decent bowl games.

Fans, though, should wait until about 2014 or 2015 to judge Bill O’Brien’s quarterback.

 

Read More

Penn State’s non-conference schedule this season should be a good one for Coach Bill O’Brien to get his bearings.

The Lions have never been known for their rigorous out of league card, and this year’s won’t set anybody on fire, either.

But, it’s not exactly a cupcake fest, either.

Ohio University is a decent MAC school–OK, it’s tough to get past the MAC part–but, that league is not the weak sister of 20 years ago. 

Then comes Virginia on the road.  The Cavailiers program is up and down, but playing them on the road early in the year should not be considered by anyone to be an automatic win.

Navy is next in State College.  Yes, it’s a service academy, but that triple option offense always causes superior defenses fits, because, as they always say on TV, you never see it, you never prepare for it, and if you don’t play it right it’ll kill you.

Finally, there is Temple at home.  The Owls had PSU on the ropes in Philly a couple of years ago, and let get away probably their best chance to beat the Lions.  Temple isn’t quite the up and comer it was under Al Golden.  Still, the Owls are more respected than they have been in the past.

The Lions should be able to go 3-1, whether the loss is in Charlottesville or following a win against the Cavs, a slip against that triple option versus the Midshipmen.  Four and oh is a possibility.

It’s a decent enough schedule to let Bill O’Brien honestly assess his troops and get ready for the Big Ten, while still allowing the new staff to instill confidence in the Lions they can win under the new system.

In other words, just what this program needs.

Read More

Oct. 23, 2010 _  it’s the date that Rob Bolden’s Penn State football career changed

forever.

 

Before that date, Bolden was a promising young quarterback blessed with size,

intelligence, a strong right arm, poise and confidence.

 

After that date, Bolden’s size, intelligence and right arm remained intact. But the

poise and confidence he displayed while shockingly earning the Nittany Lions’

starting QB job as a true freshman were gone.

 

What happened?

 

No one may know for sure  maybe not even Bolden.

 

The simple answer is that on Oct. 23, 2010, Bolden suffered a concussion

while enjoying an apparent breakout performance at Minnesota. In less than a

half that day, Bolden was 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) for 130 yards with one

touchdown and zero interceptions. His QB rating that afternoon was a staggering

194.0.

 

Bolden’s numbers before the concussion were solid for a seasoned QB, much less

a true freshman. Before the injury, he was 107-for-184 (58.2 percent) for 1,307

yards with five touchdown passes and seven interceptions. His NCAA QB rating

was 119.2.

 

After the concussion he saw only limited action in the rest of 2010, throwing just

nine passes. Matt McGloin took over the starting QB job and played well at times.

Bolden, meanwhile, didn’t play at all in the regular-season finale against Michigan

State, nor the bowl game against Florida, even though McGloin threw five

interceptions in a 37-24 loss to the Gators.

 

That national snub angered Bolden and his father, leading to a transfer request.

But Head Coach Joe Paterno famously refused to release Bolden because it would

have left the Lions dangerously thin at the QB position. Bolden reluctantly

returned to Happy Valley for the 2011 season.

 

Unfortunately, in 2011, a completely different Bolden emerged. He appeared

tentative and confused  a far cry from the poised, confident freshman.

That clearly showed up in his numbers. Bolden finished 2011 going 53-for-135

(39.3 percent) for 685 yards with two TD passes and seven interceptions. His

QB rating was a dismal 76.4.

 

Still, Bolden remained on the PSU roster this spring, hoping to impress new head

coach Bill O’Brien  a man who coached the legendary Tom Brady and with a

reputation as QB guru. In the Blue-White Game, however, Bolden continued to

struggle, going 7-for-14 for 78 yards with three picks and zero TDs.

 

Now, according to multiple reports over the weekend, Bolden is no longer

working out with the PSU team and plans to transfer. However, another report

from the Centre Daily Times on Tuesday indicated that Bolden would stay at PSU.

If Bolden does ultimately decide to transfer this summer, it’s unlikely that the PSU

head coach would do anything to stop him this time.

 

Even if Bolden stays, it’s unlikely he’ll see signifcant playing time in 2012. In fact,

O’Brien has announced he’ll likely name his starting QB for 2012 by the end of the

month, and it’s expected that McGloin will be his choice. It also appears that

talented Paul Jones has overcome his academic woes and passed Bolden in the

QB pecking order at Happy Valley.

 

PSU also has recruited two promising young QBs, with one arriving this summer

(Steven Bench) and one arriving in 2013 (Christian Hackenberg).

 

PSU is no longer thin at QB, and a Bolden transfer seems in the best interests of

both Bolden and Penn State.

 

Maybe a change of scenery, and coaches, would allow Bolden to recapture the

potential he showed during his freshman season.

 

Still, it’s stunning how one day and one injury can seemingly change the playing

fortunes of a young man who appeared destined to become one of the great QBs

in PSU history.

 

Nittany Nation is still searching for answers on how it could have gone so bad, so

fast.

 

Was the concussion more serious than first thought?

 

Did the PSU coaches, especially QB Coach Jay Paterno and Head Coach Joe

Paterno, badly mishandle Bolden, crushing his confidence?

 

Was Bolden overrated to begin with, compiling his most impressive numbers in

2010 against overmatched foes?

 

Was there something else at play?

 

Was it a combination of all of the above?

 

The answers remain elusive.

 

There is only one certainty.

 

On Oct. 23, 2010, Rob Bolden’s football career changed forever.

 

Steve Heiser is sports editor of The York Dispatch. He can be reached at sheiser@yorkdispatch.com or at 854-1575, ext. 455. 

Read More

A wise man, the late Arnold Addison, former mayor of State College, once told me:  “Sometime in life, you have to do things just to p— people off.”

In the context of our conversation 30 years ago, I completely agreed with him.

I get the feeling the powers that be in the Big Ten adhere to this idea, too, when it comes to their fans, and indirectly, to college football fans in general.

Even as the moribund BCS has been dragged kicking and screaming to the precipice of a real, actual, bona fide college football playoff, Big Ten commissioners just had to come out full steam this week and say they want the playoff kept within the bowl system, and want to keep the conference’s relationship with the Rose Bowl.

I’m all for having the playoffs in the bowls, which I actually think is preferable to having the games on campus sites.  You can have three bowls involved every year–two for the semis, one for the championship in a four-team playoff.  My preference, an eight-team field, would allow seven bowls into the party annually, but that’s another story.

Still, the Big Ten honchos affinity for the Rose Bowl must be because of all the perks and sucking up they get from the bowl committee.  The game is a very long and expensive trip from any Big Ten school.  It’s a home game for the Pac 12 if USC or UCLA is involved.  And the whole thing was set up as a way for rich people from the midwest to hop on the train and take a nice week long holiday over New Year’s to sunny LA back in the day.

The time for this tie-in is long past.  Let the bowls take whichever teams provide the best matchups, within the playoff system, and for those teams outside the playoff to face the best opponent available.

The Big Ten, due at least in part to its infatuation with the Rose Bowl, was one of the last holdouts against the playoff.  Even now, when fans want to bask in something we’ve wanted for decades, the Big Ten people just have to say something to p— us off.

Read More

As my good friend Steve Heiser says, now that the May flowers are emerging from the April showers, it’s time to talk Penn State-Pitt football.

And, as Steve also notes, both the Pitt and Penn State coaches are now publicly in favor of renewing the schools’ once superb yearly rivalry. 

There is no doubt in my mind Joe Paterno did hold a grudge against Pitt for scuttling the eastern conference JoePa dreamed of in the early 80s.  So, that osbstacle is gone.

Steve is also correct the other, and proabaly larger, boulder in the way, is the asserted need for Penn State to play seven games, and thus three of four non-conference games, at home every year.  This, claim the athletic department leaders, is necessary to fund all the varsity sports at Penn State.

Here are two reason things can be different now, and an annual Penn State/Pitt game can happen.

First, in the Sandusky aftermath, Penn State’s honchos are going out of their way to say we’re concerned about things other than just the glamor and dollar signs associated with the football program.  People matter.

Okay, how about the fans and the players?  Both would love a renewal of the Lions/Panthers rivalry.  It’s an away game fans of both teams can get to, and there are, and likely always will be, high school teammates and high school rivals, especially from the vaunted WPIAL in southwestern Pa., on both squads.  Let’s consider these folks for a change.

Reason number two is the also recently-stated desire of Coach Bill O’Brien to have a “marquee” game to open the season on a regular basis.  Penn State isn’t currently the gem it once was for top teams from other parts of the country, but it’s still pretty good.  So, this could happen.

What else needs to occur then is the schedulers with Penn State and Pitt need to work out a way for the Lions to have the big name home game in the non-conference schedule at Beaver Stadium the years the Pitt game is in Pittsburgh.  When the Panthers come to town, the other big game can be outside of Happy Valley.

It won’t be easy, and over a decade there may need to be a couple years when Penn State has six home games, and fits in eight contests in Beaver Stadium in two other seasons to make up the difference.

This can be done if both schools really want it to.  If, in the case of Penn State at least, the powers that be start lisetning to what their constituents would like to see happen.

Read More