Patrick Mauti.
Larry Ryland.
Matt McGloin.
Jamie Van Fleet.
They're mostly anonymous walk-ons, Rudy-types who give up their bodies in practice throughout the week and then watch from the sidelines (for home games) or from their dormitory or apartment rooms (for road contests) as their more celebrated teammates reap the benefits of their labors on the scout team.
"If I have to watch the game in my apartment with some of the guys, that's fine. We'll root on our team in any case," said Mauti, a redshirt junior wide receiver who at least is listed in the Penn State media directory, which is more than can be said of the other three players who this week played the roles of celebrity impersonators.
College coaching staffs minimize the risk of injury to key players through the use of scout teams, or, as Penn State calls it, the foreign team. Walk-ons or scholarship players well down on the depth chart are asked to play the role of the opposing team's stars. The better the impersonations, the better prepared their teammates are to deal with the real thing on game day.
Not that it's easy for a walk-on linebacker who hasn't yet made it onto the field in an actual game, which is what Van Fleet is, to be all that convincing as the stand-in for Wells, who entered the season as the Heisman Trophy favorite until he incurred a toe injury that sidelined him for 3 1/2 games. As it is, the 240-pound Wells still is averaging 123.8 rushing yards and 6.1 yards per carry.
