Quarterback McGloin still in mix for Penn State

STATE COLLEGE - It is the scarlet letter of college football, often stamping those who wear it as ugly ducklings in the company of swans.

Walk-on.

All right, so junior Matt McGloin is now a former walk-on at Penn State, having been awarded his grant-in-aid before the 2009 season. But there are times when the redshirt sophomore from Scranton still feels as if his bid to be the starting quarterback, against the three four-star recruits also vying for that spot, makes him something less than the people's choice.

"You get a lot of that from the fans," McGloin acknowledged here yesterday at Penn State's Media Day when asked whether he had felt any negative vibes from those who apparently would prefer to see anyone but him line up under center against Youngstown State on Sept. 4 for the first offensive snap of a season shrouded in question marks.

"But the way I look at it, Kevin [Newsome], Paul [Jones] and Robert [Bolden] and I are all on the same team. I feel I have the capability of playing quarterback at this level, and coach [Joe] Paterno obviously thinks I'm doing something right if I'm contending for the No. 1 role.

"So, really, I don't pay too much attention to what anyone outside of the team says. I just try to go out to practice every day and work hard. If anything, I use [the criticism] as a motivation to get better."

When the Nittany Lions convened for preseason practice, the 6-1, 206-pound McGloin - who threw two garbage-time passes last season, both of which fell incomplete - shared the top spot with Newsome, who, as a true freshman in 2009, was the primary backup to two-time All-Big Ten quarterback Daryll Clark. Newsome also has negligible game experience, completing eight of 11 passes for 66 yards and rushing 20 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

Enter Jones, the heralded passer from Sto-Rox High in McKees Rocks, Pa., a January enrollee who threw the only two touchdown passes in the Blue-White spring game. The smart money is on Jones eventually to become the main man, possibly before the end of the season, with Bolden, another blue-chip recruit, likely ticketed for a redshirt.