Still, just to see a quarterback for a Joe Paterno-coached team take the field as a starter in his first-ever game wearing the blue and white is enough to fascinate.
There seems to be little doubt that the 6-foot-3, 221-pound Bolden, of Orchard Park, Mich., is going to be good. But the theory was that Paterno would go early with one of his sophomores, 2009 backup Kevin Newsome or Matt McGloin, and allow Bolden to get more seasoning.
But in the end, Paterno obviously wasn't blown away by his sophomores, and couldn't ignore the positive signs he saw from Bolden.
"It was a tough decision," Paterno said Thursday night on his radio show. "A little thing here, a little thing there, maybe the way [Bolden] handled one or two little problems on the practice field. But, hopefully, we were right. We'll find out."
Both McGloin and Newsome, listed as 1B and 1C on the depth chart after Bolden, are expected to play. With top-ranked Alabama coming up next week in Tuscaloosa, and Paterno conceding that his choice "may change," the quarterback competition probably is on once again.
With all the talk about quarterback, other areas of concern for the Nittany Lions have been under the radar, but that won't be the case Saturday.
Take the offensive line. Three starters are back from last season, but two will be at different positions - right guard Stefen Wisniewski (from center) and right tackle Lou Eliades (from right guard). Plus, junior Quinn Barham goes from backup right guard to replace the steady Dennis Landolt at left tackle, protecting the new quarterback's blind side.
