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Penn State's McGloin misses time after taking two hits to elbow

Penn State's Michael Mauti forces a fumble by Virginia's Paul Freedman. ANDREW SHURTLEFF / AP

By Joe Juliano, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: September 09, 2012

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Matt McGloin took a shot on his right elbow Saturday in the second quarter from Virginia defensive end Ausar Walcott.

About three minutes later in the same quarter, McGloin got hit in the same spot by the same player.

"You're going to have days like this," he said. "It happens."

McGloin, who said he lost some feeling in his throwing hand after each hit, went to the locker room, where X-rays were negative, he said. He missed Penn State's last possession of the second quarter and sat out the first two snaps of the third before returning with a wrap around the elbow and playing the rest of the game.

"You don't want to be taken off the field in any situation," McGloin said of his return. "I told Coach [Bill] O'Brien if he needed me, I'm ready to go in."

O'Brien balanced the run and pass; Penn State rushed 42 times and threw 43 and didn't turn the ball over. McGloin went 19 of 35 for 197 yards and two touchdowns and did a good job of moving the ball in the two-minute offense at the end of the game before Sam Ficken missed a 42-yard field-goal attempt.

"That's something we practice each and every day," he said. "We did it successfully there. We got it down into field-goal range, but unfortunately, we couldn't finish."

Bench off the bench

True freshman Steven Bench, who had been battling redshirt sophomore Paul Jones for the No. 2 quarterback job, took all 14 snaps that McGloin missed.

Bench led a drive at the end of the first half that reached the Virginia 35 before time ran out.

"I thought he did some good things, especially at the end of the first half," O'Brien said. "He's never really ever run a two-minute drive before. He's done a couple in practice, and overall I think he did a heck of a job. I think he did a decent job for his first time playing."

O'Brien said the 6-foot-3, 258-pound Jones has been working at the "F" tight end, which is more of a pass-catching position, and will continue to work there as well as at quarterback.

"We do that at practice, and next week we'll keep playing Paul at both positions," O'Brien said. "He is doing a heck of a job, and that's why I went with Bench as the No. 2 quarterback."

Making strides

The Penn State defense forced four turnovers and limited Virginia to 32 rushing yards. Again, however, the unit struggled with third-down defense in the second half.

The Cavaliers converted seven of nine third downs in the final two quarters, with four coming on their game-winning drive.

"Four turnovers is a marked improvement over last week," linebacker Michael Mauti said. "But when it's third and 15 and we've got them backed in deep on their own side of the field, that's when we've really got to turn up the heat and make stops. So there's always room for improvement."