Daryll Clark

For three years, Daryll Clark has gone to bed and dreamt Happy Valley dreams. For Penn State quarterbacks, it's almost a rite of passage. You wait your turn and when the guy ahead of you finally graduates, the dream becomes reality. "Once you sign on the dotted line to come to Penn State," Clark said, "the dream is to finally get a chance to run the show. " A 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior, Clark has been a dutiful apprentice his first three seasons in State College. He's been the patient team player that coach Joe Paterno often rewards when the time comes.

After another question not directly related to the prospects for the 2008 season, Joe Paterno turned from pensive Joe to rally-before-the-big-game Joe, with a pinch of annoyed Joe thrown in for good measure. The Penn State coach was at the Radisson in King of Prussia yesterday for a Nittany Lion Club fund-raiser, and, as he does at this annual event, Paterno met with reporters. "What do you guys want to talk about?" Paterno asked. The topics seemingly centered on off-the-field issues: Paterno's contract, recruiting, suspended players, and even the team's choice for its senior captains.

Penn State still has not announced who will start at quarterback for Saturday's season opener against visiting Coastal Carolina. The official depth chart, released yesterday, lists the first-string quarterback as either Daryll Clark or Pat Devlin, which has been the case since spring practice. Team sources said Clark, a senior, likely would start and that Devlin, a redshirt sophomore out of Downingtown East, probably would get nearly equal playing time, at least in the first game.

There were lots of questions and a few answers amid 79-degree weather at Penn State's Blue-White game yesterday at Beaver Stadium. The starting-quarterback battle raged between Downingtown East product Pat Devlin and Daryll Clark. The team also needs to find a replacement for injured linebacker Sean Lee. There was talk of the dropped rape and sexual-assault charges against ex-running back Austin Scott. And there were questions about coach Joe Paterno's lack of a contract - and its effect on recruiting.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Kevin Newsome and his carefully plotted course to big-time college football crashed before a preseason practice at Penn State in August 2010 - the season he fully expected to spend as the starting quarterback. Newsome and the other quarterbacks were summoned to the office of the head coach, where Joe Paterno told the group that true freshman Rob Bolden would be the starter. Newsome, a sophomore, handled the moment graciously, shaking Bolden's hand and telling the newcomer he would do anything to help him. Newsome grabbed his gear, put it on more slowly than usual and headed to the practice field for warm-ups.

Villanova moved up two places to fourth in this week's Football Subdivision Championship coaches' poll. The 6-1 Wildcats were ranked sixth before their 27-0 win over James Madison on Saturday. Richmond remains the unanimous top-ranked team, followed by Montana and Southern Illinois. Quakers honored Penn sophomore linebacker Erik Rask and freshman punter Scott Lopano were selected for Ivy League weekly awards. Rask is the defensive player of the week after recording six tackles and an interception and Lopano is Ivy rookie of the week after averaging 44.6 yards on six punts.

Penn State officials said yesterday that quarterbacks Anthony Morelli and Daryll Clark suffered mild concussions in Saturday's 17-10 loss to Michigan. Both are being listed as possible for this week's game against Illinois. If neither can play Saturday, Paul Cianciolo, a redshirt sophomore who took over for the final two possessions against Michigan, likely would start. Morelli, who has started all seven games this season, was knocked out on a hit early in the third quarter.

Coming off a Big Ten championship, Penn State returns to the football field today as spring practice opens. College football teams are allowed to have 15 spring practice sessions. The 11-2 Nittany Lions, who lost in the Rose Bowl to USC on Jan. 1 and finished ranked eighth in the country, return 10 starters and 37 letterwinners. The annual Blue-White scrimmage will be played in Beaver Stadium on April 25 at 2 p.m. Admission and parking are free for the Blue-White scrimmage.

Penn State senior co-captain Daryll Clark spent this week as a counselor at the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp at Soka University in Aliso Viejo, Calif. The camp is held for the top college and high school players. Clark, who was first team All-Big Ten last season, was one of seven college and professional counselors, along with Chase Daniel (Missouri/Washington Redskins); Cody Hawkins (Colorado); Colt McCoy (Texas); Zac Robinson (Oklahoma State); Mark Sanchez (USC/New York Jets)

Penn State backup quarterback Kevin Newsome has seen limited time through six games and isn't likely to play much the rest of the season. Following the No. 14 Nittany Lions' 52-3 victory against Eastern Illinois, Penn State coach Joe Paterno bluntly explained why he has been hesitant to play the true freshman. "We're not going to put him in there when the game's at stake," said Paterno, whose 5-1 Nittany Lions play host to Minnesota on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. "He's not anywhere near as proficient as he's got to be for us to win a tough game.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Kevin Newsome and his carefully plotted course to big-time college football crashed before a preseason practice at Penn State in August 2010 - the season he fully expected to spend as the starting quarterback. Newsome and the other quarterbacks were summoned to the office of the head coach, where Joe Paterno told the group that true freshman Rob Bolden would be the starter. Newsome, a sophomore, handled the moment graciously, shaking Bolden's hand and telling the newcomer he would do anything to help him. Newsome grabbed his gear, put it on more slowly than usual and headed to the practice field for warm-ups.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - People always wondered how Joe Paterno could persuade high school recruits of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds to travel through isolated pockets of Pennsylvania and come to the center of the state to play football and get an education. The vast majority of players who turned out for Thursday's memorial service for Paterno, who died last Sunday at the age of 85, could easily tell you why he was so successful over 45-plus years. "Joe didn't recruit us - he recruited our moms," former wide receiver Jimmy Cefalo said in addressing the crowd, amid nods of recognition everywhere in the Bryce Jordan Center, from people such as Mike Zordich, Devon Still, Daryll Clark, and Rich Mauti.

Jay Paterno often had referred to the last nine weeks as a "roller-coaster ride" after the filing of charges in a child sexual-abuse scandal that ultimately cost his father his job as Penn State's head football coach after 46 years. Now the younger Paterno has lost his coaching job as well. The 17-year veteran of Joe Paterno's staff disclosed Tuesday that he was not being retained by new coach Bill O'Brien. "Thanks to so many Penn Staters for so many good years," Paterno said on Twitter.

Jay Paterno often had referred to the last nine weeks as a "roller-coaster ride" after the filing of charges in a child sexual-abuse scandal that ultimately cost his father his job as Penn State's head football coach after 46 years. Now the younger Paterno has lost his coaching job as well. The 17-year veteran of Joe Paterno's staff disclosed Tuesday that he was not being retained by new coach Bill O'Brien. "Thanks to so many Penn Staters for so many good years," Paterno said on Twitter.

STATE COLLEGE - All you needed to see were the tears in Daryll Clark's eyes, the lid to his Gatorade bottle tucked between his lips as he sluggishly slipped out of the Lasch Building after learning Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was stepping down at the end of the season. The former quarterback was simply stopping to pick up gear to play basketball, caught slightly off guard about the announcement after what he had watched on ESPN. Everybody was in the dark as the Paterno family released a statement early Wednesday morning with the iconic coach's decision.

Did you ever have to make up your mind Pick up on one and leave the other behind It's not often easy, and not often kind, Did you ever have to make up your mind? - John Sebastian   STATE COLLEGE - Sebastian, the front man for the 1960s jug band-flavored rock group, the Lovin' Spoonful, wrote the lyrics of the song that hit No. 2 on the pop charts in 1966, which, somewhat prophetically, is the year that Joe Paterno became head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions.

NOW THAT third-team quarterback Kevin Newsome has left the Penn State football team, with the apparent intention to transfer, the Nittany Lions' depth chart at the position is looking increasingly shallow - and might become even more so should Rob Bolden, who is vying with Matt McGloin for the starting job, follow Newsome out the door. Newsome served as the primary backup to All-Big Ten quarterback Daryll Clark in 2009 and was the front-runner to succeed Clark last season, but he fell behind Bolden and McGloin and never closed the distance.

After a crazy month in which Penn State went from four scholarship quarterbacks on its roster to three, and then to two, it looks as if the Nittany Lions will have four heading into spring practice in March. A Penn State spokesman confirmed Tuesday that freshman Rob Bolden and sophomore Kevin Newsome had enrolled in spring semester classes. He added that he was "not aware" of any change in the status of either player on the team. Both quarterbacks had indicated their intention to transfer because of a lack of playing time in 2010.

Rob Bolden isn't the first quarterback to want to transfer out of the Penn State program, but the true freshman from Orchard Park, Mich., might be the first to meet with official resistance from coach Joe Paterno. Paterno's policy always had been to grant releases to disgruntled players who no longer want to remain with the Nittany Lions. According to multiple reports, Bolden and his father, Robert Bolden Sr., met with Paterno and his quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno yesterday to request that Bolden be released from his grant-in-aid.

TAMPA, Fla. - More than a few Penn State partisans did a slow steam as quarterback Matt McGloin threw an Outback Bowl-record five interceptions in the Nittany Lions' 37-24 loss to Florida on New Year's Day and never got pulled by coach Joe Paterno. But McGloin's backup, true freshman Rob Bolden, and his father, Robert Bolden Sr., might have been more ticked off about the situation than anyone else. Some time after the game, Bolden, a heralded recruit who played his high school ball in Orchard Lake, Mich.