Quarterbacks

You call this a quarterback controversy? Eagles coach Ray Rhodes stoked the fire on Wednesday when he promised a two-week battle royal between Ty Detmer and Rodney Peete for the Birds' starting QB job. Rhodes, the ultimate competitor, said he envisioned a clawing, scratching fight. Let it all hang out and may the best passer win, the coach said. Too bad the QBs didn't catch the fever. Judging from their responses, the quarterbacks are taking the competition much too seriously, which has made things rather dull at Camp Rhodes.

It's been a favorite pasttime of Penn State fans and foes alike, watching the sideline at the start of a possession to see which of the Nittany Lions' two quarterbacks will be running the offense. While the game within the game might have been fun on opening week against overmatched Indiana State, it was an exercise in futility last weekend when Penn State was thoroughly trounced by No. 3 Alabama. Now, with Temple coming up Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field and the start of the Big Ten schedule speeding toward the Lions in two weeks, the time has come for the quarterback games to end. Just pick someone already to be the No. 1 guy. Penn State coach Joe Paterno and his son, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, have gone the better part of a year - counting the 2010 postseason, spring football, summer staff meetings, preseason practice, and two games - without figuring out who is the better option between Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin.

The Eagles acquired two new quarterbacks yesterday, but their names were not Bill Kenney or Gary Hogeboom. To bolster their corps of quarterbacks for next week's minicamp in Tampa, Fla. - and to insure against a possible boycott by Ron Jaworski - the Eagles added two relative unknowns, Kyle Mackey and Ken Cruz, to their roster. Contract terms were not disclosed. Mackey, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound graduate of East Texas State, played the 1984 season in St. Louis before being cut during training camp last year.

Mark Sanchez looked as if he still belonged on a college campus. Days of scraggly facial hair had grown along his jawline, and he tucked his hands into a green hoodie, its retro-cool Jets logo carefully distressed. Sanchez, 24, is young enough that he could still fit in at Southern California. But instead he's on the verge, for a second time, of reaching the NFL's biggest stage. Joining him on the precipice of the Super Bowl are three other quarterbacks, all younger than 30, who have surged to success this postseason while the quarterbacking trinity of Brady, Brees, and Manning went winless.

Nobody has yet come up with a catchy slogan for the 1991 football season. There's no "Drive for Five," or "One for the Thumb," to give crowds something to chant. One possibility, although it's hardly very original, is "The Year of the Quarterback" - at least that's the slogan for the year in South Jersey. Everywhere you look this season, there are experienced quarterbacks. For example, nine of the 10 the teams in The Inquirer South Jersey Top 10, which begins today, have returning quarterbacks.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Even with a new head coach replacing an icon who called the shots for 46 years, Penn State's annual Blue-White Game didn't show people much that was different. Bill O'Brien, the successor to Joe Paterno, kept his new offense, based on much of what he led as offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, under wraps. Asked how much of the offense he showed to the estimated Beaver Stadium crowd of 60,000, he replied, "10 percent. " And the three quarterbacks battling for the No. 1 job showed the same-old same-old this overcast day. Matt McGloin, the incumbent, did well when he stayed within himself but threw an interception when he tried to force the football into a tight spot.

Three weeks into the NFL's 67th season, quarterbacks stand more firmly at the focal point of their offenses than ever, having accounted for 96 touchdown passes and enough yardage to accommodate half a marathon. "The rush has now become a diversionary tactic so you can pass," said Seymour Siwoff, head statistician of the Elias Sports Bureau. "What can I tell you? They are throwing the ball better than ever. " This trend, of course, will not be all that obvious at Veterans Stadium on Sunday, when the winless Eagles battle the unbeaten Los Angeles Rams.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - If 96,461 sunbaked spectators came to Beaver Stadium on Saturday expecting to witness the coronation of Penn State's starting quarterback for 2011, well, it looked as if they risked heat stroke for nothing. Neither sophomore Rob Bolden nor redshirt junior Matt McGloin stood head and shoulders above the other in muggy, 85-degree heat as the Nittany Lions won handily by 41-7 over Indiana State in their 125th season opener. Bolden started and led the Lions to a touchdown on his first drive, but that was the only score in his six possessions covering 36 snaps.

It is hardly a news flash that there is a scarcity of good, young quarterbacks in the National Football League. As Hall of Fame-bound geriatrics such as Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Dan Marino and John Elway creep ever closer to retirement, there are few worthy candidates under the age of 30 waiting to carry on their legacy. There is Troy Aikman, Jeff George, Brett Favre and Drew Bledsoe, and maybe Rick Mirer, and that's about it. Now, just in the nick of time, comes the 1995 draft class, chock-full of live, young arms that finally may replenish the league's deteriorating quarterback supply.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Even with a new head coach replacing an icon who called the shots for 46 years, Penn State's annual Blue-White Game didn't show people much that was different. Bill O'Brien, the successor to Joe Paterno, kept his new offense, based on much of what he led as offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, under wraps. Asked how much of the offense he showed to the estimated Beaver Stadium crowd of 60,000, he replied, "10 percent. " And the three quarterbacks battling for the No. 1 job showed the same-old same-old on this overcast day. Matt McGloin, the incumbent, did well when he stayed within himself but threw an interception when he tried to force the football into a tight spot.