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After watching the last of Rob Bolden’s string of inept passes fall to the ground, Joe Paterno cut short the Blue-White Game and pulled the teams off the field.
Presumably so the legendary Penn State coach could immediately grant Bolden’s previous request for a release from his scholarship.
OK, so it was really a rainstorm that stopped Penn State’s annual team scrimmage Saturday.
But nobody should be stopping Bolden from walking out the door anymore.
Because Matt McGloin closed any window of opportunity for anyone else to become Penn State’s starting quarterback.
Actually, McGloin slammed the door shut with a stellar performance in the Blue-White Game.
He shrugged off the rain to throw a pretty 17-yard touchdown pass and lead a field goal drive for the game’s only points of a 10-0 victory for his White team.
McGloin marched the offense down the field. He made smart decisions and very few mistakes. And he marked his territory with poise, precision and a plethora of self-confidence.
“Basically, I was happy with the way I performed,” McGloin said.
But it wasn’t so much what McGloin did Saturday as what Penn State’s other quarterbacks didn’t do.
They didn’t perform.
Paul Jones didn’t do much to inspire faith in him for the future. Kevin Newsome didn’t challenge the defense with throws downfield. And Bolden didn’t even complete one of his five attempts, spiraling downward after he opened the game by throwing a deep interception.
If Bolden really is the main challenger in this fight for the starting quarterback job, McGloin wins by a knockout.
“I would say it’s 99 percent sure it’s going to be one of those two kids,” Paterno said before the game.
It’s now obvious which one.
McGloin rescued Penn State’s stagnant season and led the Nittany Lions to the Outback Bowl in 2010. And although his five-interception performance panicked Penn State fans in that 37-24 bowl loss to Florida, McGloin seemed to learn from it.
He spent the Blue-White Game making timely throws, good reads and when things broke down, McGloin threw the ball away to live for the next play instead of trying to stuff completions through the teeth of the defense.
“That first interception, I kind of got down,” McGloin said of his miserable Outback Bowl performance. “That’s something that never happened to me before. I kind of let it get to me. Just to see how bad I felt after that game, I don’t ever want to feel that way again.
“It’s something I needed to kick me in the butt.”
At the same time, it kicked Bolden in the teeth.
Will Bolden be here in fall?
He became the first freshman quarterback since 1910 to start on opening day for Penn State last season, but suffered an injury around midseason that elevated McGloin to starter status. By the end of last season, Bolden didn’t even get a snap in the big bowl game against Florida.
That sent him running to Paterno looking for a release from his Penn State scholarship, but the old man wouldn’t grant it. He wanted Bolden to stick around for the spring, and try to battle his way back into the starting lineup for this season.
But it might be time to let Bolden start looking at transferring to another program.
“I’m here right now,” Bolden said. “There are a lot of things I have to think about.”
Sitting on the bench as a backup is not one of them.
“We know what Joe wants us to do,” McGloin said. “He wants to see us battle it out.”
The battle is already over. While one side was firing bullets, the other’s ship was sinking fast.