O'Brien names McGloin No. 1 QB, says Drake off team
Penn State coach Bill O'Brien said Matt McGloin has been named the team's starting quarterback, and that former West Catholic star Curtis Drake is no longer with the Nittany Lions.
O'Brien names McGloin No. 1 QB, says Drake off team
Joe Juliano
Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien announced Friday that Matt McGloin will be the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions.
O'Brien also said that defensive back Curtis Drake, the former West Catholic star who had a checkered career as a Nittany Lion, is off the team and won't be back.
O'Brien spoke with reporters at Penn State's Coaches vs. Cancer golf tournament.
O'Brien said McGloin, a senior who has been Penn State's statistical leader among quarterbacks the last two seasons, was the most consistent of the quarterbacks in the spring and had the best grasp of the offense.
He said sophomore Paul Jones would be the No. 2 quarterback and junior Rob Bolden, who has started the most games of any QB the last two seasons, was third-string.
O'Brien would not give any reason why Drake, who was moved from wide receiver to cornerback before spring practice, was off the team.
Drake was involved in a locker-room scuffle with McGloin after a mid-December practice, resulting in a concussion that kept McGloin out of the TicketCity Bowl. Drake did not make the trip to Dallas.
O'Brien, the Nittany Lions' first-year head coach, said Drake had "a clean slate" with him, and that he and Drake had "many conversations" prior to the start of spring ball.
"He's got to keep up his end of the bargain by doing well in school and keeping his nose clean," O'Brien said.
Drake twice suffered a broken left leg during his Penn State career, and was cited twice for disorderly conduct for off-campus fights.
--Joe Juliano
Nothing new here; Drake has been gone for weeks now and McGloin was the only logical choice to start the season. Don't expect Bolden and Dad to play the good troopers; hopefully, for Bolden's sake, he just transfers.— JBinPA- mcgloin had to be the starter, nobody took the job away from him. bolden showed so much promise as a freshmen, but never progressed.— nyphilliephan
- can take the kid out of west philly - but can't take the west philly out of the kid. feel bad for drake. he had a golden opportunity because of his athleticism. hope he makes it in the long haul.— slanted and enchanted
- Great another season of mcinterception. I just hope jones somehow gets a shot. And bolden should just transfer.— psualum
Comment removed.- Was Eddie Goerge a typical Philly thug??? Guess not? thats why he went to OSU! — avoidpitt
- Like we didn't see this coming. McGloin is a borderline Division II quarterback and an interception waiting to happen. But he fits O'Brien's mould for what a qb should look like. Penn State is now and will be for the forseeable future a second tier Big Ten team as they will no longer be able to attract big time talent with O'Brien at the helm.— JLH
- Yo robnyk. How does it feel to be such a small-minded person with such silly and ignorant statements?— JLH
- Doesn't Bolden watch game tape? Since 1980, I can't remember a Penn State starting QB who was as bad. Who started the season in 1983, before Paterno started all the freshmen? Maybe that guy.— HolidayinCambodia
- Penn State, big 10's cellar dweller for years to come.......s— eagles2010
- JLH, check out the current recruits they got for 2013, and then ask yourself again if they can still attract talent.— suckitpens
- Losing record in 2012 almost guaranteed.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- JLH is obviously clueless as they already have the top ranked TE committed for 2013 and 5 other 4 star recruits which has their class ranked #16 and that's with O'Brien and his staff getting a late start. 2012 may be a rough season but I see O'Brien righting the ship pretty quickly.— ResponsibleAmerican
- How many of those "4 star recruits" are skill position players? Be as delusional as you want. And enjoy the second tier.— JLH
- "skill players" are not the key to success on the field. The linemen are. A good offensive line will make the skill player seem better than they are, and a mediocre offensive line can make what might be an excellent QB look mediocre. Similar for the defensive line.
In other words while some plays and players will always get the attention, whoever controls the line of scrimmage controls the game.— MKD
This season is Joe's fourth season on the paper's Penn State beat. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press International from 1976 to 1984.
Emily Kaplan is the Inquirer’s fall intern covering the Nittany Lions. She is a senior at Penn State and has covered a variety of sports for the university’s student-run paper, The Daily Collegian. Over the last two years, she has reported for The Associated Press from State College.
A Montclair, N.J. native, she has also interned at MLB Network, NHL.com and covered the 2012 Olympics in London. Follow her on Twitter here @EKaplan24.
