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Try as he might to come to grips with his status as the now-No. 2 quarterback of the Penn State Nittany Lions, the redshirt sophomore out of Downingtown East High reacted with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm to the decision of the electorate - that would be head coach Joe Paterno, who cast the only vote that really counted - to send Daryll Clark into office at Beaver Stadium as the starting quarterback for Saturday's season opener against Coastal Carolina.
"I don't know what the feeling is. Maybe it's disappointment. It's probably a lot of feelings mixed into one," Devlin said yesterday in his first comments to the media since Paterno informed Clark and him, as well as fringe candidate Paul Cianciolo, on Monday night of his decision to go with Clark in what likely was the tightest quarterback race in Happy Valley since Rashard Casey and Kevin Thompson split time during the 1999 season.
"You work so hard for something, you feel pretty good about it and the next day they tell you you're not going to start," Devlin continued. "There's still frustration . . . If they put me on the field a little bit, I guess that's what I got."
So much for the company line that had been advanced by Clark and Devlin throughout spring and preseason practice, in which both players professed that they would be OK with a rotating quarterback system, or even a lesser role if Paterno eventually sided with the other guy.
Graciousness is an easy virtue when it's you who is consoling the runner-up, not the other way around.
Clark understands Devlin's bruised feelings because he has been there and done that. He figures he should have logged more playing time the past 2 years as the seldom-used backup to Anthony Morelli, and he also figures that it's about time his patience was finally rewarded. But he also understands that so-called "quarterback controversies" do not disappear with a head coach's momentary verdict, and that a recall election can be conducted along the sideline as fast as it takes for the incumbent to toss a couple of interceptions. Football teams are comprised of human beings who, like Republicans and Democrats, tend to lavish their devotion more onto someone they can relate to rather than the person someone else prefers.
"As far as cliques, I hope it doesn't get that way," Clark said. "But let's be honest. There are people on the team that want Pat in. There are people on the team that want me in. That's just how it is. I guess we'll just have to play that one by ear. I hope nothing bad comes out of this."
For his part, Clark is doing everything he can to avoid stirring up more controversy for a program that has been immersed in off-the-field issues for the past year and a half. He offered the opinion that Paterno merely has named him the starter for the Coastal Carolina game, not necessarily the entire season, and that it's almost certain Devlin will see playing time in any case.
"Honestly, I'm really not sure if it's for the duration," Clark said of his for-now designation as the main man. "I think Joe wants to see what happens Saturday. I mean, I would hope it's for the rest of the season, but I'm not sure.
"Since the competition was so tight, it's only right to play us both and see how it pans out. It could easily have gone the other way. Pat's a good player, man."
Possibly complicating matters is the fact that Clark, who is listed as a senior, could return for the 2009 season and is intent on doing so. That could mean even more caddy time for Devlin.
"The question of me having [another] year is settled," Clark said. "I'm going to have it for sure. I'm going to take it. I feel that I need it. It's another year to possibly take a run at a national championship."
Might Devlin entertain thoughts of transferring if he believes his crack at starting is getting further away instead of closer?
"Nobody's really asked me that," said Pennsylvania's all-time high school passing yardage leader, not really addressing the question. "I don't expect to be hearing it in the next couple of days, either."
So has Devlin spoken to anyone about how he feels about what appears to be at least a temporary setback?
"We talked that night," he said of a telephone call to his father, Mark Devlin, a Penn State graduate. "[It was] regular fatherly stuff."
Anyone else?
"I got more important things to talk to my friends and teammates about than that," Devlin said.
So it's on to Coastal Carolina and whatever lies beyond the Chanticleers for two quarterbacks who want what only one can have.
"Once Coach Joe told me I was starting, I just lit up," Clark said. "I was real excited. That's one step, but it doesn't stop here. Now it's time to go to work. Let's try to win some games." *
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