Paterno sticking with 2 QBs

Penn State managed to complete the first half of its season without too many surprises.

The Nittany Lions are 5-1, pretty much in line with the expectations of most observers, despite forecasts of doom against Temple and Iowa. Their defense had been advertised as very good and was even better. Their offensive line and running game seemed to hit their stride last week.

So perhaps the biggest surprise of the first half was that Joe Paterno stuck with a two-quarterback system even though Matt McGloin appears to have opened up an advantage over Rob Bolden the last three weeks.

And, Paterno said Tuesday during his weekly teleconference, the quarterback shuttle will continue for a while longer because the Lions have the "luxury" of two quarterbacks in whom they are confident.

"It will be nice if we get to where we're going to play one, I think for everybody," the head coach said. "But I'm not going to do that just to do it because people want to know, 'Hey, why don't they have one quarterback?'

"We'd probably like to have one. I'm just not in a position that I want to have one right now. Who knows? Some day we may end up with one. [But] right now, we're a two-quarterback team."

Paterno denied having any time line on resolving the quarterback situation.

"When the time comes," he said, "and I think a decision should be made for the betterment of the team . . . if we're going to be a better football team, if all of a sudden we're much better off with this guy in the ball game the whole game, then I'll sit down and talk it out with the staff and we'll pick a guy. We haven't gotten to that."

The theory was that Penn State came close to anointing McGloin as No. 1 after the redshirt junior ran the offense for eight of the Lions' 10 possessions in Saturday's win.

However, Paterno explained that his team planned to run the ball more and that McGloin "had a little better feel for what was going on in that particular game."

"I don't think you can read too much into that," he said.

The numbers over the last three games read: McGloin, 36 completions in 58 attempts (62.1 percent), 557 yards, five touchdowns, one interception; Bolden, 16 of 34 (47.1 percent), 213 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions.

As for the team as a whole, Paterno was encouraged by the overall progress but said it has "a long way to go."

"I was pleased in some areas," he said. "We ran the ball a little better. I thought the offensive line is playing better with more confidence, more cohesion. We've played defense well for most of the year, so that hasn't been a big concern."

Nittany notes. Paterno said he continues to feel pain in his right leg from the sudden move he made on the sideline during Saturday's first half. Though he would like to coach a full game from the sideline this season, it didn't sound as if that will happen Saturday against Purdue at Beaver Stadium. However, he balked at a suggestion that his continuing physical discomfort might make him consider retirement. "You guys think about it," he told reporters. "I don't think about it. I'm thinking about Purdue. I'm not worried about anything else right now. Who knows, maybe I'll go 10 [more] years."

Paterno said that cornerback D'Anton Lynn (concussion) and tailback Brandon Beachum (foot) are doubtful for Saturday, but that corner Stephon Morris (ankle) should play. . . . Tackle Devon Still has been added to the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award given to the nation's outstanding defensive player by the Maxwell Football Club. The 6-foot-5, 310-pounder from Wilmington is second in the Big Ten Conference with nine tackles for loss.