True frosh Jones raises everybody's eyebrows but Paterno's at Blue-White game

STATE COLLEGE - Five-star recruit Paul Jones was among seven early enrollees in January, all of whom came to Penn State when they did with the idea that it would help them get a head start on other true freshmen who won't arrive the summer.

Maybe it will work out just as Jones, the quarterback from Sto-Rox High outside of Pittsburgh, had hoped. His additional time learning the Penn State offense probably does put him ahead of another heralded freshman passer, Robert Bolden, who is still back at his high school in Michigan.

But for Jones to become an actual factor in a jumbled race to determine who will become the successor to Daryll Clark, the departed two-time first-team All-Big Ten quarterback, he might have to petition to have himself immediately declared a sophomore. Penn State coaching legend Joe Paterno, who ultimately will have the final say on who lines up under center for the first snap in the season opener against Youngstown State on Sept. 4, believes that true and even redshirt freshmen should be seen but not heard (they're not available to speak to the media). In fact, JoePa isn't much of a proponent of raw rookies even being seen on the field very much until they've had a chance to get properly acclimated to the speed and increased stress of the college game.

Not for nothing was Wally Richardson the last true freshman quarterback to start for the Nittany Lions, his big shot coming way back in 1992.

To hear Paterno tell it before the Blue team edged the White, 17-3, in an intrasquad scrimmage that wrapped up spring practice Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium, the pattern is likely to continue when the full squad convenes 3 1/2 months hence. The frontrunners to be anointed as Penn State's next starting quarterback are sophomore Kevin Newsome, who got a smattering of experience as Clark's primary backup in 2009, and former walk-on Matt McGloin, a redshirt soph whose only two pass attempts a year ago fell incomplete.

"I think the two kids right now that are the head of the pack are pretty even," Paterno, not identifying Newsome and McGloin by name, said prior to a contest played under overcast skies before an estimated 55,000 spectators, down from the nearly 77,000 who witnessed the Blue-White scrimmage a year ago.

What Paterno saw - as well as those on-site fans and a nationwide television audience on ESPN2 - might kindly be described as an exhibition of offensively challenged football. Newsome, taking turns for both the Blue and White squads, combined to complete only five of 12 passes for 50 yards. He also was "sacked" three times, even though defensive players merely had to tap him on the body to be credited with a takedown. He also rushed once for negative-6 yards.

Asked to rate what he had done, the 6-2, 220-pound Newsome hemmed and hawed a bit before finally allowing, "I would rate my performance as . . . um, we have a lot of work to do."

McGloin also did not make a strong on-field statement that might have suggested he is the new main man, completing 10 of 23 passes for both teams for 110 yards and two interceptions while being sacked once.

"I knew all eyes would be on the quarterbacks today," the 6-1, 204-pound McGloin acknowledged. "I threw a couple of picks, but what are you going to do? It happens."

Clearly, the most impressive of the five quarterbacks to make it onto the field - including Shane McGregor and Garrett Venuto, presumably end-of-the-depth-chart types who were 4-for-7 for 39 yards and an interception between them - was Jones, who doesn't even turn 18 until next month. The 6-3, 220-pounder connected on five of eight tosses for 67 yards and the game's only two touchdowns, a pair of 18-yarders to Shawney Kersey. He also was sacked for a 14-yard loss.

Two of Jones' incompletions came on plays preceding the second of his scoring strikes to Kersey in which catchable balls were dropped in the end zone, which sort of means he had three TD passes in the same series.

Of Jones, Joe Paterno said, "He has talent. But, hey, [playing him as a true freshman] is asking an awful lot, particularly when we're in the process of trying to establish the two kids ahead of him. Some things he's good at, some things he's not good at. But he's a good kid, works hard. Eventually, I think, he's going to be pretty good."

Refuting the notion that Jones, and possibly even Bolden, can't rise to the top of the depth chart by the season opener is Jay Paterno, Joe's son and the quarterbacks coach.

"There's a lot of options on the table," the younger Paterno said when asked about the quarterback scramble. "That's the fun part. We're keeping you guys [the media] guessing, and, hopefully, keeping Youngstown State, Alabama and the next 10 teams after that guessing, too.

"It may be true that the assumption from people outside the program is that Paul doesn't have a shot, but it's not the assumption on our part as a coaching staff. We're going to play the guy who gives us the best chance to win, whether he is a freshman or a senior."

Jay Paterno also said he had received a number of e-mails immediately after the game - ah, the wonders of Blackberries and iphones - lobbying for Jones to vault ahead of Newsome and McGloin.

Although the quarterbacks were the center of attention, other positions are, or should be, an area of concern. Senior Quinn Barham, a career backup guard, got his first public exposure as the new starter on the left side and was generally manhandled by defensive end Kevion Latham, a telltale sign that the reconstituted offensive line faces further shuffling.

A number of key players were held out because of injury (middle linebacker Michael Mauti, safety Drew Astorino) or for precautionary reasons (tailback Evan Royster), and others were sidelined because they are in Joe Paterno's disciplinary doghouse. Fullback Michael Zordich and placekicker Anthony Fera didn't play after they were cited for underage drinking, and tight end Mark Wedderburn for an undisclosed violation.