Old QB debate rears its head in the Valley

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Less than a month before the start of preseason camp, Penn State's quarterback situation remains unsettled.

Sophomore Rob Bolden said Friday during the football team's annual Lift for Life event at Holuba Hall that he "wasn't promised" the starting job.

"I'm competing just like last year," said Bolden, whose transfer request was denied by coach Joe Paterno in early January. "[The coaches] didn't tell me, 'You're going to be No. 1.' "

Bolden, the first freshman quarterback to start an opener for Penn State in 100 years last season, started eight games overall. Former walk-on Matt McGloin, a redshirt junior, then started five of the final six.

McGloin, who threw a school-record five interceptions in a Jan. 1 Outback Bowl loss to Florida, said he will approach the start of camp Aug. 4 thinking he is the starter.

"Absolutely, in my mind, I am the guy to beat right now," McGloin said. "That's just the way I go about things. Obviously, there is an open competition, but I feel like I'm going to go in there and perform well and it's going to be my job in the fall."

Bolden and McGloin split snaps with the first team this spring and they expect that to continue in preseason camp.

"I'm very eager to get out there and start playing again," McGloin said.

"Just like last year, I came in [with] a good head on my shoulders," Bolden said. "I was aiming for the starting job and I got it. Same thing this year.

"I'm coming in focused. I'm doing everything I need to do, and that's how it's going to be."

Third-stringer Paul Jones, rated the No. 2 prep quarterback in the country by Scout.com as a senior in 2009, also plans to stay put.

"Yeah, I'm coming back," said Jones, a redshirt freshman. "I'm not frustrated at all. No matter where it's at, you're going to have competition.

"You may as well make sure the competition makes the best man play on Saturday. That's the best chance for a win. I'll never give up on myself."

Bolden, from Orchard Lake, Mich., completed 112 of 193 passes for 1,360 yards, with five touchdown passes and seven interceptions a year ago.

But he suffered a concussion Oct. 23 vs. Minnesota, and eventually lost the starting job to McGloin, a native of Scranton.

McGloin completed 118 of 215 passes for 1,548 yards. He threw 14 touchdown passes and nine interceptions.

Bolden conceded he was disgruntled at the end of last season when he and his father, Robert, met Jan. 4 with Paterno and his son, Jay, the team's quarterbacks coach, seeking to be released from his scholarship.

"That's over with now," Bolden said. "I'm putting that behind me. This is a new year."

McGloin said Bolden's indecisiveness off the field has not affected the team.

"It's been fine," McGloin said. "It's been like he never left. He went through a [tough] time, and I understand, he wasn't getting the playing time he thought he deserved. Like I said, he's fine. Everybody's responded well."

Bolden said his relationship with McGloin has not changed, either.

"There's nothing negative about it," Bolden said. "Obviously, we are competing. But off the field, it's none of that stuff. We're cool. We talk.

"I don't have anything against him and I can say he doesn't have anything against me."

McGloin and Jones both participated in Friday's Lift for Life strength and conditioning event, which raised $72,000 for kidney cancer research, but Bolden did not.

McGloin said he has spent a good portion of the offseason trying to improve his decision-making.

"At times, I think I played very well [last season]," he said. "And at times, I played very bad."