Reports: Kevin Newsome leaves Penn State football program

Once believed to be the heir apparent to Daryll Clark, junior quarterback Kevin Newsome has left the Penn State program and is likely to transfer, multiple media outlets reported Thursday.

Newsome declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday. Penn State sports information director Jeff Nelson did not have an update on Newsome's status with the team.

A highly touted prospect out of Hargrave Military Academy, Newsome never lived up to his potential at Penn State. He served as Clark's backup as a freshman in 2009, and was beaten out for the starting job by then-true freshman Rob Bolden last season.

A 6-foot-2, 231-pound, mobile quarterback, Newsome was 14 for 24 for 144 passing yards and rushed for 161 yards on 33 attempts with two touchdowns in his two years at Penn State.

He did not travel with the team to the Outback Bowl last season as he mulled his future in Happy Valley. He returned for spring practices and practiced with the team, but wasn't considered a front-runner to win the starting job.

Bolden and redshirt junior Matt McGloin split first-team repetitions in the spring, and coach Joe Paterno said in the spring that he was "99 percent sure" that one of them would be his starting quarterback in the fall.

With redshirt freshman Paul Jones experiencing academic issues - Paterno said last week that Jones likely would not play in 2011 - Newsome was a likely candidate to be third string.

If Newsome were to transfer, Bolden and McGloin would be Penn State's only quarterbacks with true playing experience.

Getting started. Penn State began preseason practices Thursday and will open its season against Indiana State on Sept. 3 at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions checked in at No. 25 in USA Today's preseason coaches poll, which was released Thursday.