Penn State's McGloin held out of practice again

DALLAS --- Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin was held out of practice again on Wednesday, interim head coach Tom Bradley said. McGloin has not practiced since Dec. 17, when he suffered a seizure and concussion-like symptoms following a locker room fight with wide receiver Curtis Drake.

McGloin's status remains up in the air for the TicketCity Bowl against Houston on Monday.

"He hasn't played or practiced," Bradley said. "We're going to have some concerns about that, no question about it. But we hope we're going to get him some practice later in the week if the doc will let him go."

If McGloin is forced to sit out, sophomore Rob Bolden would start. Bolden started the first seven games of the season, splitting time with McGloin. In nine games, Bolden was 46-of-109 for 548 passing yards with just one touchdown and four interceptions.

McGloin, a redshirt junior, was 125-of-231 for 1,571 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions in all 12 games.

"He's done pretty well," Bradley said of Bolden. "He keeps getting more comfortable every day and he's working hard. It's just getting the reps."

"Rob's taking the challenge and he's stepping up," center Matt Stankiewitch said. "Hopefully he can keep doing that and transition it into the game."

Penn State's third-string quarterback is redshirt junior Shane McGregor, who saw time in only two games this year. Redshirt freshman quarterback Paul Jones, who had been academically ineligible all season, did not reach the 2.0 GPA he needed to become eligible for the bowl game.

"It was a difference of one grade, he would have had it," Bradley said.

Other notes from Wednesday:

-Though Drake said Tuesday that he decided not to travel to Dallas for the bowl game, Bradley made it sound as if he and Drake made the decision together. Bradley wouldn't discuss what was said in their meeting, saying it was personal. Drake will return to the team in January, Bradley said.

"We talked it over, why he couldn't come to the game," Bradley said. "He understood it… It wasn't anybody's decision. It was my decision to talk it over with him."

In Penn State's last two games, Drake saw an increased role, particularly out of the Wildcat formation. The Philadelphia native and former West Catholic High School star caught his first career touchdown pass in the Nittany Lions' 45-7 loss at Wisconsin on Nov. 26.

"It hurts us a little bit there with what's going on," Bradley said. "But with everything that's been happening, it had nothing to do with the fight. It had to do with him missing practices. He was taking care of some personal things and some academic things that came up. But it wasn't an academic issue. It wasn't the fight issue."

-Wide receiver Shawney Kersey also did not travel for personal reasons. The redshirt sophomore from Woodbury, N.J. caught five passes for 108 yards this season. Reserve cornerback Derrick Thomas also did not make the trip, but for academic reasons.

"We haven't had Kersey for a while," Bradley said. "Shawney had some personal matters to attend to. He hasn't been at practice."

-Defensive end Jack Crawford said he was one of four Nittany Lions recently invited to the Senior Bowl, which is a chance for potential NFL draft picks to further showcase their talents. Defensive tackle Devon Still, cornerback D'Anton Lynn and guard Johnnie Troutman were also invited, according to Crawford. The game will be played on Jan. 28 in Mobile, Alabama.

-Bradley said sophomore running back Silas Redd is 100 percent for Monday's game. Redd was banged up at the end of the season with a collarbone injury.

"I think the rest did him some good," Bradley said. "He's lugged a lot of carries for a young guy. He was banged up. I think he only played 14 plays the one game so we tried to rest him up. That's the heavy duty every week in the Big Ten as much as we'd been running the ball."

--Jake Kaplan

Here's a video of Penn State cornerback D'Anton Lynn and kicker/punter Anthony Fera, both native Texans, talking about coming back to their home state to play in the TicketCity Bowl.