You Talkin' to Me? Is JoePa mellowing? It could be

From: Juliano, Joe

To: Jensen, Mike; Quinn, John

Subject: College football buzz

Well, guys, welcome to another season of college football. Of all the compelling stories out there, my vote goes to JoePa's decision to go with true freshman Robert Bolden as his starting QB for the opener. What do you think?

From: Quinn, John

To: Juliano, Joe; Jensen, Mike

Subject: College football buzz

I hear that Bolden tweeted his dad that he would be "the first one off the bus Saturday," meaning he would start the game. Since JoePa has a policy in which freshmen are not allowed to talk to the media, this may be the only communication we get from the freshman all season. Once Joe hears about this, Twitter no doubt will be banned, but someone will have to explain the concept to the coach, which might make him want to retire.

From: Jensen, Mike

To: Juliano, Joe; Quinn, John

Subject: College football buzz

JoePa may not have a Twitter feed, but he does still read the paper, so my guess is that Quinn just became the person who told him about this. But don't worry about his Twitter policy. If Paterno can start a QB who just showed up last month - who knows? - he obviously is changing with the times. I hear all practices in Happy Valley will be open to the public from now on.

From: Juliano, Joe

To: Jensen, Mike; Quinn, John

Subject: College football buzz

Boy, that's a good one, but JoePa had the ultimate definition of Twitter at last year's Big Ten media day when he said: "Twitter? I thought in high school that's what happened when you saw a pretty girl."

From: Quinn, John

To: Juliano, Joe; Jensen, Mike

Subject: College football buzz

My mother went to an all-girls high school in Brooklyn when he went to all-boys Brooklyn Prep back in the day. She told me that the girls' hearts went "atwitter" when they saw stud quarterbacks with Coke-bottle glasses. She does, however, have a Twitter account, and I told her to add Robert Bolden so we can keep up with the latest in Penn State football.

From: Jensen, Mike

To: Juliano, Joe; Quinn, John

Subject: College football buzz

A couple of Bolden thoughts: What is Pat Devlin thinking right now? With QBs, it's about timing along with talent. Bolden either starts immediately or - who knows? - he could have been stuck behind the sophomore and eventually transferred himself. Also, we need another designation beyond true freshman. Since so many freshman football players now blow off their last semester of high school and enroll, it's even more impressive that Bolden just showed up for practice and won the job in August. Never mind the tweeting - that's old-school.

From: Juliano, Joe

To: Jensen, Mike; Quinn, John

Subject: College football buzz

Timing is everything. Ask Devlin. Since the signings last February of Bolden and Paul Jones, the kid from Sto-Rox who probably will redshirt, the guesses were flying as to which one would transfer and how soon. Jones appeared to be the best of the three quarterbacks in the Blue-White Game, but he worried Paterno with his shaky academic start. The other thing at work here is that the sophomore candidates (Matt McGloin, Kevin Newsome) did not quite stand out. But I feel the competition resumes during the game, and Joe's going to be a lot more nervous naming a QB for Alabama than he was for the mighty Penguins of Youngstown State. And whatever happened to Tennessee Tuxedo?