The Lions' Pride

Bolden had been on campus for 11 seconds and became the starting QB. Rather clear talent level difference... just needed some confidence and experience. Wish he got more last year but .... well... we all know how that went.

He'll have naturally gathered a significant amount of experience just from having all of last year, some "strength and conditioning - PSU style .... boooo), some spring ball, practices, and just developing relationships with teammates.

I have faith in Bolden that is rather unwarranted... but I'm rarely optimistic and this is one area where I think Penn State Nation is just a little overreacting to the scenario... The QB situation isn't all that bad. I would have liked to have had more depth behind McGloin but oh well... at least now there would be "less controversy".

The dumbest thing I continue to read by PSU fans....only one QB can immprove!!!! Really, only one QB can get better for PSU? I've seen the best QB's of all time have 4 pick games, but a kid in college has a 5 pick game and that's it...it's over. And before Rob's cheerleaders come out....I'm hoping Rob does take his job back and owns it this year, so stop with the line drawn in the sand garbage. I just can't get over the hypocrisy that is spewed at times. Two kids getting their first real snaps in college with meaningful games, but only one can improve. How is it some here let others get away with floating such BS?

Rob needs to do certain things better that can easily be corrected.

1) Play more natural, not so stiff....comes with PT and confidence.
2) Don't be afraid to use your feet earlier this year.
3) Smile, scream, and have some GD fun out there...lead the team!!!

Matt

1) Slow down for a minute..not every play is the last one. A punt is allowed and it won't kill us all the time.
2) Keep your emotions in check a bit more, you don't have to prove a damn thing...you've already done more than most can dream of.
3) Keep the team united versus divided (goes for both QB's) as that is what leaders do.

This bass ackwards stance that only one can improve is just dumb...no way around it. Neither kid hit their ceiling in 6-7 games and as bad as the situation is apparently, PSU has two kids that have won games last year and got some snaps. Are they finished products...hell no, but how many snaps does OSU's starting QB have...what about Iowa's? Bama? It's easy to always play the victim card and too many people online accept it...the world isn't perfect and you just need to deal with it.

re: Only one QB can or can't improve.

It's rather simple. One of the QB's in question has already been in this program for 3 years. That QB, by his own admission, is a "gunslinger." It's part of his personality on AND off the field. It is an enormous aspect of why many don't expect him to improve much. He's already physically as big as he'll ever be. His arm strength is as good as it will ever be. His speed is as good as it will ever be. That's just the way it is based on age, size, and where he's gotten to at this point. Deny it all you want, but it's the truth.

For him to get SIGNIFICANTLY better, he would have to basically change his personality. Change who he is as a "gunslinger" who tries to make plays due to lesser physical skills. That's not me saying this, that's basically every D1 program out there. In 3 years in the program, he never changed that. Why would he all of a sudden change who he is? How would he? It's not like a physical thing where you can easily, with reps, alter mechanics. It's a mental thing that he's had in himself all his life. Time is not on his side to all of a sudden become a game manager.

So there, that is why many people he has reached his ceiling. Can he improve? Probably a little more with short spurts of it, like the B/W game. But the minute things mean something, and a rough situation approaches, my guess is he goes right back to Outback Bowl forcing things approach. It's just "how he is built" with his personality. Me against the world mentality.

On the other hand, the other QB already showed extremely solid physical skills. His weakness was experience and leadership, both which come in time. He hasn't been in the system for 3 years, or around the speed of the college game for 3 years, or had many practices under his belt to read college defenses.

In the end, many say it was a wash with how they both performed last year. Considering that, and how much more time one had over the other in the system, it's pretty clear to me that one has a lot of room to grow, while the other has already had a ton of time to grow, yet still looked just as bad, if not worse, than the guy just removed from HS. I mean be real now....we aren't talking about mistakes you expect from a freshman. he made some awful, awful decisions for a guy who has been "playing" college ball for 3 seasons. Even if he had no game-time, by then, he should have known more than what he showed in many situations. Why after 3 years of being with the team, should we expect year 4 he would turn it around?

I just believe it goes beyond taking 1st team snaps as you mentioned. Being around the speed of the game, watching a ton of game film in 3 years, and having spring practices all should have enabled MM to perform better than he did. I would like to think all that time was worthwhile and not just wasted. What did he learn if he still came out and look as bad as any true freshman would look in games? I mean honestly, vs FL, that was worse than any Bolden performance by a large margin. (that's not hating on the kid, that's reality)

I can see one or two mistakes, but he made a ton and also got away with a ton. Mistakes I would not expect from a guy around the college game for 3 years, despite not having all those 1st team reps as one would say. First team reps shouldn't affect his ability to roll out and not throw to the defenders chest, or throw down field into quadruple coverage. To me, those are the things he should have learned up to that point, especially with game film and reading defenses.

I admit I don't like him, that's no secret. I don't care for the cockiness. But I'm trying to keep that aside on this discussion and focus on the football aspect. When I look at the results in some of his games against good teams (OSU, MSU, FL), and then think about the fact he was beat out by a freshman with 1 month experience, while he was there for 2+ years......I have to believe that is a more telling side of who he is as a QB than the 2 games he played against really really bad defenses. Defenses that would be like our 2nd or 3rd string defense. Those other facts suggest to me that his bad games are a more telling sign of who he is than the good games.

So when we compare the two......I feel it's a waste of time to give MM the time to see if he can get better and develop. One reason, because of age. Another reason, because of his size, arm strength, etc... He's a fine backup. If RB struggled horrible, you can put in MM, limit the gameplan, hand the ball off....and you can survive and stay in games. But when we are talking about trying to make a run for a conference title over the next few years.....I think it's clear that you have to give RB all the chance in the world to take his mental part up to his physical part.

In my opinion this statement is the best thing that can happen. Yeah, it would be really nice to hear next week who QB1 is, but the fact that we have 2 guys pushing each other should, in theory, only make them both better. This QB debate on all PSU forums has gotten very old...we know that both QBs have to improve for PSU to have a great season and win some games they "shouldn't".

ummmm.....Brett Favre had a slightly stronger arm than McGloin. The comparisons stop at the "gunslinger" mentality. Brett Favre could get away with it at times because his arm got the ball there a tiny bit faster than McGloin could...beating the defender in triple coverage. His mentality never changed.....which actually proves my point (thanks), but he had better physical skills so he got away with it more.

Favre also had a pretty good INT career as well.

BWAHAHAH If you even think the two are close in skill-set you're drinking some really strong koolaid.

Brett Favre threw interceptions all the time but had the luxury of John Madden basically drooling over him on TV every chance he had. "Brett Favre is a gunslinger...it's what happens...he has moxie....BRETT FAVRE!!!!!!"

My point was that just because a player plays with a certain style, doesn't mean they aren't going to improve.

Replace "MM" with "RB" and that is a perfect analysis.

Surely you can't be serious??

I can remember multiple throws RB made last year that many, MANY D1 qb's can not make, purely with arm strength and good mechanics. Go read Moye's quote a week or two ago about expecting a "bolden ball" when MM is in there.

They did both suck last year. That's the bottom line. They were 10th and 11th in the Big Ten in passer rating. That's not going to get it done.

With that said, I think both will be much improved this year.

Now you're being silly.

The point that we are even discussing Favre and McGloin in the same sentence shows how bad this analogy is to begin with. Favre's arm is what allowed him to be what he was (which i still think is over-rated). The gunslinger is what prevented him from being even better. McGloin does not have the arm.

What's silly is that people can't read between the lines.

I'm talking about to what lengths a person can improve. Sure everyone can improve a bit...but some of more room to improve while others are a little bit more limited in that capacity. I don't think that's a hard concept to grasp. It's related to the ceiling of both players in this case.

Can anyone seriously argue RB has a lot higher ceiling?
Can anyone seriously argue that MM is a bit limited with arm strength? Especially when he doesn't have time to put all his body into it.

I'm not at all suggesting RB is right now blowing him away or that MM can't get better. What I'm saying is how much MM can get better compared to RB is a lot smaller in my opinion. It just is. Mentality has a lot to do with it, as does physical ability. You can just change your "gunslinger" mentality, it's been built into you for years. That's the way he is, and probably the way he has to be.