The Lions' Pride

you gotta admit J, that Bolden doesn't have the pocket awareness that McGloin does, and I think that's the the biggest issue. Both of the sacks Bolden took, the pressure was right in his face, and he could have gotten rid of the ball.

Thank you, I may have someone on my side here. It's what I've been saying all night. They move McGloin, buy him time but expect RB to drop back and sit behind this stinky O-line?? I don't get it either. Good post.

Diddy, I understand what you are saying here, but I have to ask: How do opposing coaches know so certainly that McGloin won't be so easily fooled? I mean it's not like there's loads of tape on the guy that opposing D co-ordinators are watching. Is it not just more of a sense of the unknown with McGloin for opposing D's? Do they really respect McGloin's ability that much that they call that much more of a conservative game? I think you're right in that MM maybe has a better grasp on the playbook, but they also certainly use him differently. Why do they not roll out Bolden more, move him around in the pocket more, buy him a little extra time? He did it with success at Minnesota and it would be better for him than standing like a statue in the backfield.
I would like to reiterate that the coaches decisions payed off to day. I don't root for a number, never have, and never said anything about a players feelings, I know that team comes before individual. All I wonder about was their motivation, Bolden hardly played today and they didn't seem to give him much of a chance to settle in to the game, whereas they did give MM that opportunity.
But quite frankly, I don't care who plays, as long as a W appears in the results column.

It's not just fairness...it's being logical.

2 series, move the ball into NW territory. Get benched.

3 series, only get the ball in NW territory once because of a shanked punt. Keep playing.

First, the unknown is a powerful weapon. Second, they know McGloin is willing to go down the field (perhaps too willing) where Bolden simply is not. I'm told from friends of mine who are at every game that RB absolutely balks at open opportunities down the field and prefers to stay in his comfort zone underneath. We can't see that stuff on TV. His mistakes have made him timid. McGloin doesn't have that issue. In fact, the kid is probably rather overconfident.

The reality is that, for whatever reason, NW completely changed their defensive gameplan when McGloin entered the game, and it gave us the advantage. Their LB's were spread out rather than playing closer to line and blitzing. This allowed our interior OL to repeatedly get to the second level in the run game. It also led to the effectiveness of the screen game. They also had to relax their safeties to respect the deep ball. Defenses tend to play tight to the line and really pressure Bolden to take away his underneath routes with limited help overtop. They know that a. he won't go down the field b. he clings to his underneath route c. if the underneath route isn't there, they have a good chance to force a bad decision and a turnover d. he's not a threat to run. Perhaps, people just need to deal with the fact that RB is not a Heisman candidate as a true freshman. He's a kid who can be schemed against. Perhaps, the walk-on sophomore is simply a better player right now who creates more issues for defenses.

And I'm tired of the "rolling out" nonsense. RB's footwork stinks. His first rollout today was slow and lazy. He's clearly more comfortable with traditional drops in the pocket. I think RB is much more of a pro-set QB than people realize. I have no idea why he was ever classified as a dual threat. He's more of a statue than McGloin

Let the kid learn and mature. The best place for him to do that looks like the practice field rather than the game field at this point.

I'm not saying they should have taken McGloin out. I'm glad they gave him time to settle in, I'm glad they were patient with him, I'm glad they were right, I'm glad they were wrong. They know more than me. I'm not saying they don't. I'm not calling them the worst coaching staff in america like everyone else does when they do something wrong. I just wanted to see Bolden get more of a chance. Does the staff know something I don't know? Probably. But why would I argue in favor of something I don't know? I'm arguing in favor of what I know, as strictly a fan.

Fair enough.

From my perspective as a fan, Bolden was on the rocks and they made the call at the right time. It's an opinion call, and no one's opinion is wrong. Thankfully, their decision was the right one and worked out. As I said elsewehere, it could've just as easily backfired and we would all be here roasting them for it right now. Since it worked, they deserve credit. I'm always critical when they make mistakes, so it's only fair to pay them credit for making the right call...even though it was an "illogical" one to some. That's what they get paid the big bucks to do.

Now, let's do less and more . This was a great day for all PSU fans. It should be celebrated.