Penn State Football: O'Brien Confirms Starting Quarterback Has Been Named

Only a few days prior to Penn State's season opening game against Syracuse, head coach Bill O'Brien confirmed on his radio show that the team knows who is starting at quarterback this weekend.

"We'll have a starter and he'll play a majority of the game but we'll have the other guy play as well," O'Brien said. "They won't alternate series, one guy will play more than the other guy."

For weeks now O'Brien has sidestepped a direct answer to the quarterback question in a sense to protect his eventual starter. Interviews, articles and outside pressure is hard enough for a veteran to handle, let alone two young athletes.

"You have one guy who just went to prom," O'Brien said of Christian Hackenberg. "And you have one guy who moved thousands of miles away from home. I wanted them to be able to avoid all of that pressure with interviews and such."

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In the end, O'Brien's confirmation isn't terribly shocking. It would be unlikely that Penn State would enter this weekend without a clear direction. Either way, mystery and public debate will be put to rest for at least four quarters of football this Saturday when Penn State's starting quarterback walks out on to the field.

"I know some people in the media know, and I don't really care," O'Brien said slyly. "It's a free country though and I'm allowed to change my mind."