Matt McGloin’s first completion as a Penn State quarterback was for a touchdown.
As we have come to learn since then, with him around there’s never a dull moment.
In 31 games overall, and only 21 of them starts, the fifth-year senior from Scranton has established himself as the most prodigious passer in Penn State history.
There have been some bumps in the road – five interceptions against Florida, 1 of 10 vs. Alabama, a locker room scuffle – but overall McGloin has delivered again and again in the clutch.
As he heads into his final game as a Nittany Lion on Saturday against Wisconsin in Beaver Stadium, McGloin already holds several Penn State records and has a career passing line of 494 completions in 857 attempts, for 6,185 yards, 45 touchdowns, 19 interceptions and a 57.6 percent completion rate.
But Matthew James McGloin is much more than his numbers.
He is an extreme competitor, fiercely loyal, deceptively funny (if you’re sharp enough to get his perpetually sandy-dry humor), very opinionated, a great quote and a tireless worker, from a tight-knit and personable family — headed by parents Paul and Cathy — that exudes the exact same qualities. On a personal level, Matt and his close-knit band of Scranton friends and family have been great fun to be around and get to know over the past few years.
He’s given Nittany Lion fans plenty of memories over the past three seasons, and took the occasion of his final collegiate game week to look back at his career as well. While we recognize that so much has happened in that time frame – a mixed bag of emotions – we chose to concentrate on the positive moments. We look at his hand-picked top 12 memorable moments below in chronological order, with his commentary along the way. In many cases, he knew the exact numbers for each game; that’s always been the case as he pays attention to detail and has never been oblivious to how he’s doing.
Not on the list is his first appearance in a Penn State uniform, in 2010. As he recalls, “It was Eastern Illinois and I was 0 for 2. I don’t consider those memories because I always feel I should have been in before that.”
Also not on the list is the 2011 Nebraska game, which Penn State lost 17-14 in an emotional contest, but one in which McGloin also enthusiastically remembers for one of his favorite plays as a Nittany Lion: “How about catch against Nebraska? I had a 16-yard reception. Remember that? We had a reverse pass and I had a 16-yard catch.”
MATT McGLOIN’S TOP 12 PENN STATE MOMENTS
1. Earning a scholarship, August 2010. “It was the last day of summer camp and Coach (Joe Paterno) said, ‘I want see McGloin and (kicker Collin) Wagner,’ who at the time wasn’t on scholarship either. Then the team broke it down. He didn’t make a big deal out of it. He just said, ‘We’re going to put you on aid now.’ ”
2. Minnesota, Oct. 23, 2010, Minneapolis, Minn. Starter Rob Bolden went down with an injury, and McGloin came in, having had only one game of experience, that 2009 contest. “My first completion was a touchdown. It was to Derek Moye, a 46 naked right – an over-the-top post.” The 42-yard TD strike was followed by another touchdown pass to Moye, a 9-yarder that clinched a 33-21 win.
3. Michigan, Oct. 30, 2010, Beaver Stadium. McGloin got his first start the next week in a prime-time shootout. Penn State jumped to a 28-10 halftime lead, then won 41-31 as McGloin finished 17 of 28 for 250 yards, with a 20-yard TD pass to Graham Zug. But this is what he remembers most:
“The feeling of walking off the bus is first. Making the first career start is definitely a top three moment for me. It was night game, a Whiteout, my first start, I think it was on ABC, 107,000 people, playing against Michigan. What better stage than that for your first start? That’s probably my best memory.
“Getting off the bus first trumps everything. As soon as your foot hits the ground, the place just erupts. It’s so exciting taking the bus ride you can’t help but smile the whole ride. It’s the best part of game day.”
4. Northwestern, Nov. 6, 2010, Beaver Stadium. Trailing 21-0, Penn State went 90 yards in 47 seconds to score a touchdown at the end the half, as McGloin connected with Brett Brackett on a 7-yard TD pass. PSU scored five straight touchdowns for a 35-21 victory. “That was (Paterno’s) 400th win. They say it doesn’t count, but we played it – so it counts.” McGloin was 18 of 29 for 225 yards, with four touchdown passes.
5. Illinois, Oct. 29, 2011, Beaver Stadium. More McGloin heroics: With 3:05 remaining, he passed for 58 yards on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that gave Penn State a 10-7 lead and the win, after the Illini missed a last-second goal. “(Paterno’s) 409 is right up there. We made that late drive against Illinois. Moye didn’t play much that game, but came off (the sideline) to make some big catches,” two for 29 yards on the final drive.
6. Ohio State, Nov. 19, 2011, Ohio Stadium. In Penn State’s first road game after Paterno was fired in the wake of the Sandusky scandal, McGloin did not have his best individual performance (10 of 18, 88 yards, one interception), but the Nittany Lions won 20-14. “Going to Ohio State and beating them last year is a great memory. Winning that game was important. It was (Tom) Bradley’s first win as a head coach.”
7. Bill O’Brien hired as Penn State’s 15th head coach, Jan. 6, 2012. “The hiring of Bill was definitely a memory. It was exciting, but I was nervous at the same time. It’s closing one chapter of your career and at the same time opening a new one. You don’t know if you’re going to match up well with the guy or not.” Seems to have worked out OK.
8. Named as starting quarterback, April 24, 2012. That’s the date McGloin was told by O’Brien that the job was his, beating out Bolden and Paul Jones rather handily; everyone else found out five weeks later. “Being named the starter before the summer is another great moment. I knew a few days after the spring game. I knew for a whole month. We had talked about it and were just waiting for a good time to announce it.”
9. Earns B.A. in broadcast journalism, May 5, 2012, Bryce Jordan Center. “I don’t know where I would be without football. It would have been so tough to keep my mind focused on academics. Without football, I would have been a different person. Honestly, football is what kept me on track to get my degree.”
10. Ohio University, Sept. 1, 2012, Beaver Stadium. It was Penn State’s first game under O’Brien, after a tortuous summer that included the Freeh Report and extreme NCAA sanctions. Penn State lost 24-14 after running out of gas following a 14-3 halftime lead. O’Brien unveiled PSU’s new passing attack, as McGloin completed 26 of 48 passes for 260 yards, with two touchdown passes and an interception. “It was great to be back on the field after everything that happened in the offseason. Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but just getting back to playing was an incredible feeling.”
11. Northwestern, Oct. 6, 2012, Beaver Stadium. After trailing 14-10 at halftime, Penn State outscored the Wildcats 29-14 in the second half to win 39-28, scoring 22 points in the final 10 minutes. The biggest score came at the tail end of a monstrous 15-play, 85-yard drive that was capped off by a memorable 5-yard run by McGloin and gave Penn State the lead for good. “That was amazing. I was so excited. That was a great drive we put together there, a couple of great drives.” The previous drive, PSU went 82 yards in 18 plays. McGloin completed 25 of 51 passes for 282 yards and two TD passes. In his three games against Northwestern, McGloin was 70 of 106 for 699 yards, with eight touchdown passes and no interceptions. “I think (NU coach) Pat Fitzgerald hates me.”
He’ll always remember that touchdown scramble into the south end zone, which featured a hop and an aborted dive: “This year’s run against Northwestern, the go-ahead run, was my favorite play ever. I was running and I wondering, ‘Do I have to dive here? Should I dive?’ I always wanted to dive across the pylon and reach the ball over. I didn’t think I was going to make it into the end zone by that much.”
12. Indiana, Nov. 17, 2012, Beaver Stadium. McGloin eclipsed a host of Penn State passing records, establishing marks for career TD passes (45), single-season completions (251), single-season yardage (3,071), 200-yard (17) and 300-yard (6) passing games. He completed 22 of 32 passes for a career-high 395 yards, with four TD passes in a 45-22 victory.
“The Indiana game was the last game we played. I was able to break a few records, so that’s a good memory already.” The record-breaking toss to Allen Robinson is tied with McGloin’s first 2010 Minnesota TD strike for his all-time favorite pass: “That was kind of a release, the third touchdown. It broke Daryll’s (Clark) record. It was to Allen (Robinson), the fade ball he caught one-handed.’
Did he know it was for the record?
McGloin gave a slight chuckle, paused, then replied characteristically:
“Yeah, of course I knew.”
