Penn State Football: McGloin Makes Another Lasting Impression

COLUMBUS, Ohio — “Last one, everyone. C’mon.”

This was the scene Saturday inside Ohio Stadium’s visiting media room:

Time winding down. Penn State’s sports information team uttering the same words to the assembled media it does following every game. Players and coaches fielding questions about what just happened on the field of play.

Everyone in the room is pressed for time — the team needs to catch its flight, the reporters need to meet their deadlines — and it often makes for a chaotic scene in the aftermath of a win or a loss.

Matt McGloin was the losing quarterback on Saturday. So he drew the biggest contingent of inquirers, all of whom wanted to know not only what happened to Penn State in its 38-14 loss to Ohio State, but also how was McGloin going to respond to his first defeat as a starter.

“Last one, Matt,” a Penn State PR guy said as McGloin answered a question about his team being one play away. “Gotta go.”

Matt McGloin did not care about the time. He was still talking.

               •   •   •

Three weeks ago, freshman quarterback Rob Bolden hurt his head at Minnesota.

Kevin Newsome, the highly recruited back-up, was feeling ill all week, and with Penn State up just one touchdown against the Big Ten’s worst team, Joe Paterno had little choice but to turn to his third-stringer, a former walk-on.

On McGloin’s second throw of the game, he threw a 42-yard touchdown pass.

Penn State beat Minnesota 33-21, topped a favored Michigan team 41-31 in prime time a week later and then  completed its biggest comeback ever under Paterno a week after that, with McGloin directing five straight touchdown drives last week against Northwestern to get his coach win No. 400.

               •   •   •

The energy back in State College building up to this week’s game at the Horseshoe was palpable. Here was Matt McGloin, the former third-string quarterback, injecting life into a .500 team by guiding it to three straight victories.

He had confidence. Swagger. Moxie.

McGloin was a gunslinger. He called out former Buckeyes quarterback and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit on live TV after the Michigan game. He earned himself a profile Saturday morning on ESPN’s College GameDay, which camped outside the Horseshoe the morning of the game.

“It was a good week,” McGloin said. “I think it really got our team going.”

So what if Penn State had won once here in the last 32 years.

Who cares that a Nittany Lion quarterback had never thrown a touchdown here in the Paterno era? And those 13 points they notched two years, the most a Paterno team had ever scored here? Please. With the kid from West Scranton under center, that mark would be eclipsed by halftime.

He was a cocky kid, as linebacker Michael Mauti would be quick to point out during the week.

“But he’s our cocky kid.”

               •   •   •

Matt McGloin had never faced anything like this. Certainly not at West Scranton High School, even when he led his team to two Class AAA district titles.

First Penn State play from scrimmage on Saturday, already trailing 3-0, McGloin was chased out of the pocket to the right, forcing a throw that should have been picked off by standout cornerback Chimdi Chekwa.

The Buckeyes’ defense, No. 1 in the Big Ten overall, No. 1 in scoring and No. 1 against the pass and No. 1 against the run, forced a three-and-out.

Minnesota, Michigan or Northwestern this was not.

            •   •   •

Something funny happened when Matt McGloin came back out for Penn State’s second offensive drive Saturday.

He had not changed one bit.

McGloin came out firing, hitting Brett Brackett and Graham Zug and Evan Royster. And then he locked in on Justin Brown, completing three straight passes to the sophomore, the third a 23-yard touchdown pass to give Penn State a 7-3 lead.

The third drive featured more of the same, with Derek Moye hauling in three passes, the third a six-yard touchdown to give Penn State a 14-3 lead.

On the second play of the next drive, McGloin hit Moye again for 14 yards. Against the nation’s third-ranked pass defense, he had completed nine straight passes and 10 of his last 11, for 102 yards and a pair of scores.

And then came the second half.

                 •   •   •

There’s a reason Ohio State has not lost at the Horseshoe since Penn State’s win here two years ago.

Those 105,466 fans, the same ones who gave their team hell heading into the locker room down 14-3, can be overbearing as it bounces up and down to “Seven Nation Army” at each kickoff.

“We went into halftime with a lot of confidence and we just came out flat in the third quarter, and we weren’t able to move the ball,” McGloin would say afterward. “And they just got a lot of momentum. They got the crowd back into it and we just couldn’t come back.”

On Ohio State’s first drive of the second half, after a false-start penalty, the Buckeyes marched 98 yards to cut the Penn State lead to 14-10.

Four plays later, Penn State’s lead and McGloin’s stretch of 91 passes without an interception were gone, courtesy of a Devon Torrence 34-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Three drives later, Travis Howard did the same thing, this time taking a McGloin pass 30 yards the other way to make it 31-14.

A reporter began his question about the picks to McGloin by apologizing for making him rehash it.

“No, no problem,” McGloin replied.

“It was just a mystery to myself. They kind of baited me into taking the throw and I took it both times. The cornerbacks made great plays and hats off to them. That’s a good football team right there we played tonight, but obviously you’re gonna go back and you’re gonna learn from it.”

            •   •   •

McGloin stood there before the assembled media, answering any and all questions that came his way.

Was the “cocky” kid humbled?

“No, I don’t think so,” he said.

Is there a lesson to be learned, being on the receiving end of a 35-unanswered-point barrage this week?

“Yeah,” he said. “It just shows you that the game’s never over until it’s over. I think we did last week; we came back big; and when you get up big, you can’t let up. I think we kind of slacked off a little bit there in the second half and we got too comfortable.”

         •   •   •

McGloin finished answering the question about letting this one get away. It was to be the final question. But a reporter snuck in one more, yet another about the frustration of not playing a 60-minute game.

He answered it before and he answered it again. Then another Penn State official finally stepped in.

“Thanks, Matt,” the official said as he directed him away from the podium.

“Let’s go, guys,” said another.

“Take care, guys,” McGloin said to reporters as he left the dais.

With that, Matt McGloin followed the officials toward the door. He was the last one out of the room, just like he was after winning each the previous three games.

Related coverage

• Penn State Football: Buckeyes Double Pick Six Lions, 38-14 (Nov. 13, 2010)