Penn State Football: O’Brien’s Opening Week Depth Chart

There’s no question Matt McGloin is Penn State’s starting quarterback.

No. 2? Not as sure as we all once thought.

Freshman Steven Bench, who arrived on campus earlier this summer, is pressing Paul Jones to back up McGloin, according to coach Bill O’Brien’s opening week depth chart.

Bench quickly made a positive impression on O’Brien during August’s training camp, and the first-year coach hinted at the possibility of Bench pushing Jones last week.

‘I think Paul needs to pick it up and do better,’ O’Brien said. ‘Paul has shown flashes at times of doing pretty well and other times not doing so well. He’s gotta play more consistent. He’s gotta make better decisions, and the freshman Steven Bench has come in here and done well. That’s good competition there.’

Barnes to Share Time with Massaro

Deion Barnes, a redshirt freshman defensive end, is going to be a regular in Larry Johnson’s defensive line rotation.

He appeared at the top of Penn State’s opening week depth chart Monday along with Pete Massaro and Sean Stanley.

The rise of Barnes should aid Massaro, who is coming off a second torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and had recently suffered some minor setbacks with the knee. He received a Platelet Rich Plasma injection on Wednesday and is expected to play Saturday against Ohio at Beaver Stadium (noon, ESPN).

“He’s bought into how you get to be a good football player,” Johnson said of Barnes. “He wants to be really good, and I think that’s one of the reasons why he decided to stay because he wants to be good and you got to appreciate a guy who understands that. Not many young players understand that. He does. He has a great career ahead of him, he really does.”

Unsettled at Right Tackle

Right tackle is still a question mark with Mike Farrell and Adam Gress, two Western Pennsylvania products, dueling for the final starting position on the offensive line.

The redshirt junior Gress had the inside track to the job throughout the summer, but a strong training camp by Farrell, a senior, has helped close the gap.

Amos Opening at Cornerback

Sophomore defensive back Adrian Amos is listed at cornerback prior to the season opener against Ohio.

Amos, one of Penn State’s best young players, will float from safety and corner, O’Brien said. Matchups will likely dictate where Amos lines up.

Malcolm Willis, listed as a starter at one safety spot, seems ready to go after being bothered by an ankle injury toward the end of training camp. O’Brien is still undecided between Stephen Obeng-Agyapong and Jake Fagnano, who has missed most of camp with a hamstring injury, at the other safety position.

Few Special Teams Questions Remain

Penn State is giving punter Alex Butterworth the first crack at replacing Anthony Fera, who transferred to Texas in the wake of the NCAA sanctions because of personal reasons.

No back-up is listed for Butterworth.

O’Brien is also withholding who will be his kick returners. Amos, Bill Belton and Evan Lewis were among those fielding kicks during practice last week.

So Long, ‘Sweet Caroline’

Penn State is scrapping ‘Sweet Caroline’ from its gameday playlist, the school confirmed Monday. The Altoona Mirror first reported the decision, citing some school officials’ concerns over the lyrics ‘touching me, touching you’ in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

‘Absolutely no song changes were made based on lyrics,’ a Penn State spokesman wrote in an email.

‘This song has come up on the list in recent years because it happens to be played in so many other professional and collegiate venues and has no real origination here at Penn State.  So while wholesale changes to what happens on game day are not in store, some ‘updating’ is going to occur, including the music playlist.’