Editor’s Note: This is the eighth of a 19-part daily series that seeks to answer the questions surrounding the 2010 Penn State football team. Check back every weekday until the Blue-White Game to see the question of the day. Thursday, we asked: ‘How Fast is Stephon Morris?‘ Today we ask: ‘What Does Graham Zug Want in a Quarterback?‘
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Senior wide receiver Graham Zug is majoring in kinesiology — the science of body movement. Who better than Zug to judge the throwing mechanics of the trio (at least) that is in the running for Penn State’s starting quarterback job?
Also consider his on-the-field expertise: Zug has started 15 games at Penn State, including 12 last season. In 2009 he grabbed 46 passes for 600 yards, both second-best on the team, and 13-yards-per-catch average. And he caught seven touchdown passes, tops for Penn State last year.
And take into consideration the fact that he knows how to think like a defensive back; he had nine interceptions his senior year at Manheim Central High School.
Roll them all together, and Zug could be the Lions’ Simon Cowell as the Penn State staff spends the spring looking for the next Nittany Idol.
(The finalists are sophomore Kevin Newsome, redshirt junior Matt McGloin and freshman Paul Jones, who enrolled in Penn State in January. That freshman Robert Bolden, a Top 10 selection by both Scout and Rivals, is not yet on campus will very seriously hurt his bid to be the starting quarterback in 2010.)
‘We spent the winter trying to get the basic routes and timing down,’ said Zug in the days before the start of spring drills. ‘Everybody is different. Some guys have touch, others can read well or take charge in the huddle.’
OK, specifically speaking…
‘Newsome has the advantage since he was the backup to Daryll (Clark) last year. He’s had some experience in games, which gives him a slight advantage.
‘McGloin’s been around, too. He’s seen the big games, been to the big stadiums. He has some experience in that way.’
Zug has caught ball after ball after ball from those two, plus Jones, over the past three months. And in fact, he’s caught more passes in college games than any other Nittany Lion on the roster, with 57. Redshirt junior wide receiver Derek Moye led Penn State in receiving last season, with 48 catches for 785 yards (a 16.4-yard average), and has 51 career receptions at Penn State.
Zug is quick and, he says, runs a 4.55. There’s no doubt about Moye’s speed. At Rochester High School, Moye won the 200-meter (22.15 seconds) and 400-meter (48.04) Class AA Pennsylvania state titles in 2007.
Moye is the bigger of the two, at 6-foot-5 and 198 pounds, while Zug is 6-2. But he said he added seven pounds of bulk since playing in the Capital One Bowl, jumping from 178 pounds to 185.
‘My goal is to be more physical — off the line, running routes,’ Zug said. ‘The extra weight has not slowed me down.’
Not that Zug was disappointed by his showing in 2009. He even showed glimmers of stardom in 2008, when he started three games –- all as part of a four-receiver opening drive set –- and caught 11 passes, two of them for touchdowns.
‘I was definitely pleased with last year,’ he said. ‘I didn’t expect to do as much as I did. I think I got better game by game. I played well in tough situations, big third down situations.’
He and Clark, a two-time first-team All-Big Ten first team quarterback, were simpatico. Looking ahead at the 2010 season, Zug diplomatically declined to name which potential starter with whom he felt most comfortable.
But he did delineate what he is seeking in Penn State’s next starting signal-caller.
‘I’m learning how they release the ball,’ Zug said. ‘They can rifle it, sling it, sidearm it or do something totally different. It’s a visual thing. It really helps if you can see them release the ball.’
But Graham, as a receiver, which is best of them all?
‘It really doesn’t matter,’ said Zug with a little smile, ‘as long as it gets to me.’
