Penn State QB McGloin Calming His Coach, Confident In His Kicker
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The players on this year's Penn State football team have a tough job. The school went through unprecedented controversy over the last year, all of which has been well documented.
As the story of the scandal itself becomes old news, the team is left with the wreckage, facing a situation they didn't sign up for, but have decided to endure none the less.
The player who is quickly becoming the face of the 2012 Nittany Lions is quarterback Matt McGloin, who appeared on The School Philly Radio, an internet radio show featuring the creators of a Penn State blog, The School Philly.
During Saturday's game, both coach Bill O'Brien and McGloin became frustrated when it appeared the officials had restarted the play clock too quickly. In a reversal of the usual roles, it was McGloin who settled down his coach.
"Well you know, initially I was kind of upset as well, he saw the same thing I did," McGloin said in the interview. "There was a penalty and I think they either just didn't reset the play clock, or they started it too fast."
"Normally, I break the huddle and I have a lot of time to go up and make adjustments," he said "But as soon as I broke the huddle there was only 4 or 5 seconds left on the play clock, and we had to burn a timeout, so something definitely happened there that shouldn't have happened."
"Coach O'Brien, obviously he was heated, but he was getting really heated there towards the end, and I just thought it would just be smart to try and step in the way and get him out of that, take a timeout, and live to see another down," McGolin said "That's just the type of relationship we have, where we understand each other, and we're able to calm each other down."
The game came down to sophomore kicker Sam Ficken, who had already missed three field goals. Ficken missed his fourth, and the Lions dropped to 0-2. McGolin said it was best that he left Ficken alone after the miss, but plans on speaking to him at practice, to remind him he's still confident.
"But today [Monday] is the day you go say something to him like, 'Hey man, we need you. You've got a lot of confidence, we got a lot of confidence in you. You're a great kicker, you got a great league, and you have made those kicks in practice a million times. Just relax, and get it done for us next time.' And I have no doubt that he will," McGloin said.
You can read and listen to the entire interview with McGloin on The School Philly, and follow them on Twitter @TheSchoolPhilly.
