Matt McGloin had chills running through his body as he sat in the squad room at the Lasch Football Building listening to his new head coach when he addressed the team for the first time on Jan. 8. From that moment forward, McGloin knew that it was time to go to work and lead. He spent countless hours studying the playbook Coach Bill O[apos]Brien had used as the New England Patriots[apos] offensive coordinator and would install at Penn State. Additional time was spent watching tape of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in preparation for the start of spring practice. McGloin was a keen observer while watching Brady carve through the AFC Playoffs under the direction of O[apos]Brien, the Patriots[apos] quarterbacks coach from 2009-11. A fifth-year senior, McGloin made substantial progress in all facets of the quarterback position and running the offense from the start of spring practice to the Blue-White game. O[apos]Brien repeatedly said throughout the spring that no group faced a steeper learning curve during spring practice than the quarterbacks. Learning a new offense and its terminology, commanding the offense in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage, reading the defense and the swift tempo at practice were among the challenges for McGloin and the rest of the quarterbacks during their first spring under O[apos]Brien. McGloin improved each day and played the best football of the spring at the end of the 15-practice session, which led to O[apos]Brien naming him as the first-team signal-caller on June 1, exactly three months before the season-opener. A fiery competitor, McGloin started the final five regular-season contests and played in all 12 regular-season games in 2011. The talented and hard-working quarterback completed 54.1 percent of his passes (125-of-231) for 1,571 yards and eight touchdowns last season with five interceptions. McGloin has made five starts in each of the past two seasons, but has delivered seven career 200-yard passing games, good for No. 10 in Penn State annals. He is a poised, confident and personable young man who has overcome numerous obstacles on his journey to becoming the No. 1 quarterback entering preseason camp. With continued progress over the summer, McGloin is poised to help lead the team into a new era of Penn State football. He graduated in May with a degree in journalism and is scheduled to earn a second degree, in telecommunications, in December. McGloin and Nittany Lion offensive lineman Eric Shrive were prep teammates at West Scranton High School. They are among 11 returning Nittany Lions from Eastern Pennsylvania.
2011 Senior Season
McGloin started the final five regular-season contests and played in all 12 regular-season games. He completed 54.1 percent of his passes (125-of-231) for 1,571 yards and eight touchdowns, with five interceptions. McGloin boosted his career 200-yard passing game total to seven to rank No. 10 in Penn State annals. McGloin shared Big Ten Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors after completing 14-of-17 passes and throwing for three touchdowns against Eastern Michigan. He led touchdown drives on three of his four possessions and threw for a season-high 220 yards, connecting with Derek Moye on a pair of scoring strikes. He completed 6-of-8 passes for 77 yards and led three touchdown drives in the season opener against Indiana State and engineered a touchdown drive and completed 13-of-19 passes for 124 yards in the road test at Temple. In the Big Ten opener at Indiana, McGloin threw for 204 yards and a touchdown for his seventh career 200-yard game. He directed a balanced attack that gained 464 yards and set season-highs for time of possession (37:27) and plays (86) against the Hoosiers. McGloin tossed a career-long 74-yard touchdown pass to Moye in the third quarter at Indiana, Penn State[apos]s longest play from scrimmage last season. He completed 12-of-19 passes for 133 yards in the matchup against Iowa. Owning a three-point fourth-quarter lead, McGloin threw a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kevin Haplea for the final 10-point cushion. He led one touchdown drive and threw for 145 yards in the Leaders Division matchup against Purdue, gaining 16 rushing yards on three attempts. McGloin made his first start of the season at Northwestern and led the Nittany Lions to an exciting primetime finish. He was 17-of-26 for 192 yards and two touchdowns, leading six straight scoring drives. He threw touchdown passes to Justin Brown (4 yards) and Devon Smith (45 yards) in a frenetic first quarter, with the teams combining for 51 first-half points. McGloin started against Illinois and engineered the final 10-play, 80-yard drive that began with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter, completing four passes for 58 yards on the drive. He connected with Justin Brown and Derek Moye twice for 29 yards each on the drive, which was capped by a Silas Redd three-yard touchdown run with 1:08 to play. Against Nebraska, McGloin threw for 193 yards. He also made his first career reception, gaining 16 yards deep in Husker territory to set up a fourth-quarter touchdown. McGloin started in the big division battle at Ohio State, directing four first-half scoring drives. He was 10-of-18 for 88 yards as Penn State ran for 239 yards against the Buckeyes. McGloin tossed a 44-yard scoring strike to Curtis Drake to give the Nittany Lions a 7-0 first-quarter lead at Wisconsin in the battle for the inaugural Leaders Division title. He was 9-of-17 for 97 yards against the Badgers. He was injured and did not play in the TicketCity Bowl. McGloin totaled 559 snaps for the year, with season-highs of 80 plays against Nebraska and 65 at Northwestern.
2010 Junior Season
McGloin started five of the last six games and sparked the Nittany Lions[apos] second-half surge. He became the first quarterback in Penn State history with consecutive 300-yard passing games (315 vs. Indiana and 312 vs. Michigan State). McGloin became just the third signal-caller in Penn State annals with multiple 300-yard games, joining Kerry Collins (4) and Daryll Clark (3). McGloin threw for at least 200 yards in five of the last six games, good for a tie for 10th on the school season 200-yard list. For the season, he was 118-of-215 (54.9) for 1,548 yards, with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran for two touchdowns. The competitive and confident McGloin entered the critical road game at Minnesota in the second quarter when Rob Bolden was injured. McGloin[apos]s first career completion was a memorable one, as he found Derek Moye in stride on a 42- yard scoring strike on the first play after a D[apos]Anton Lynn end zone interception and 58-yard return. Early in the fourth quarter, McGloin lofted the ball into the end zone and Moye made a superlative catch, giving the Nittany Lions a 31-14 lead. McGloin was 6-of-13 for 76 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception in the win over the Golden Gophers. He made his first career start and directed the Nittany Lions to a thrilling 41-31 primetime win over Michigan, becoming the first former walk-on quarterback to start under Joe Paterno. McGloin set then-career-highs in attempts (28), completions (17) and yards (250). He led Penn State to 27 first downs, 37:29 in time of possession and 10-of-16 on third down conversions. McGloin also led the Nittany Lions to 435 yards, and helped Penn State not commit a turnover for the first time during the season. He led Penn State to scores on 7-of-9 possessions (5 TD, 2 FG) prior to the last possession of the game (took a knee at the Michigan 2 in the final seconds). McGloin got the ball to eight different teammates against the Wolverines. He was 8-of-10 on third down for 108 yards, converting six completions into first downs, including a 20-yard scoring strike to Graham Zug, against Michigan. Rivals.com named McGloin Big Ten Player-of-the-Week after leading Penn State[apos]s rally from a 21-0 deficit to a historic 35-21 victory over Northwestern. Down 21-0 late in the second quarter and on their own nine-yard line, McGloin led the Nittany Lions 91 yards in 47 seconds to begin the rally and ignite the Beaver Stadium faithful. Penn State out-scored the Wildcats, 28-0, in the second half, rolling to a season-high 528 yards, gaining 268 passing yards and 260 on the ground. McGloin set career-highs with four touchdown passes, going 18-of-29 to play a substantial role in Paterno[apos]s 400th career win. He was 13-of-18 for 141 yards in first half at Ohio State, throwing TD passes to Justin Brown (23 yards) and Derek Moye for a 14-3 halftime lead. He finished 15-of-30 for 159 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. McGloin had his best career performance in leading Penn State to 496 yards and 36:59 in time of possession in a 41-24 win over Indiana. He threw for a career-high 315 yards, also breaking his career-bests with 22 completions and 31 attempts, good for two touchdowns. His 315 yards were the most by a Nittany Lion since Clark threw for 353 yards in the 2009 season-opener with Akron. The 315 yards passing were tied for the 10th-best mark in Penn State annals with Chuck Fusina, who had 315 yards at North Carolina State in 1977. McGloin directed the Lions on scoring drives of 87 and 99 yards to open the game for a 14-0 lead. He hit Brett Brackett on a 3-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter and Moye on a 21-yard scoring strike for a 24-17 lead in the third period. McGloin also connected with Devon Smith on a 45-yard gain for his longest career completion. McGloin became the first Nittany Lion to throw for 300 yards in consecutive games, doing so against No. 10 Michigan State. He re-set his career-highs by going 23-of-43, with two scoring strikes and one interception. McGloin threw for 312 yards, the 12th-best game mark at Penn State, and just three yards off his career-best from a week earlier. McGloin became just the third Penn State quarterback to have at least two 300-yard passing games in his career. He threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Joe Suhey and a four-yard dart to Moye, leading the Lions to 19 fourth-quarter points. Making his fifth career start, McGloin was 17-of-41 for 211 yards against Florida in the Outback Bowl, throwing a touchdown pass to Moye for 7-0 lead. He scored on a two-yard run late in the third quarter to give Penn State a 24-17 lead. He was intercepted five times, a school record, in the 37-24 loss to the Gators. McGloin was on the field for 458 snaps, topped by 82 plays against Florida and 74 each in the wins over Michigan and Indiana.
2009 Sophomore Season
In his first season on the field, McGloin was a reserve to first-team All-Big Ten quarterback Daryll Clark and gained experience in practice and in selected games. He saw his first collegiate action in the win over Syracuse and had two pass attempts against Eastern Illinois. McGloin also took some snaps in the big victory at Michigan State.
2008 Freshman Season
Redshirt season. In the 2009 Blue-White game, McGloin was a combined 9-of-13 for 111 yards and threw two touchdown passes, one for each team. He threw a 19-yard scoring strike to Graham Zug and a 17-yard touchdown pass to J.D. Mason. He also had a 28-yard run for the White team.
High School
McGloin was a team captain for Coach Mike DeAntona at West Scranton HS. As the starting quarterback, he led his team to two Class AAA district titles and a league title. McGloin was named all-conference, all-region, all-state and to the WNEP-TV 16 Dream Team. A three-year starter, he threw for 5,485 career yards with 58 touchdowns. As a senior, he threw for 2,445 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Scranton Times-Tribune named McGloin its 2007-08 Athlete-of-the-Year and Athlete-of-the-Week three times during his prep career. A talented athlete, McGloin scored more than 1,300 career points in basketball and was a team captain. He earned all-conference accolades on the hardwood and in baseball.
Personal
Full name is Matthew James McGloin. His parents are Paul and Cathy McGloin. He has two older brothers, Paul and John. John played baseball at Lehigh University. McGloin and freshman lineman Eric Shrive were prep teammates. In his free time, McGloin enjoys watching movies and spending time with friends. He is a journalism major. Born December 2, 1989 in Scranton, Pa.