Matthew McGloin Matthew James " Matt " McGloin ( born December 2 , 1989 ) was a starting quarterback for Penn State University ' s football team . He is the first former walk - on quarterback to start at Penn State since scholarships were reinstated in 1949 . Prior to his college career , McGloin was a Pennsylvania all - state quarterback while attending West Scranton High School . Early years . Matt McGloin was a three sport ( football , basketball and baseball ) stand - out at West Scranton High School earning ten varsity letters . He was a three - year starter at West Scranton , throwing for 5 , 485 career yards with 58 touchdown s . As the starting quarterback , McGloin led his team to two PIAA Class AAA district titles and a league title . He was named the 2007 - 08 Athlete of the Year by the " Scranton Times - Tribune " , who also named him as their Athlete of the Week three times . He was also a four year starter and scored 1 , 300 career points for the school ' s basketball team and also served as the team captain . He garnered many league and tournament all - star and MVP awards . McGloin was three year starter on the varsity baseball team as an infielder and pitcher . During his senior year , he was named all - region as a two way player . He hit over . 400 and led his team in many offensive categories as well as registering a 7 - 0 record on the mound . In his senior season , he led his high school baseball team to its first conference championship in 16 years . He played on the prestigious Mid Atlantic Prospects summer travel baseball team ( Philadelphia , PA ) . College career . 2009 season . McGloin joined the Nittany Lions football team in 2009 as a walk - on . He was a backup in 2009 , playing against Syracuse , Eastern Illinois , Michigan , and Michigan State . In the Blue - White game , McGloin was a combined 9 - of - 13 for 111 yards and threw two touchdown passes , one for each team . After playing behind Daryll Clark and Kevin Newsome in 2009 , he ended up third on the depth chart in early 2010 behind Rob Bolden , a true freshman from Detroit . 2010 season . McGloin was in a three - quarterback competition for the starting job in 2010 with Newsome and Bolden . Bolden won the starting job for the season - opener against Youngstown State , Newsome played in the 4th quarter and scored a touchdown , and McGloin played one play , where he handed off to third string tailback Curtis Dukes . On October 23 , 2010 , McGloin entered the Nittany Lions game against Minnesota as the team ' s second - string quarterback after Kevin Newsome was sidelined with a stomach flu . Bolden had left the game with a concussion . McGloin then entered the game and threw two touchdowns in relief of Bolden , providing Penn State with its first Big Ten victory after losses to Illinois and Iowa . On October 30 , McGloin made his first start at quarterback . During the game he threw for 250 yards and a touchdown in a 41 - 31 win over Michigan . However , a week later against Northwestern , Bolden was once again named the team ' s starting quarterback . Bolden , however , was pulled from the game by Penn State coach , Joe Paterno , after he was sacked twice and lost a fumble on one of the plays . McGloin entered the game and rallied the Nittany Lions from a 21 - point deficit to a 35 - 21 victory . McGloin threw 4 touchdown passes in the game . The victory was also the 400th of Paterno ' s career . On November 10 , Paterno officially named McGloin the team ' s starter . McGloin scored the first passing touchdowns in Ohio Stadium by a Penn State quarterback since 1963 and put them up 14 - 3 at halftime . 2011 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 ' 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 . McGloin totaled 559 snaps for the year , with season - highs of 80 plays against Nebraska and 65 at Northwestern . 2012 season . During the 2012 season , McGloin experienced much statistical success . On November 17 , 2012 , he surpassed Daryll Clark ' s record for most career touchdown passes in Penn State history with 45 , Clark ' s single - season passing yard record of 3003 , and the record for most completions in a season . It was announced on November 27 , 2012 that McGloin had earned Honorable Mention All Big Ten honors . On December 3 , 2012 , McGloin was announced as the 2012 Burlsworth Trophy winner , given by the Rotary Club of Springdale , Arkansas to the most outstanding college football player who began his career as a walk - on . Statistics . Through end of week 12 of the 2012 season , McGloin ' s statistics are as follows : Personal . Matt McGloin is the youngest of three children to Paul and Catherine McGloin . Paul is a retired City of Scranton employee . Catherine is a graduate of Marywood University and homemaker . Together , they co - own McGloin ' s Floral in Scranton . Matt has two older brothers : Paul ( age 34 ) , played baseball and graduated from the University of Scranton . John ( age 27 ) , played baseball and graduated from Lehigh University . Paul is an accomplished baseball coach and teacher . He served as Matt ' s high school baseball coach . John is an architect . McGloin received his degree in Broadcast / Journalism in May 2012 .