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Nice kid from a great program, sure, and a smart, efficient player. But Zug lacked — supposedly — big-time speed and athleticism.
Some place like Delaware or William & Mary, the thinking went, was the place for him.
But after two years as a walk-on, Zug was awarded a full scholarship when he returned to Penn State for preseason practice Sunday.
And it seems entirely possible that Zug, whom coach Joe Paterno said had, "a great spring," will see significant playing time this fall.
He was right, it turns out. "They" were wrong.
"I guess you could say it like that," Zug said Friday. "It was my dream to come here, and there's definitely satisfaction in playing at the highest level."
Zug's promotion was one of very few bits of hard news to come from Penn State's annual football media day Friday.
Paterno held a 50-minute press conference at Beaver Stadium before the media met the players (except for true freshmen, who aren't allowed to be interviewed) at the team's practice facility.Pre-season practice began Monday. Friday's workout was the first in full pads. Naturally, starting positions that were up for grabs before practice began still are.
That would include quarterback, where senior Daryl Clark and redshirt sophomore Pat Devlin are battling to replace much-maligned Anthony Morelli.
Paterno insists senior Paul Cianciolo is also right there, but may have slipped in a Freudian way, when asked to assess the QBs Friday.
"Both are doing well," he said. "Everybody wants to push Cianciolo off to the side. …"
Um, sounds like that's what you just did, Joe.
Clark is an engaging kid who, very unlike Morelli, seems comfortable in the media/fan fishbowl.
"(Devlin and I are) splitting time evenly at practice," Clark said. "He gets the same amount of reps with the first team as I do. It's all even as far as I can tell."
Clark has played in 15 career games, completing 20 of 36 passes for 147 yards. He was a major factor in last season's Alamo Bowl win over Texas A&M, in which he ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns. He has a little of that Tim Tebow-like power running ability, and seems well-suited to a spread-style offense.
(933) (842) (746) (198) (66) (65) (53) (48) (39) (29) (29) (26) (21) (18) (10) (9) (7) (7) (7)Devlin, considered more a dropback passer and very highly recruited out of Downingtown East High School, played in three games last year, completing one of four passes.
"All three of them are big kids with good arms and they can all run," Paterno said, now including Cianciolo. "Anything we do (offensively), they can all handle it. We won't be confined in what we can do."
Paterno said he isn't opposed to playing two QBs, although he has little track record in that regard. An exception is 1998, when Rashard Casey and Kevin Thompson shared the job.
"That's 150 years ago, in my mind," Paterno said.
Paterno admitted that his son and quarterbacks coach Jay wanted to use Clark more last year, but, "Morelli was getting so much flak, playing Clark would have been a sign that we agreed with people.
"You have to have one guy who's a leader when things get tough, but the hardest thing about coaching is getting the right guy, at the right place, doing the right thing, at the right time."
Doing the right thing has been an issue in Happy Valley of late, since the Nittany Lions have been involved in several off-the-field incidents that were well-publicized even before ESPN's "Outside the Lines," report two weeks ago.
Of the five Penn State players who had been suspended this offseason, Paterno kicked two of them, starting defensive linemen Chris Baker and Phil Taylor, off the team.
"I hope they get squared away, because they both have potential to play not just at this level but the next one," Paterno said of Baker and Taylor.
Their absence means the D-line goes from excellent depth to merely good, but with returners like Lebanon High School's Jared Odrick, Milton Hershey's Abe Koroma and all-Big Ten end Maurice Evans, it can still be a strong position-group.
"We fell off in numbers, but in productivity, we feel like we didn't fall off at all," Odrick said.
Zug's position group, the wideouts, is as settled as any on the team, with three-year starters Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood now, finally, entering their senior years.
Zug is second on the depth chart behind Norwood at one receiver spot. Zug's big shot may be in 2009, but he apparently has a chance, along with 6-6 sophomore Brett Brackett and some others, to become the fourth wide receiver.
Last year's fourth wideout, then-senior Terrell Golden, caught 30 balls for 345 yards and three touchdowns.
"I understand that there's three great players ahead of me," Zug said. "When I do get in, I'll do exactly what I can."
Penn State returns 18 starters and 37 lettermen from a 9-4 team that went 4-4 in the Big Ten Conference.
The 2008 season begins at noon Aug. 30, with Bowl Championship Subdivision (or Division 1-AA) opponent Coastal Carolina, at Beaver Stadium.
