Making the morning rounds.• You will take this snap and you will like it. Penn State quarterback Robert Bolden, the first true freshman ever to start a season opener under Joe Paterno, wants out of Penn State after losing his starting job to former walk-on Matt McGloin and failing to see a single snap in the Outback Bowl loss to Florida despite McGloin's obvious struggles. According to Bolden (No. 1 at right) and his parents, though, Paterno is denying his request for a scholarship release. "I'm pretty upset," Bolden told the Altoona Mirror Tuesday night. "I didn't understand why [Paterno] would want me to stay if I didn't want to be there. I was looking to get out and get a release, but he thinks otherwise." Bolden's father said he expects a release eventually, but Paterno "made it clear that he's not in a position quarterback-wise to release Rob," and wants Bolden to "stay and go through the spring and kind of go from there."
With backup Kevin Newsome's imminent transfer, Paterno is right: He's not in a position at QB to let Bolden go. But holding a kid hostage can never end well. [Associated Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Altoona Mirror]
• The waiting is the hardest part. Yes, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez still has a job this morning, technically speaking. No, he still doesn't have a chance of avoiding the axe, according to pretty much everyone. The only question is the timing: Rodriguez is meeting again today with athletic director David Brandon, but after the round of premature obituaries on Tuesday, there's likely to be more restraint today – or over the rest of the week, if it takes that long – until official word comes from the university or Brandon himself. [Associated Press, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News]
• We hardly knew ye. Miami cornerback Brandon Harris, a first-team All-ACC pick this season for the second year in a row, is moving on to the draft, where he's a likely first-round pick. Harris was the best player in a secondary that finished the season ranked second nationally in pass defense, and said the NFL's draft advisory board told him "some good things and what I wanted to hear." He may be the first cornerback off the board after LSU's (as yet undeclared) Patrick Peterson, who's a certain top-five guy. [Miami Herald]
Also skipping his senior year for the draft: Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph, who's going pro despite missing half of his junior season and the last month of 2009 with a lingering hamstring injury. With his talent and production prior to the injury, though – see his 95-yard touchdown catch against Michigan in September – Rudolph was well on his way to becoming a unanimous All-American and will be one of the top tight ends selected if teams aren't scared away by the injuries. [Irish Illustrated]
• No, I remember it. I thought the rainbow unicorn was covered, though. Chick-Fil-A Bowl viewers will recall Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder's final pass in an eventual FSU win, a duck that dove into the turf well in front of wide-open fullback Lonnie Pryor on 4th-and-1 from the South Carolina two-yard line in the second quarter. But Ponder doesn't: According to his father, Ponder suffered a "mild concussion" on the previous play and doesn't remember the attempted pass to Pryor at all. Ponder didn't return to the game ("Obviously he was dazed," his dad said), but he's recovered and has already begun training to play in the Senior Bowl later this month. [Orlando Sentinel]
Quickly… ESPN fires veteran play-by-play man Ron Franklin, one of its best, for some unwise chauvinism. … Cam Newton stays mum on Auburn's after-hour activities in Arizona. … Shockingly, a Birmingham columnist thinks the state's "Big Five" ought to stay in school. … An open letter to Auburn officials to keep the BCS trophy out of Wal-Mart. … A reminder that there is a college football playoff wrapping up this week. … And no, white men can't bump.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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