Days after delivering a widely discussed quote to reporters, Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin won't have to worry about drumming up further controversy -- or providing clarification. The senior quarterback had his weekly routine slightly tweaked on Wednesday when head coach Bill O'Brien made him unavailable to the media, as first reported by StateCollege.com.
O'Brien's decision comes three days after McGloin treated reporters to a cryptic, conspiratorial quote following Penn State's 32-23 loss to Nebraska. That game ended in controversy after the officials ruled "fumble" on what appeared to be a go-ahead score for the Nittany Lions in the fourth quarter.
"We're not going to get that call ever, against any team," McGloin said after the game, via USA Today. "It doesn't matter who the referees are." When asked for further comment, he said "Why do you think it is? Write what you think."
The unstated reason that McGloin was referring to seems to be the sexual abuse scandal involving former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was found guilty in June of 45 out of 48 counts against him for sexual abuse of 10 young boys. In the aftermath of the Sandusky's conviction, the NCAA levied significant sanctions against the Penn State football program.
While McGloin doesn't explicitly mention it, CBS Sports blogger Tom Fornelli wrote that it's "obvious that McGloin is intimating that Penn State won't be getting any calls due to the Sandusky child-abuse scandal that led to the school being punished by the NCAA."
The Big Lead interpreted McGloin's quote the same way, publishing a story entitled "Matt McGloin Buys Into Anti-Penn State Conspiracy." In that piece, Stephen Douglas of TBL suggested far more mundane reasons that officials botched the play: "Maybe the referees didn’t have the camera view that showed it was a touchdown. Or it was just plain incompetence."
Despite the seeming cause-effect relationship between McGloin's postgame quote and absence from the media call, O'Brien claims there is no connection.
"I choose what players to talk to the media every week, and I just chose for him to not be on that list," coach Bill O'Brien said, per StateCollege.com. "At the end of the day, it's a free country and Matt can say what he wants, and that's what he did. He's an emotional kid but, look, it's time to move on to Indiana and that's it."
WATCH: The Controversial Penn State "Fumble" Against Nebraska
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the final score of the Penn State-Nebraska game.
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