Football: Backup QB is the latest destination on McNally's road map

Quarterback Brendan McNally didn't know when he would get to make his Quakers debut.

Now he's only one injury away from becoming the starter.

The 6-foot-2 sophomore spent his freshman year and the first three games of this season behind the two-headed logjam of Robert Irvin and Bryan Walker, who were vying for the No. 1 job.

But after Irvin's bum shoulder ended his season prematurely last week, McNally has become Walker's primary backup.

And with two Penn blowout victories the last two weeks, McNally has seen his first game action under center. He has five rushes for 14 yards, but his only passing attempt was intercepted.

Coach Al Bagnoli said that McNally's and Walker's skill sets are "very similar."

"Both have excellent feet, both are pretty elusive in the open field, both can run some options, both can throw the ball on the run," Bagnoli said. "So everything we're doing with Bryan fits very well with what we're doing with Brendan."

McNally agreed, adding that while he is confident in his arm, he tries "to take advantage" of the athleticism with which he has been blessed.

He used his feet often at Penn Charter high school, where he was both a quarterback and a safety. But while his high-school playbook was somewhat similar to Penn's offense, McNally still needs to adjust to playing at the college level.

"Getting used to the speed of the game would be my weakness right now," he said. "I'm light-years away from where I want to be."

And Bagnoli is trying to acclimate him as best as possible.

"We're trying to get him out in the game so if something happens to Bryan he's not coming in cold," he said. "We've seen some incremental improvements, so hopefully that will continue."

In the meantime, though, Bagnoli indicated that McNally will not take any snaps in close contests, barring injury.

"The way Bryan's been playing," Bagnoli said, "it would have to take something unusual to go wrong."

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