Mike Glennon excited to play at FSU
Redshirt junior quarterback Mike Glennon is excited about Saturday's game at Florida State for a multitude of reasons.
One, it's FSU.
Advertisement
"When you grow up, Florida State was always a powerhouse," Glennon noted. "It's exciting to play against them, go down to that stadium, [but] it's just another game, really, and we're looking forward to it."
Then there's the fact that the Pack has started to play better football. Coming off lopsided losses at Cincinnati Sept. 22 and to Georgia Tech Oct. 1, the Pack was 3-4 and winless in two games in the ACC. Since then State scored solid wins over Central Michigan Oct. 8 and at Virginia Oct. 22.
"We've been positive all season long," Glennon insisted. "We kind of saw the light at the end of the tunnel and keep working hard and hopefully this will continue."
He added that team morale is "real good" after the UVA win.
"Excited about our opportunity going down to Florida State, feel good about things right now," Glennon said. "We still have five more games left, and we feel confident going into all five of them."
There's also a personal connection to FSU however. Glennon was not the only hotshot quarterback recruit to hail from the state of Virginia in the 2008 recruiting class. FSU starting signal caller EJ Manuel is also from the commonwealth.
The two roomed together at an Elite 11 camp out in California and tracked each other over the summer of 2007, striking up a friendship that has lasted to this day.
"We just kind of kept in touch from there and kind of followed each other throughout our careers," Glennon explained. "We talk a lot. We talked earlier this week. We've stayed in touch. We talk a couple of times a month. He's a great guy. He's a great player. It's going to be fun playing against him."
Glennon said that their conversation this week was all friendly and no trash talking. Glennon can be counted among Manuel's admirers.
"First thing is he's a great guy," Glennon said. "I've never seen him in person work out, but I imagine he's a great work ethic. He does all the right things off the field, and I think that translates on the field."
Friendship aside, Glennon has a game to win Saturday, and the best chance the Pack have at pulling off an upset is keeping Glennon upright for as much of the game as possible. That's a challenging assignment against FSU's defensive that leads the ACC in sacks per game.
"Their defensive line is very good," Glennon said. "They're explosive, they're fast, they're athletic. Hopefully our offensive line will be able to control the line of scrimmage and slow down that pass rush a little bit and then our receivers are going to have to make plays."