Yeah, he chuckled about it after the game. After all, no harm came of it.

But it's a safe bet that Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley reacted like everyone else when it happened.

He probably gasped with the same breath of panic every denizen of Beaver Stadium did Saturday, when redshirt sophomore safety Nolan McCready shuffled indecisively in front of Purdue wide out Taylor Stubblefield prior to the snap on a third-and-seven during the third quarter.

From the start, it didn't look like the play would end well for Penn State as McCready, a redshirt sophomore and former walk-on, argued with fifth-year senior and two-year starter Andrew Guman about who should cover the Boilermakers' All-Big Ten receiver.

When Purdue snapped the ball, it was clear that neither player won the argument --because, well, neither player actually covered Stubblefield.

Both Stubblefield and true freshman Dorien Bryant were preposterously open, yet, inexplicably, they were over-thrown by their Heisman Trophy candidate of a quarterback, Kyle Orton.

And, fortunately for Bradley, what could have been a comedy of errors became a little something to laugh about, lightening the mood after another disappointing loss.

"I always think it's funny when you see those arguments on the field," he said. "But it worked out good."

Sure, it turned just fine, all right. But it certainly stopped quite few hearts among the Penn State faithful -- and it also revealed the desperation with which the Nittany Lions had to defend the Boilermakers at times.

Why were McCready and Guman so confused? Because McCready was not playing dime back as might have appeared.

No, the 204-pounder was playing linebacker, a position he had never even played in practice, in a defensive alignment Bradley said McCready "probably never repped" before. Though listed as a safety, McCready was filling in for injured weak-side linebacker Paul Posluszny, who left the game with a stinger. Posluszny -- along with starting middle linebacker Tim Shaw, who sat out with a sprained ankle -- expects to be back for the Oct. 23 homecoming showdown with Iowa.

So don't count on seeing a hopelessly frustrated McCready arguing about who he should cover during that game.

Oh, but by the way, you should know this: that young guy who looked like he didn't know what he was doing, really did and Nolan McCready was right.

Guman should have covered Stubblefield in that defense, according to Bradley.

However, McCready would not have been in this situation if it wasn't for backup linebacker J.R Zwierzynski's leg injury and Shaw's sprained ankle.