When Joe Paterno made the decision to start Daryll Clark last week, he sat down with all three of his quarterbacks and Jay Paterno.

The head coach wanted to make sure everyone involved in the competition, mostly quarterbacks Pat Devlin and Paul Cianciolo were OK with his gameplan.

Clark would be the starter.

Paterno said they all seemed fine. But Devlin, who was heavily engaged with Clark all summer for the starting job, admitted losing the bid to start weighed on his mind all last week.

"It's kind of tough on you, you know?" Devlin said after Saturday's game. "It consumes all of your thoughts. It's tough to even think about school."

Devlin would later say that once he could focus on the game, he felt fine.

Jay Paterno called Devlin into his office last Wednesday. The quarterbacks coach said he was concerned with how the quarterback was adjusting to the news.

"It's not a worry it's just a prevention," Jay Paterno said. "You want to sit him down and say 'Here's what we think. Here's why we're at where we're at just so you know where we're coming from.' And he said 'What do I need to work on?' "

Devlin said Jay Paterno told him he needed to improve his completion percentage.

"He said Daryll's completion percentage was a little higher than mine," Devlin said. "So he said work on that."

Playing in relief of Clark in the second and third quarters, Devlin completed five of eight passes for 83 yards in the game. He threw a 40-yard strike to Jordan Norwood and a 27-yard pass to Derek Moye.

Devlin's high school coach Michael Matta didn't see Saturday's game as he was coaching Devlin's alma matter, Downingtown East High School in their season opener, but Matta said Devlin's disappointment after learning he would not be the starter wasn't surprising.

"I think part of the problem that he has is putting his feelings into words because Pat's not a guy that's going to tell you how great he is," Matta said over the phone. "It's kind of frustrating when you feel that you've done everything you could to be the number one guy and you're not."

Clark has one more year of eligibility left after this season, and the rumors flew all summer that Devlin could potentially transfer if he did not win the starting job.

"Yeah, I mean it comes into your head now and then," Devlin said. "But I love it here, and I think this is the place for me."

Matta said he's reminded Devlin that former Boston College standout Matt Ryan didn't start for good until a few games into his sophomore season.

"[Devlin's] not a transfer guy," Matta said. "That rumor floats out because there's a lot of quarterbacks in Division 1 that ... wash out and go somewhere else.

"He has to weigh his opportunities. He's a guy that says, 'I'm going to work harder or I'm going to prove to them I should be out there.' He's not a guy that says, 'Well, if I don't get my way I'm going to take my ball and go home.' That's not his style."