UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- We learned at Iowa last season that the backup quarterback can hear his name called at any moment, and he had better be ready.
The backup that day, Ta'Quan Roberson, clearly wasn't ready, which cost Penn State big time. And that's a massive understatement, as the offense had like 97 false start penalties (OK, 8 in reality) and looked embarrassing.
But later on in the season, against Rutgers, the backup who heard his name called was ready. Christian Veilleux came in after Sean Clifford was too sick with the flu to play, and Veilleux helped lead the Nittany Lions to a 28-0 victory.
He also played a few snaps in the Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas.
All in all in his two games, he completed 16-of-26 passes for 238 yards and three TDs, plus he carried 12 times for 39 yards.
Based on what we eventually did see from him, let's consider this: What if Veilleux had been called upon against Iowa, instead of Roberson?
All it would have taken was a quarterback who could at least function somewhat, and the Lions probably would have won that game. Instead, Iowa rallied for a 23-20 victory.
And with Clifford still not 100% two weeks later (after a bye week), who knows, maybe Veilleux would have led Penn State past Illinois, as well. Instead, the offense was embarrassing once again in a 20-18, nine-overtime debacle.
One can make a strong case that Penn State's complete and total collapse last year really came down to one decision -- to play Roberson against Iowa instead of Veilleux.
Maybe that's oversimplifying things. But then again, the belief here is that Penn State would have been 7-0 instead of 5-2 had Veilleux heard his name called in Iowa City.
All of what happened last year came as a great learning experience and confidence boost for Veilleux, who almost certainly will enter this season as the backup to Clifford.
"Got the nerves out," Veilleux said of getting to play in two games. "I mean, I hadn't played in two years, and then I finally got in there. I felt like it definitely helped me gain confidence in myself, gain confidence from my teammates, my coaches, and it put me in a good spot going into this year."
First and foremost, he now knows exactly why it's important be prepared at all times.
"Definitely got to stay ready," Veilleux said. "The model for quarterbacks is prepare like a starter. I feel like I've done that since I've gotten here. I'm gonna keep doing that, and I'll be ready for when my opportunity comes."
What exactly does it mean to prepare like a starter?
"You gotta watch everything," Veilleux said. "What we do as quarterbacks, like when Sean is out there, I'm looking at the defense, I'm getting the play call and then I'm looking at what the defense is playing. So that when we come back after the drive, I've got feedback for Coach (Mike) Yurcich, Sean, the other quarterbacks.
"That's how you stay ready, too. You examine the defense, you pick up the tendencies they're running. You're like, OK, they did this on third-and-3, (so) remember next third-and-3, they're probably gonna go to the same thing or do something similar. So that goes into preparing like the starter -- just film prep and then during the game, too. You always got to be in the mental state that, if I go in, I'm ready to go."
Veilleux has been competing for the QB2 job this preseason, and while we cannot know for sure since there's no public depth chart, it would be stunning if he is not the backup to start the season. Prized freshman Drew Allar might be the quarterback of the future for the Lions, but it would be a big surprise if he were to somehow win the backup spot at this early stage.
Now, the QB2 competition will continue throughout the season, and there are lots of reasons to believe Allar could overtake Veilleux for that spot at some point. If Allar truly is as good as all the hype, that is.
True freshman Beau Pribula also is in the mix, which gives Penn State quite an eclectic mix when it comes to competition at the position.
Here was a good question one reporter asked Veilleux during media day:
"You got a six-year quarterback and two freshmen that just came in. So, I'm sure you're sitting there going, 'Hey, guys, I'm still around.'"
Here's what Veilleux offered up in response to that:
"Like you said, it's an interesting dynamic with a six-year, two freshmen and redshirt freshman. So, we have fun, we all have a great relationship, we're all good friends. And we make each other better. We compete. We feed off each other. So, it's one of the best positive, good-energy environments I've definitely been in in football."
Now, we've mentioned several times about how Veilleux could be hearing his name called at some point this season. When he does, what exactly will it sound like?
We've all been going with the pronunciation of Vay-you for the young man from Ottawa, Canada. But when he was asked about it, he clearly enunciated sort of an "R" sound at the end of his name. So, he was asked to repeat it a couple of times.
He noted that, since it's French-Canadien, the pronunciation is more like "Vay-you-ur."
So, I asked him: Has anyone every pronounced his name correctly since he arrived at Penn State?
"Not if I haven't told them," Veilleux said. "So I've had to tell people. That would not be people's first guess."
