ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Former Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon has graduated, but his little brother, Mike, is only beginning his career as an ACC quarterback. There's no question NC State fans will get to see the younger Glennon play this fall, and his performance is highly anticipated, as he's already been compared to former BC quarterback Matt Ryan.

"Glennon's going to play," coach Tom O'Brien said. "He's going to go in the game somewhere in the first half. It's a situation where he hasn't been in a college football game, so he's got to play. Russell [Wilson] goes down, you don't want somebody going in the game that's never played, especially down the road if it's an important game and you're playing for the championship or something.

"We'll see. I did that early in my career at BC with some quarterbacks, so he's definitely going to get in the game and play, especially with Russell's history and the way he's been -- hurt three times -- definitely Michael is going to play."

O'Brien said they won't have to change the playbook for each quarterback, but he will accentuate each of their strengths. Wilson's ability to scramble in the pocket and improvise baffled defenses last year, and Glennon is more of a drop-back passer. 

Having a solid starter and a dependable backup is a much better situation for the Pack than it was a year ago, when O'Brien had five quarterbacks to choose from and the uncertainly played out during the summer.

This year, Glennon will be taking a few snaps with the first-team offense during summer camp. This is a smart move by O'Brien, and one only needs to look at the second half of the PapaJohns.com Bowl from last year to realize how important Wilson's backup will be. The better Glennon proves to be, though, the harder it will be to keep him off the field.

Sounds like a great problem to have.