According to a Monday court filing, reserve WR James McDonald (10 game appearances, 5 receptions for 72 yards in 2008) has been charged with driving under the influence.

The report doesn’t indicate when the incident occurred but shows it took place at State College. McDonald had a blood-alcohol level that measured between .08-.10 at the time of his arrest. The state legal limit is .08.

McDonald has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Aug. 19 in Centre County court.

While it may be easy to yawn through this incident, given that this isn’t the first time a Nittany Lion has failed a sobriety test and that McDonald has yet to play a major role for the offense, it’s significant in terms of Penn State Public Relations.

Yes, McDonald has not been a marquee name for the program, and yes, this was not the case of a man driving while completely obliterated (as some of you may know, roughly one drink per hour can sustain a BAC level of .08), but it’s yet another case of a Nittany Lion in trouble with the law. Even slight misjudgments by our student-athletes play a part in chipping away at Penn State’s reputation as a program that values character as well as talent.

[Source: ESPN Big Ten Blog]