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2 0 1 8 S E A S O N P R E V I E W with a TD pass, set in 1993-94. It's also the longest active streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision. OUTLOOK McSorley has been getting a lot of love from all the preseason college football magazines, and understandably so. He was the Big Ten's leading passer last season with an average of 274.6 yards per game. He's been leading the Lions' o>ense since the second quarter of the TaxSlayer Bowl nearly three years ago, so it's not as if his skill set is a mys- tery at this point. He's elusive, he's deci- sive, he's great at keeping his eyes down=eld even when the pocket is col- lapsing. He'll probably continue to be great at those things in 2018. The biggest question surrounding Penn State's quarterback position has less to do with McSorley than with his targets. Will he be as productive as he's been the past two seasons without Mike Gesicki, Saquon Barkley and DaeSean Hamilton to throw to? That trio com- bined to catch 274 passes the past two seasons, which amounts to 53 percent of McSorley's 508 total completions over that span. While there are some veteran players ready to step into the roles that Barkley and Hamilton played, the tight end spot is wide open. Gesicki caught more passes than any tight end in school history, so it's very unlikely that his suc- cessor (or successors) will be as produc- tive, at least right away. The second-biggest question is, how will the Lions use Stevens? They gave him his own position last year, and there's been some speculation about how the coaches might be able to expand on what was primarily a red zone pack- age in which Stevens was deployed as a receiver or running back. Could they use him in what would amount to a two- quarterback o>ense, lining him up next to McSorley and letting him throw op- tion passes as a running back? It's been tried by other schools, albeit as a little- used gimmick. But as analyst Ian Boyd of SBNation.com recently noted, Stevens, with his excellent combination of size, mobility and passing accuracy, might give Penn State a chance to use such a formation on a more-than-occasional basis. Sounds crazy, right? Maybe it is. But Stevens has a unique blend of skills, and the coaches are surely looking for innovative ways to make use of them. PHIL GROSZ'S TAKE When Stevens elected to stay at Penn State a?er ex- ploring his transfer options in the spring, it all but ensured that the Nit- tany Lions will enter the upcoming sea- son with not only the best quarterback combination in the Big Ten, but one of the top =ve QB combos in the country. McSorley is already the Nittany Lions' all-time leader in total o>ense and may hold eight or nine career and season passing records by the time he's =n- ished. He is a legitimate preseason Heis- man Trophy candidate, and Stevens is a very capable backup. Cli>ord may have secured the No. 3 quarterback position with a strong performance in spring practice, and Zembiec gives Penn State a fourth QB who won't have to be red- shirted this fall. With Levis having en- rolled in May, Penn State might be as deep at this position as it has been in its modern football history. ■ their share of experience, the newcomers all appear to have high ceilings. McSorley said he and the other veterans feel a re- sponsibility to use their experience to help coax as much productivity as possi- ble out of the younger players around them. Should the effort prove successful, the existing talent level is no cause for concern in the quarterback's mind. McSorley described the offensive line as the best in his five seasons, and said run- ning backs Miles Sanders and Mark Allen are ready for their moment. At receiver, Juwan Johnson and DeAndre Thompkins have extensive experience, while junior Brandon Polk and freshman K.J. Hamler are "explosive-play-waiting-to-happen- type" players. The combination, he said, will enable Penn State to make up for its significant losses on offense by using a wider variety of players than in the past two seasons. "I think everyone is talking about what we're losing, but no one is really talking about what we have and what we're bringing to the table this year," McSorley said. "What excites me is that we have a chance. People are saying Penn State might have had their run, but they lost so many guys. We're going to be able to sur- prise some people this year because ex- pectations are there but they're not at the same level that they've been at the last couple of years." Naturally, the underdog angle excites McSorley, even if he's personally garner- ing unprecedented respect. He seems be- mused by all the talk of size and arm strength that accompanies the quarter- back position, noting that the athletes who have successfully manned the posi- tion have boasted a variety of physical as- sets and wildly different skill sets. In recent months, comparisons to Baker Mayfield, last year's Heisman winner out of Oklahoma and the recent No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick, have come to McSorley's attention. Mayfield may be at least an inch taller and 20 pounds heavier, but McSorley doesn't take issue with the jux- taposition. "Any time you're put in the comparison with an ex-Heisman Trophy winner, a dude who's won three conference cham- pionships, been in the playoffs twice, it's something to kind of take heed of," Mc- Sorley said. "You look at a guy who wins QUARTERBACK NO NAME HT WT YEAR 9 Trace McSorley 6-0 203 Sr./Sr. 2 Tommy Stevens 6-5 235 Sr./Jr. 14 Sean Cli.ord 6-2 216 So./Fr. 7 Jake Zembiec 6-3 214 Jr./So. 17 Will Levis 6-3 226 Fr./Fr. OR

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