Blue White Illustrated

P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> KEY PERSONNEL Sean Cli>ord, Will Levis, Trace McSorley*, Tommy Stevens, Jake Zembiec LOSSES Billy Fessler RISING STAR Tough call. A?er the top two, it's hard to tell who's ascending and who, if anyone, is descending. This much is clear: The battle for the third- team spot is between Cli>ord and Zem- biec. Cli>ord was bothered by a hamstring injury in spring practice, but he still played in the Blue-White Game, as did Zembiec. Making his public debut in Beaver Stadium, Cli>ord hit 4 of 8 passes for 58 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown pass to Mac Hippenhammer. Zembiec, a redshirt sophomore, went 6 of 12 for 39 yards and one TD. Having a quality third-teamer might seem like a luxury, but the second-teamer – Stevens – may =nd himself in harm's way more o?en than the typical backup because of his role as a do-it-all "Lion" o>ensive player. The sta> will want to do whatever it can to ensure that either Cli>ord or Zembiec is ready in case dis- aster strikes. BIGGEST LOSS Fessler, who shared the team's Outstanding Run-On Award last year with tight end Tom Pancoast, is the only player on the 2017 depth chart to depart. He attempted only two passes in his career, both in Penn State's 56-0 rout of Georgia State last season. Fessler's primary role was on spe- cial teams. The Erie, Pa., native held on all of Penn State's placements last season. NUMBERS GAME McSorley enters the 2018 season having thrown at least one touchdown pass in 28 consecutive games. His streak began with a 17- yard throw to Geno Lewis in the fourth quarter of the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl and has since grown to become the longest in school history, eclipsing Kerry Collins' record of 14 consecutive games QUARTERBACKS S P O T L I G H T B Y M A T T H E R B * Starting experience in 2017 conference victories and followed them with a walk-off win at Iowa to open the Big Ten season. By late October, they were 7-0 and ranked second nationally. But after spending the first two months of the season building momentum slowly and steadily, they lost it quickly in a road showdown against No. 6 Ohio State, squandering a 15-point fourth-quarter lead in a 39-38 loss. They attempted to regroup at No. 24 Michigan State the next weekend, but on a dreary afternoon that included a 3-hour, 22-minute thunder- storm delay, they suffered a 27-24 walk- off loss to the Spartans. More than eight months later, the team's two-game swoon still visibly bothers McSorley. He and his teammates sometimes find themselves wondering how the season might have gone if not for a play here or there, still wishing they could have another shot at it. But last season's circumstances can't be dupli- cated, nor can its opportunities. That is a haunting realization given how close the Nittany Lions came to having a case for inclusion in the College Football Playoff. "I think about it all the time. You just realize what could have been," McSorley said. "It sucks to have that regret and un- derstand that we're never going to have a Saquon Barkley again. We're never going to have that team that we had. And part of it is, was that the team to do it? That sneaks into your head. But at the same time, you've got to focus on moving on. "I'm not going to say I'm harping on it and that I can't let it go, because I've moved on. But in the back of my mind, we were so close last year that everything we did was not enough by about that much. So we need to do that much more this year." McSorley has a quiet but firm belief that this year's Nittany Lions can do exactly that, even without so many of the familiar faces that were so integral to the pro- gram's ascent the past two seasons. Gone are Barkley, wideout DaeSean Hamilton, tight end Mike Gesicki, run- ning backs coach Charles Huff, wideouts coach Josh Gattis and coordinator Joe Moorhead – and those are just the most noteworthy losses on offense. There have been plenty of departures on defense, too. But while the Lions have lost more than TOMMY STEVENS Steve Manuel

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