Blue White Illustrated

N O V E M B E R   2 1 ,   2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 14 Penn State is set to bid farewell to 21 seniors on Saturday, and while they all have had roles to play in the program's resurgence over the past three seasons, Trace McSorley has been the focal point of that rebuild. The point that everybody makes about McSorley is that he just wins. He did it in high school, guiding Briar Woods High to three Virginia state championships, and he's done it at Penn State, too, liBing the Nittany Lions to an unexpected Big Ten title in 2016 and two appearances in New Year's Six bowls, with a victory over Washington in last year's Fiesta Bowl. Last Saturday at Rutgers, McSorley won his 30th game as a starter, surpassing Todd Blackledge and Tony Sacca to be- come Penn State's all-time winningest quarterback. With Maryland coming up this Saturday and a bowl game to follow, he's got a chance to add to that total. Earlier this week, McSorley met with Penn State beat reporters to talk about his final game in Beaver Stadium. Here, ed- ited for length, is what he said: Is this week weird for you? I guess a little bit. Probably will be more so on Saturday I guess, with it being the last time playing in Beaver Stadium, with it being the last game, senior day and all that. Right now, I think I've been able to do a pretty good job just having the same rou- tine over the last three years so that I can try and make sure that I don't get those kind of weird emotions or anything like that and get out of whack leading up to the game. Have you thought about going through the tunnel? Are you trying to put that out of your mind completely? How does that work this week, trying to prepare yourself for something that could be emotional? I haven't really envisioned it or thought too much about it. I think the best way that you can handle it is that when those emotions happen, just let yourself experi- ence that for a couple of seconds here and there, 10, 15 seconds, whatever it might be, and then be able to refocus. My approach right now is to be as fo- cused as I possibly can on the game so when it comes time to refocus and get back in there, I can do that. When James Franklin le7 Vanderbilt, it was during a dead period where the coaches couldn't talk to recruits. Do you remember anything about the phone call when he finally reached out to you? Yeah, I remember I was in the car leav- ing a friend's house and he called me and it was a PA area code, so I answered it, and it was Coach Franklin. I remember being probably a little short on the phone be- cause I was upset with how everything had gone down, and obviously not know- ing exactly what was going on in the dead period, not hearing anything for a while. I remember I was probably a little short on the phone. He was just saying, "Hey, sorry all these weeks, how this all panned out, but we want you to come up here. Take a visit. We want you to come play here." All that kind of stuff. ABer that phone call, I hung up. I was on my way home, I talked to my parents and we made the trip up that weekend. We were like, we have a free weekend, let's just do it. I remember, yeah, I was probably a little short at the time on the phone, but every- thing worked out. Coach Franklin I think kind of knew that, because when I came up that weekend, I remember ending up telling him I was coming here. He said to me, "So we're cool now?" So yeah, I think he got that sense a little bit, too, but everything worked out well. Did you ever think of not coming to Penn State? Was there a point in time where you thought you were going to stay at Vandy? At that time, I didn't really know where I was going to go. … I was just kind of look- ing for an option. I think at that point, it's what I really needed. It was toward the end of the recruiting cycle and all that. A lot of the schools that I had been looking at, their classes had filled up, and they weren't able to take any other guys. So I think at that point I was looking for an opportunity. Looking ahead to the bowl game, is it hard not to think about the end of your college career? It's hard at times to not think about the end, especially with it being so close at this point. This is the end of the seniors' times and my time here at Beaver Sta- dium, and it's tough to not think about it, understanding the magnitude of it all and everything that's gone into it. I remember running out in the stadium the first time we were playing Akron the year I was redshirting, and to think that it's gone that fast and all those games that have built up to this game coming up, there's a lot that's gone into it. … You don't realize it's gone until it is, and I think that's the point where I'm at. I've been here for so long, I feel like this is never going to end, and here we are this week. What accomplishment from your time here are you most proud of? I think I'm proud of just how far this team has come in my time here, from when we got here as freshmen, going through the first couple years, 6-6, 7-6, being bowl-eligible. When I got here, we weren't even [allowed by the NCAA to go to a bowl]. To go from that, where we were still on postseason bans and all that type McSorley reflects on a momentous college career Senior day honorees NAME POS HOME Mark Allen RB Hyattsville, Md. Joe Arcangelo TE Clarks Summit, Pa. Torrence Brown DE Tuscaloosa, Ala. Ryan Buchholz DE Malvern, Pa. Jake Cooper LB Doylestown, Pa. Frank Di Leo LB Elmhurst, Ill. Donnell Dix DE Salisbury, Md. Koa Farmer LB Lake View Terrace, Calif. Sterling Jenkins OL Pittsburgh, Pa. Trace McSorley QB Ashburn, Va. Amani Oruwariye CB Tampa, Fla. Nick Scott Saf. Fairfax, Va. Tyler Shoop WR Nashville, Tenn. Charlie Shuman OL Pittsford, N.Y. Zach Simpson OL Hollidaysburg, Pa. Johnathan Thomas RB Peabody, Mass. DeAndre Thompkins WR Hubert, N.C. Kyle Vasey LS Lackawaxen, Pa. Jason Vranic LB Wheatfield, N.Y. Christopher Welde CB Newtown, Pa. Chasz Wright OT Woodbridge, Va. S E N I O R D A Y H O N O R E E S

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