Penn State Sports Magazine
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N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3 19 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2018 Trace McSorley went out the way he came in — flinging touchdown passes. Playing his final game in Beaver Stadium, the record-setting quarterback passed for 230 yards while running for 64 more to lead Penn State past Maryland 38-3 on Nov. 24. McSorley, who was wrap- ping up his third season as Penn State's starting quarterback, accounted for 3 touchdowns, the first two on runs of 3 and 20 yards, and the last coming on a 5-yard toss to freshman tight end Pat Freier- muth early in the fourth quarter to give the Lions a 31-3 lead. The pass to Freiermuth was McSorley's last at Beaver Stadium. Backup Tommy Stevens played the rest of the game, allowing McSorley, the winningest quarterback in school history, to soak up the atmo- sphere in his final home appearance. After the game, he and his fellow seniors circled the perimeter of the field to thank the fans who had turned out for their final game, then he took a knee in the end zone. "Looking back on everything that we've done [was gratifying]," McSorley said. "We fought hard every single day and worked our butts off to bring this pro- gram back and bring it to a spot where it can be com- peting for championships. It was about appreciation and being able to thank the fans as we went around. When I took a knee, it was about being thankful to God and all of the opportunities he's given me." 10 YEARS AGO, 2013 Penn State was still under an NCAA-mandated postseason ban in 2013, so its visit to Madison to take on 14th-ranked Wisconsin in the regular-season finale for both teams was essentially a bowl trip. The unranked Nittany Lions were 24-point under- dogs going into the game, while the Badgers were hoping to play their way into a Bowl Championship Series game. But the Nittany Lions were undaunted. They stunned the Badgers and the capacity crowd at Camp Randall Stadium when quarterback Christian Hackenberg connected with tight end Adam Brene- man on a 68-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the first quarter. It was the first of 4 scoring tosses by the true freshman quarterback, and he finished with 339 passing yards to lift the Nittany Lions to a 31-24 upset victory. Big plays like the one to Breneman were crucial to PSU's victory. The Badgers hadn't allowed a play of more than 51 yards all season, but they gave up 4 plays of 52 or more yards against Penn State. In his postgame news conference, coach Bill O'Brien admonished reporters and commentators for citing the betting line as evidence that PSU wasn't go- ing to have a chance to end its season on a high note. "I'm not allowed to talk about that even though it seems like a lot of you guys thought it was the right line," O'Brien said. "You were wrong." Penn State finished its season at 7-5, compiling a winning record for the second time in O'Brien's two sanction-plagued seasons. But while the Li- ons showed their program was built to persevere, O'Brien would not be part of their climb back to national relevancy. One month after the triumph in Madison, he left to become head coach of the NFL's Houston Texans. 25 YEARS AGO, 1998 Penn State had fielded a middling offense all sea- son long, and its deficiencies on that side of the ball led to mixed results in Big Ten play. One week after wrapping up October with a 27-0 shutout of Illinois, the Nittany Lions suffered a 27-0 defeat at Michigan. And two weeks after getting blanked in Ann Arbor, PSU managed only a 34-yard Travis Forney field goal in a 24-3 loss to Wisconsin. But it turned out there was nothing wrong with Penn State's offense that a visit from Michigan State couldn't fix. On Senior Day at Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions rolled to a 51-28 win over the Spartans. Eric McCoo carried 28 times for 206 yards, breaking PSU's single-game freshman record, which D.J. Dozier had owned since 1983 when he rushed for 196 yards against Rutgers. In addition to McCoo's big day, Penn State got 5 field goals from Forney. And while the offense was certainly more effective than it had been in the pre- ceding weeks, PSU's scoring total was boosted by a pair of pick-sixes by cornerbacks David Macklin and Anthony King. Add it all up, and Penn State's scoring total was its best against a Big Ten opponent since November 1994, when it beat visiting Michigan State 59-31 in the final game of longtime Spartans coach George Perles' career. — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History With 31 career victories in 40 starts, Trace McSorley ended his career as Penn State's all-time winningest quarterback. PHOTO BY PATRICK MANSELL JOE KRENTZMAN & SON, INC. • Buyers and Brokers of Steel, Iron and Nonferrous Metals • Industrial Scrap Buyers • Container Service Available • Large Service Territory Since 1903 Lewistown, PA • Hollidaysburg, PA • DuBois, PA (800) 543-2000 • www.krentzman.net F irst i n S cra p