Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1525333
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 3 7 O F F E N S E 1 . SAQ U O N BA R K L E Y | R B | 2 0 1 5 -17 When Penn State rallied to beat Michi- gan in a quadruple-overtime thriller in October 2013, the result was significant in that it showed the Nittany Lions could compete against traditional Big Ten pow- ers even while coping with a range of harsh NCAA sanctions. Perhaps even more significant, though, was that Barkley attended the game and loved what he saw that night in Beaver Stadium. He was committed to Rutgers at the time, but as his high school coach later told NJ.com, "Monday morning, he was back in my office saying, 'I don't know what to do. That was the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life.'" Barkley ended up flipping his commit- ment to the Nittany Lions in February 2014, about a month after Franklin's ar- rival at PSU. It turned out to be one of the most consequential decisions in the program's recent history. Barkley went on to become the school's career leader in all-purpose yards (5,538), total touchdowns (53) and rushing touch- downs (43). He played a pivotal role in the team's Big Ten championship in 2016 and its Fiesta Bowl triumph the following year. In 2018, Barkley was drafted second overall by the New York Giants, becom- ing the highest PSU pick since Courtney Brown and LaVar Arrington went 1-2 in 2000. No matter how long the Franklin era lasts, Barkley will always be one of its most important figures. 2 . T R AC E M C S O R L E Y | Q B | 2 0 1 4 -1 8 McSorley is inexorably linked with Barkley in Penn State lore, so perhaps it's fitting that he, too, was originally committed elsewhere. The three-star Vir- ginia prospect was headed to Vanderbilt to play for Franklin and was initially upset when his would-be coach bolted for PSU in the final weeks of the 2014 recruiting cycle. When Franklin told McSorley there was room for him in the class he was hastily assembling in State College, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound prospect took a leap of faith. A lot of observers thought he would prob- ably play safety at the college level, but McSorley was determined to be a quar- terback. It ended up working out. Boy, did it work out. In three seasons as Penn State's starter, McSorley set school records for passing yards (9,899), total offense (11,596 yards), touchdown passes (77) and wins by a quarterback (31), among other marks. He spearheaded a 2016 offense that aver- aged 37.6 points per game, a 14.2-point improvement over the previous season. McSorley was chosen by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2019 draft. He's been a journeyman pro, but his college career will be long remembered. 3 . S E A N C L I F F O R D | Q B | 2 0 17-2 2 Clifford spent six seasons at Penn State, four as the team's starting quarterback. He was a Nittany Lion for so long that when he finally left — as a fifth-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers — he was given a "retirement party" by the State College Spikes minor league base- ball team, complete with a commemo- rative photo, handed out to fans, of the 1922 Nittany Lions with Clifford super- imposed into the frame opposite coach Hugo Bezdek. The former four-star prospect from Cincinnati bettered many of McSorley's records, finishing as the program's all- time leader in passing yards (10,661), total offense (11,734), touchdown passes (86) and wins by a starting quarterback (32). Clifford had his ups and downs, par- ticularly during a turnover-plagued 2020 season and a 2021 campaign in which he gutted out a painful upper-body injury. But he went out on a fittingly upbeat note, throwing for 279 yards in Penn State's 35- 21 victory over Utah in the Rose Bowl to conclude the 2022 season. 4 . M I K E G ES I C K I | T E | 2 0 1 4 -17 A four-star prospect out of Mana- hawkin, N.J., Gesicki didn't get off to the start he'd envisioned, catching 24 passes for 239 yards in his first two seasons and dropping enough balls to prompt ques- tions about whether he deserved the hype that accompanied his signing. Spoiler alert: He did. In his last two seasons, Gesicki was a key component of a high-flying Penn State offense, totaling 105 receptions for 1,242 yards. He won second-team All-America notice from SB Nation and Sporting News as a senior, and his career totals — 129 catches for 1,481 yards and 15 touchdowns — all were records for a PSU tight end. Drafted in the second round by the Miami Dolphins in 2018, Gesicki is pre- paring for his seventh NFL season after signing with Cincinnati earlier this year. 5 . C H R I S G O DW I N | W R | 2 0 1 4 -1 6 A four-star prospect in Franklin's first recruiting class, Godwin was one of the By the time he finished his Penn State career, Trace McSorley was the Nittany Lions' career leader with 9,899 passing yards and 11,596 yards of total offense. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M