Blue White Illustrated

Penn State secured its quarterback for the Class of 2015 Monday evening when Indianapolis native and Decatur Central senior Tommy Stevens switched his commitment to Penn State from Indi- ana. Following the decision by Brandon Wimbush to attend Notre Dame, instead of sticking to his original PSU commitment, Nit- tany Lion quarterback coach Ricky Rahne ex- tended a scholarship o1er to Stevens within a matter of weeks of Wim- bush's Jip. Stevens followed that up with an oKcial visit to State College Oct. 24-26 for the game against Ohio State. He gave glowing reviews upon his return home – "Man, it was everything I expected and more," he told Rivals.com recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt – then he sat on the decision for a couple more weeks. Then, following Penn State's 13-7 win at Indiana, the team to which Stevens was committed, the three-star quarter- back announced Nov. 10 that he, too, was flipping commitments and will at- tend Penn State after high school gradu- ation. "A5er carefully weighing out my op- tions, my family and I have decided that it is in my best interest to commit to Penn State," Stevens posted on his Twitter ac- count. "... I especially want to thank the Indiana sta1. I fully believe they are moving in the right direction and I wish them nothing but the best in the future. It was a tough decision to leave home but I have to do what I feel like is best for me." When Wimbush de-committed in Oc- tober, Stevens became Penn State's No. 1 target at QB. He is without question a pure dual-threat that 4ts perfectly into the o1ensive system that James Franklin and his sta1 eventually plan to run. In his senior season Stevens passed for 1,891 yards completing 126 of of 212 passes with 16 touchdowns and just six inter- ceptions. But what makes Stevens a pure dual-threat is his ability to run the read option. This fall Stevens rushed for 826 yards and two additional TDs. At 6-4 and 202 pounds, Stevens has su- perb ball-handling capabilities and once he breaks past the line of scrimmage when running the read option, Stevens shows the ability to set up blocks and also the athletic ability to make people miss tackles in the open 4eld. When passing, Stevens seems equally comfortable throwing the football from the pocket as well as rolling out. What really impressed me was the way he squared his shoulders to the line of scrimmage on his roll-outs. The one problem I see with his throwing motion is at times he tends to throw o1 his back foot and that makes his pass hang and Joat at times, but that is something that Rahne should be capable of correcting once Stevens arrives on campus. Stevens doesn't have a rocket for an arm like Christian Hackenberg, but the velocity on his throws is more than ade- quate. That is something that also can be improved once Stevens is totally involved with a Division I strength and condition- ing program. Rivals rates Stevens as the 15th-best dual-threat QB in the country. He's col- lected 14 scholarship o1ers, including from programs like Boston College, Cincinnati, Iowa, Michigan State, Min- nesota, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Purdue and West Virginia. One interesting note is Stevens took an unoKcial visit to Notre Dame the same weekend Wimbush made his oKcial visit when the Fighing Irish played Stanford. If Wimbush had not selected Notre Dame, Stevens would have become one of the Irish's top quarterback targets. PENN STATE RADIO NETWORK WAEB............. 790-AM....... Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton WVAM............ 1430-AM....................................... Altoona WRKY............. 104.9-FM............... Altoona/Hollidaysburg WILK.............. 103.1-FM.........................................Avoca WAYC............. 1600-AM.......................................Bedford WAYC............. 100.9-FM......................................Bedford WBYB............. 103.9-FM.....................................Bradford WCPA............. 900-AM...................................... Clearfield WQYX............. 93.1-FM..................................... Clearfield WZDB.............95.9-FM........................ DuBois/Sykesville WHGL............ 102.9-FM................................ Elmira, N.Y. WPSE............. 1450-AM.............................................Erie WFRA............. 1450-AM...................................... Franklin WGET............. 1320-AM.................................. Gettysburg WJEJ.............. 1240-AM.Hagerstown, Md./Chambersburg Sports Radio..1400-AM...................................Harrisburg Sports Radio..95.3-FM.................................... Harrisburg WKZN............ 1300-AM..................................... Hazleton WLAK............. 103.5-FM................................ Huntingdon WNTJ............. 1490-AM...................................Johnstown WBYB............. 103.9-FM.......................................... Kane WLPA............. 1490-AM....................................Lancaster WNPV.............1440-AM.....................................Lansdale WLBR............. 1270-AM..................................... Lebanon WMRF............ 95.7-FM.................................... Lewistown WMGW...........1490-AM....................................Meadville WJST.............. 1280-AM.....................New Castle/Sharon WVNJ............. 1160-AM.......................... New York Metro WNTP............. 990-AM..................................Philadelphia KQV............... 1410-AM................................... Pittsburgh WAVT..............101.9-FM.................................... Pottsville WPPA............. 1360-AM.....................................Pottsville WRAW............ 1340-AM...................................... Reading WBZU.............910-AM....................................... Scranton WBYB............. 103.9-FM................................. Smethport WQWK............1450-AM.............................. State College WBUS.............93.7-FM................................State College WZDD............ 101.3-FM....................Stratonville/Clarion WKOK............ 1070-AM...................................... Sunbury WLLI.............. 990-AM...................................... Somerset WTIV.............. 1230-AM..................................... Titusville WHGL.............100.3-FM............................... Troy/Canton WTRN.............1340-AM......................................... Tyrone WTRN.............100.7-FM........................................ Tyrone WNBT............. 104.5-FM...................................Wellsboro WNBQ............ 92.3-FM....................Wellsboro/Mansfield WILK.............. 980-AM................................. Wilkes-Barre WKSB.............102.7-FM.............................. Williamsport WSBA............. 910-AM.............................................. York WJST.............. 1280-AM........................Youngstown, Ohio N O V E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 9 ANALYSIS: Penn State lands three-star QB R E C R U I T I N G P H I L G R O S Z | B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D STEVENS

• Cover