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State has been putting a supporting cast in place that can deliver the kind of plays that make inexperi- enced quarterbacks look good. In- deed, the Nittany Lions did just that for McSorley in the TaxSlayer Bowl. "Guys rallied around him," Franklin said. "One of the big [keys] to play- ing quarterback is other guys step- ping up and making plays for you when maybe the ball's not perfectly thrown." If they can get their quarterback situation resolved, if their veteran o?ensive line is able to capitalize on all the experience its members have gained during the past two years, and if players adapt well to Joe Moorhead's o?ensive system, the Li- ons may be able to make some head- way in 2016. It'll be a 180-degree shiA from the past two seasons, in which the quarterback spot was a stabilizing force and everything else was in >ux, and they won't remind you of Oregon or Baylor even if everything goes right. But they may be able to build on a postseason showing that was more encouraging than the =nal score would indicate. We may not know yet whether they've found Hackenberg's re- placement, but we do know that even without him, they've got enough =re in the belly to hang in there with a pretty good team from a pretty great conference. "It was an amazing experience, being able to come out in the Tax- Slayer Bowl against a really good team in Georgia," McSorley said. "It didn't turn out how we wanted at the end of the day, but I love how we competed, and we came together. We'd =ght for anyone in that locker room every single day of our lives for the rest of our lives." Thirteen days will su@ce, at least as far as the coming year is con- cerned. Kent State arrives in Beaver Stadium on Sept. 3. For McSorley, it could well be another day to remem- ber. ■ F A S T F O R W A R D > > A N E A R L Y L O O K | THE RACE IS ON Three contenders set to vie for starting QB spot I t's been a while, hasn't it? Remember when Penn State's off-season storylines were saturated by this – quarterback bat- tles – seemingly every year? Not since Christian Hackenberg beat out Tyler Ferguson for the starting spot a couple weeks before the Nittany Lions' 2013 opener – if that was even a compe- tition – has the subject been discussed. But prior to Hackenberg's arrival, quar- terback drama was practically a given. In '10 and '11, it was as though Matt McGloin and Robert Bolden were playing a game of pingpong, battling it out for the starting spot before McGloin held serve for the '12 season. The McGloin-Bolden matchup followed the Daryll Clark-Pat Devlin un- dercard, which followed Michael Robin- son-Zack Mills, which followed Kevin Thompson-Rashard Casey, and so on. But Hackenberg reigned for three seasons as Penn State's undisputed signal caller, never missing a start after leading the Nittany Lions to a 23-17 victory over Syra- cuse in his debut. When he announced after the recent TaxSlayer Bowl that he was skipping his senior season to enter the NFL Draft, it was as the school's all- time passing leader. With his exit, the conversation has come full circle, back to where it was before his arrival. That conversation is likely to con- tinue through the off-season and maybe beyond. Penn State appears poised this year to stage a three-man competition to fill its quarterback vacancy. Redshirt freshman Trace McSorley is the only one of those contenders with game experience. True freshman Tommy Stevens was being hailed as having more upside, but that was before McSorely threw two touchdown passes vs. Georgia in the TaxSlayer Bowl after relieving the injured Hackenberg. Jake Zembiec, a four-star freshman who en- rolled in January, is the wild card. Heading into winter workouts and spring practice, McSorley and Stevens hold an early edge, given that they've already spent time in the program. Head coach James DOGGED PURSUIT Georgia defenders give chase as McSor- ley heads upfield. Pho- to by Steve Manuel

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