Blue White Illustrated

versity of British Columbia, Hackenberg did indeed leave early for the NFL, and, well, here we are. The fact that Stevens, a three-star prospect, and McSorley, a two-way play- er who was recruited by some schools as a defensive back, are competing for this job rather than four-star prospects Wim- bush and O'Connor has given rise to con- cerns about the state of PSU's o=ense, especially with so many other changes taking place concurrently. But Moorhead, a former quarterback himself, has gotten a lot out of his QBs at every step in his coaching career, and whoever wins the starting job will have a more experienced o=ensive line in front of him than Hack- enberg had and a terri;c cast of skill players to work with, headlined by Saquon Barkley and Chris Godwin. So while this might not be the compe- tition that everyone envisioned a few years ago, it may yield the results Penn State is looking for a?er two seasons of o=ensive stagnation. And that, in the end, is all that matters. ■ TIM OWEN ASSISTANT EDITOR Of course most eyes will be ;xated on the looming quarterback battle and how the candidates ;t into Joe Moorhead's new o=ensive scheme. A?er Penn State's point totals of the previous two years, who wouldn't be excited about that? But the last I checked, this wasn't Quarterback U, so another position will have my focus. With Brandon Bell and Nyeem Wart- man-White mostly sidelined this spring, the Blue-White Game is an opportunity for the young linebackers to make a splash. I'll be paying special attention to Jake Cooper and Manny Bowen. A?er be- ing prematurely thrust into their debut during the 2015 opener, they had to learn on the

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