Blue White Illustrated

A P R I L 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 PLAYER OF THE GAMEIn a quarterback battle with teammate Tommy Stevens, it was Trace McSorley who had the more persuasive stat line Saturday. He completed 18 of his first 19 passes for 217 yards and scored three touchdowns, compared to one interception in the first half. He engineered another TD drive to open the third quarter and fin- ished his stellar afternoon with 23 com- pletions in 27 attempts for 281 total yards, four TDs and only that one inter- ception. PLAY OF THE GAMEOn the first drive of the second half, Mc- Sorley led the Blue of- fense 40 yards downfield on eight plays. Then on the ninth, he found DeAn- dre Thompkins in be- tween zone coverage on the right side. The per- fectly placed pass landed in Thompkins' hands, and he turned upfield for a 35-yard score and the fourth – and final – scoring drive of the day for McSorley. BEST PASSDirectly after completing a pass down the seam to Mike Gesicki for 22 yards, McSorley conducted to perfection the hurry-up offense, rush- ing to the line for the snap before firing the next pass to Chris Godwin on a 15- yard slant for the touchdown. Honor- able mention: McSorley's 25-yard pass to Godwin late in the second quarter on a comeback route that put the Blue team 2 yards from the end zone. Stevens' best completion was a 19-yard pass to freshman Danny Dalton in the third quarter. BEST RUNAfter playing for the White team in the first half, Andre Robinson came out after halftime in a blue jersey and scored the game's only rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter – a 28- yard dash down the right sideline. BEST CATCHTaking a couple of steps right, McSorley lofted a touch pass to the right pylon and found a fading Saeed Blacknall for the 22-yard touch- down with 9:24 left in the second quar- ter. WORST DROPOn a play-action pass in the first quarter, Stevens went deep down the right sideline with a pass in- tended for classmate Juwan Johnson. The redshirt freshman wide receiver appeared to haul it in initially, but with Grant Haley on the coverage, Johnson was unable to finish the catch, drop- ping the ball as he was pushed to the ground. BEST SACKIn a game in which the quarterbacks were off-limits to oppos- ing tacklers, Evan Schwan barreled through the offensive line late in the first quarter to tag Tommy Stevens. With the White team backed up deep in its own territory and with Stevens dropping back in his own end zone, the "sack" was considered a safety. BEST HITAfter McSorley found Blacknall on a crossing pattern across the middle, he was met by a huge hit from defensive end Colin Castagna to bring him to the ground with a thump. Honorable mention: Stevens threw a seam pass intended for Dalton late in the third quarter, but a hit from John Reid jarred the ball loose. BEST EFFORTAfter switching teams at halftime, Robinson filled a hole in pass protection, picking up a blitzing line- backer in the middle of the pocket, al- lowing McSorley to pass for another one of his 23 completions. WORST EFFORTStevens played mostly behind a patchwork offensive line fea- turing a former starter, redshirt fresh- men, walk-ons and a January enrollee, and although he wasn't brought to the ground due to the rules, the Blue team was credited with four sacks. WORST KICKSIn a game that was without kickoff or punt coverage, mul- tiple kickoffs fell short of the end zone. And in his only field goal attempt, with time expiring in the fourth quarter, Tyler Davis missed on a 42-yarder. BEST DECISIONThere was at least a glimmer of hope that fans might get a glimpse of star running back Saquon Barkley, but the coaches kept him on the sideline throughout the entire af- ternoon. In what is essentially a mean- ingless scrimmage, it was a smart move to keep the team's best player off the field and away from the risk of in- jury. MOST TELLING MOMENTLate in the second quarter, as the Blue offense was on yet another high-paced scoring drive, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Robert Windsor of the White squad was bent over at the waist and appeared to lose his lunch on the 1- yard line. If that wasn't an indicator of Penn State's new up-tempo look and the effect its speed has, then the re- porters in the press box who were scrambling to keep stats of the game were. –TIM  OWEN JUDGMENT CALLS The best and the rest from the Nittany Lions' spring game BEST PASS Stevens was frequently on the run, but he also had one of the after- noon's best throws when he connected with tight end Danny Dalton for a 19-yard gain in the third quar- ter. Photo by Steve Manuel

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