Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/703041
P R E V I E W * Starting experience in 2015 | neither. Going into the 2016 season, the quarterbacks' cumulative statis- tical portfolio consists of 20 comple- tions in 40 attempts for 185 yards, with two touchdowns and no inter- ceptions. All of those numbers were compiled by McSorley last year. Scholarship QBs Stevens and Zem- biec and walk-on Fessler have yet to see game action. OUTLOOK This is Penn State's biggest unknown. The Nittany Lions have a new offense and will have a new quarterback operating it, re- gardless of who wins the job in pre- season practice. Those factors would seem to indicate that patience will be required. And yet… McSorley looked marvelous running Joe Moorhead's hurry-up spread in the Blue-White Game, hitting 23 of 27 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns. There's a big difference, of course, between the spring game and the live-fire sit- uations he'll be facing in the fall if he claims the starting spot. But as he showed in the TaxSlayer Bowl, he has the unflappable demeanor needed to succeed against high-level competi- tion. Seeing the first extensive game action of his career, and facing one of the better pass defenses in the coun- try, he completed 14 of 27 throws for 142 yards and two touchdowns and put the Lions in position to take the game to overtime had they been able to hit a Hail Mary at the end. They didn't get the miracle they were seeking, but the game served as a nice springboard into the off-season for McSorley, and by all accounts he took advantage in winter workouts and spring practice. That said, with Stevens in pursuit, he can't afford to let up. "We'll go into camp, let those guys compete and see what hap- pens," Franklin said. "Right now, I feel like we have two quarterbacks that we can win with." – M.H. W ith Brandon Polk, one thing is cer- tain: He doesn't like getting hit. Hates it. Polk stands 5-foot-9, 172 pounds, so it's not hard to understand his rationale for doing whatever it takes to avoid being tackled. And having spent the past decade being chased by larger defenders on the football field, the wide receiver from Ashburn, Va., has found a simple and effective way of avoiding contact: outrun them. "That's what my motto is," Polk laughs. "Don't get hit. High school, little league – my dad used to tell me they can't hit what they can't catch." Speed is his specialty. Always has been. Polk put it on display as a true freshman at Penn State, taking an end-around hand- off 33 yards down the right sideline against Temple on the very first play of the Nittany Lions' 2015 season. This past spring, he ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash. And now that his soph- omore year is approaching, it's looking as though he could be teaming up again with his pro- lific high school quarterback, Trace McSorley. END AROUND Specializing in jet sweeps, Polk was PSU's third-leading rusher last sea- son with 159 yards. Photo by Bill Anderson