Blue White Illustrated

August 2016

Penn State Sports Magazine

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P R E V I E W three of them victories. During that as- tonishing run, McSorley accounted for more than 12,000 yards of total offense and 150 TDs. He made another quick move as a recruit, rescinding a verbal commitment to Van- derbilt to follow Franklin and his staff to University Park in the final weeks of the 2014 recruiting cycle. McSorley had hit it off with Franklin and assistant Ricky Rahne when they were still in charge of the Com- modores program. They told him that when they watched his tape, they saw a quarterback who could run if necessary but who wasn't going to abandon the pass at the first sign of trouble. They told him they were going to play him at QB, not at safety, which was where some other schools thought he would fit in best. That was exactly what he wanted to hear, and when they offered him a chance to join them at Penn State, he happily took them up on it. Said McSorley, "I wanted to prove that I could be a Division I quarterback. [Franklin] and his staff really believed that I could start as a quarterback for them. That was a big part of it for me." Since arriving at Penn State, his rapid ascent has continued. He was listed as Christian Hackenberg's backup even as he was redshirting as a true freshman in 2014, and by the end of the 2015 season he was on the field. McSorley entered the TaxSlayer Bowl against Georgia after Hackenberg got hurt in the first half, not knowing how long he would be subbing for the famously durable starter. When McSorley saw Hack- enberg changing into street clothes in the locker room at halftime, he knew the game was in his hands. He nearly brought the Lions back from a 24-7 deficit, tossing a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes in a 24-21 defeat. "There were a few nerves," he admitted, "but mostly I just wanted to execute the game plan that we had talked about for weeks leading up to the game." But it wasn't until Moorhead's arrival, and Hackenberg's subsequent decision to forgo his senior season, that McSorley's opportunity truly arrived. He had never heard of Moorhead when Penn State brought him aboard in December, so he began Googling his new coach after the

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