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F A S T F O R W A R D >> A N E A R L Y L O O K how the Nittany Lions shape up as winter workouts begin: QUARTERBACK KEY RETURNEES Trace McSorley, Tommy Stevens KEY LOSSES None NEWCOMERS Sean Clifford, Jake Zem- biec OUTLOOK A year ago, this was the biggest question mark on Penn State's depth chart. It seemed farfetched to imagine that an inexperienced redshirt sophomore (or possibly a redshirt fresh- man) would be able to match, or even ap- proach, the performance of Christian Hackenberg. But looking ahead to next season, the quarterback spot is one of Penn State's great strengths. McSorley is coming off the most productive season in school history, having thrown for 3,614 yards, with 29 touchdowns and eight in- terceptions. He also rushed for 212 yards to finish second on the team. And bear in mind, not only was McSor- ley starting for the first time, he was op- erating an offense that had only been installed during the spring. Now he's got a full season under his belt orchestrating that offense, and with Moorhead set to return for his second season as offensive coordinator, it's not hard to imagine Penn State being even more efficient in 2017 than it was this past fall. There is room for improvement, as Mc- Sorley completed 57.9 percent of his passes. That statistic was partly a reflec- tion of Penn State's willingness to throw the long ball; McSorley's average of 16.13 yards per completion topped the Football Bowl Subdivision this season. But Moor- head would prefer a completion percent- age of over 60 percent, and with McSorley having topped that figure against Michi- gan State, Wisconsin and Southern Cal, it appears to be an attainable goal. At the very least, McSorley should be able to get the Lions off to a faster start next fall. They stumbled around a bit in the first four games this past season, averaging 338.5 yards and 29 points per game. But in their last 10 games, they averaged 470.2 yards and 41 points. McSorley was magnificent late in the year, completing 39 of 54 passes for 638 yards in wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin, with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. And while his per- formance against Southern Cal was a mixed bag, with three interceptions to go along with four touchdown passes, he's going to go into his junior season as one of the Big Ten's most highly regarded quar- terbacks and perhaps even a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. "Just seeing, in the first year of a new system, how much he's grown and devel- oped and made plays in critical situa- tions, I think it's a testament to Trace and the hard work he's put in and his team- mates around him," Moorhead said. "The fact that he has more time to improve, I think, is awesome for us." One of the oft-overlooked accomplish- ments of McSorley's debut season is that he stayed healthy throughout. Heading into the year, there had been speculation that Moorhead's offense would expose him to more punishment than even Hackenberg had absorbed playing behind a rickety offensive line the last two years of his career. But McSorley started every game, and except for a few snaps at Indiana, Stevens' playing time consisted of fourth-quarter action during lopsided victories. The redshirt freshman at- tempted only three passes, completing two for 36 yards, but he did finish as Penn State's third-leading rusher with 198 yards on 21 carries. Stevens has con- firmed that he doesn't plan to transfer, so he will be expected to back up McSorley again next fall, with Zembiec behind him and Clifford most likely ticketed for a redshirt year. RUNNING BACK KEY RETURNEES Mark Allen, Saquon Barkley, Andre Robinson, Miles Sanders KEY LOSSES None NEWCOMER Journey Brown OUTLOOK Here, too, the Nittany Lions are loaded. Any backfield with Barkley in it is a loaded backfield, and the Lions will have him for one more season at least (and probably at most). He's coming off two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and already ranks 12th in school history in ca- reer rushing yards with 2,572. This past year, the 5-foot-11, 223-pounder shared Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year hon- ors with Ohio State quarterback J.T. Bar- rett. Those two will be among the leading contenders for that honor again in 2017, especially after Barkley gouged USC for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Barkley finished his second season at Penn State with 1,496 rushing yards, the most in school history by a sophomore, and 18 TDs. But it wasn't just his ball- carrying skills that impressed. He also had 28 catches for 402 yards and four scores. His sure-handedness proved critical in the Big Ten Championship Game, as he caught an 18-yard touch- down pass on a wheel route to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the game, and he also had a 7-yard TD reception against Southern Cal. Those scores are indicative of the kind of player Barkley has become. When the running game isn't working – and there were a number of games this past fall in which it defi- nitely wasn't working – he still is capable of beating you. "I don't want to be one-dimensional," Barkley said. "I feel like I have the talent to be able to catch the ball in the back- field, run downhill, run outside zones or use my speed. I want to be an all-around back. Actually, I'm not satisfied with where I'm at. I want to continue to grow to be better. I'm only 19 years old, so I have a lot of room for improvement. … You want to be able to do it all." Barkley has done it all, including kickoff returns, but if there's a drawback to his success, it's that Penn State's backup runners haven't had much of a chance to shine. Robinson, Allen and Sanders ac- counted for only 15 percent of the Lions' 540 rushing attempts in 2016. And even if you subtract the rushing attempts by EDITOR'S NOTE Newcomers listed here include incoming freshmen, juco transfers who have yet to play, and members of Penn State's 2016 recruiting class who redshirted this past season.

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