Blue White Illustrated

Tommy Stevens doesn't like making it about himself. It's why he doesn't sulk just because he's the backup behind Big Ten champi- onship-winning quarterback Trace Mc- Sorley, and it's why he kept the celebration to a minimum after his star turn in Saturday's Blue-White Game, a game in which he threw for 216 yards and three touchdowns. No, he's a team-first guy, and he says that's what motivates him to continue to improve. Penn State's coaches have said as much since he arrived on campus last winter, vouching that he prepares each week like a starter. In practice, he often performs like one too. And in the annual spring scrimmage, in front of an estimated count of 71,000 fans, Stevens did just that. Not only did he pace all passers with a rating of 187.7, he also completed seven consecutive throws. His longest went for 50 yards, caught by DeAndre Thompkins. But it wasn't a question of trying to prove anything to anyone, or make a statement. Rather, he said, he was just looking to do his job. "There wasn't necessarily a thing in particular that I was needing to show people," he said. "I just wanted to come out and execute the way I knew I could, play as hard as I could. A lot of guys around me were doing the same things, and I think that's why it looked as good as it did, just because guys were going up to get the ball and the offensive linemen were blocking their tails off for me. It's just fun to come to work and work with those guys, because we all share common goals and we work great with each other." That's just what Stevens has been doing since he graduated early from Decatur Central near Indianapolis and joined Penn State in the winter of 2015. Each day, he shows up without craving atten- tion, without a full-time starter's role, even if he gave it his all to compete for that spot last fall. "That was a quarter- back battle," head coach James Franklin emphasized. By the time the season opened, it was McSorley who was taking the snaps. Al- though it wasn't exactly an easy conso- lation prize for Stevens to embrace, it's one he accepted. Then he continued to press forward. "I'm sure you can probably imagine it's tough at times," he said. "But at the same time, I try not to make this about me. I don't want it to be about me. I just want to come in, do my job, help this team win and just do whatever I can." So he kept his nose down last fall and continued to prepare as though he could be called on at any moment. Then throughout the season, he was. He ap- peared in seven games and finished his redshirt freshman season by completing two of three passes and showed that he might be even more effective with his legs, rushing for 198 yards and two touchdowns, sometimes out of a two-QB formation. He took off and ran a few times in Sat- urday's scrimmage, too, but with the ref- erees blowing quick whistles, Stevens' final stat line ended at minus-2 yards on three carries. His longest carry was 3 yards. The point, however, is that that ap- proach that he took last fall has carried over throughout winter workouts and into spring practice. And if anything, he's taken it to another level. Franklin has spoken highly of his efforts throughout the last month and Stevens put them on display against the second- and third- string defenses. While he seldom goes looking for the spotlight, it does find him sometimes, and for a moment in the Beaver Stadium media room, he was able to appreciate his own efforts. "I think I did a good job," Stevens said. "There is obviously going to be room to improve. I need to watch the film, cri- tique myself. I'm pretty hard on myself. I want the best out of myself, so I need to watch the film before, I guess, I evaluate myself for the full spring. But I feel im- proved. I feel like I have had a much bet- ter spring than I did last spring." A co-recipient of PSU's Frank Patrick Total Commitment Award, Stevens was singled out by Franklin in his opening statement at the postgame news confer- ence. "I thought Tommy Stevens contin- ued to do good things," Franklin said. "We're excited about him and his devel- opment." After the first question, Franklin ex- panded on Stevens' commitment to the team throughout his first two years. His approach has been consistent and he at- tacks each day with purpose, Franklin said, adding that Stevens has provided himself with "a chance to have a very, very bright future" at Penn State if the coaches continue developing him in all aspects of the game. For now, though, his status on the team remains the same. No matter how strong an outing he had in the spring game, he goes back to work this off-season as Penn State's backup quarterback. As he's proven throughout the past year, however, that shouldn't have any impact on the way he treats each day, each practice and each workout. "I had to be disciplined," he said. "I had to come to work everyday and be prepared because you never know, so I just try to continue to do that, continue to work as hard as I can. Good things happen to those kinds of people, I feel like, so I just keep controlling the things I can control and work as hard as I can." A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 6 ANSWERING THE CALL Tommy Stevens makes the most of his extended playing time in spring game T I M   O W E N   | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . c O M

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