Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/847744
P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> KEY PERSONNEL Sean Cli?ord, Billy Fessler, Trace McSorley*, Tommy Stevens, Jake Zembiec LOSSES None RISING STAR It's just what happens when you put on a show in the Blue- White Game. Ask McSorley. A year ago, he was coming o? a near-perfect per- formance in the spring game. Preseason buzz ensued, and he proved to be worthy of all that excitement during a record- setting debut season. In April, Stevens threw all three of the Blue-White Game's touchdowns, and the hype that has trailed him ever since calls to mind the praise chorus that followed McSor- ley around during the 2016 o?-season. That's not to suggest that there's a quar- terback controversy brewing; rather, it's a re>ection of the coaches' growing con=dence in their backup QB. That's not newfound, either. The coaches knew Stevens had potential long before he threw for 216 yards in the spring game. They know he's more than just an arm, too. A year ago, as McSorley's under- study, he amassed 198 rushing yards on only 21 carries. BIGGEST LOSS Everyone who was in the QB meeting room last season with o?ensive coordinator Joe Moorhead is expected to be back again. Gone, how- ever, is their favorite receiving target. With Chris Godwin o? to the NFL, try- outs to be McSorley's go-to guy have al- ready begun, but replacing the production of a draA pick and one of the school's all-time greats might not be a one-man job. NUMBERS GAME McSorley threw the deep pass as well as anyone in the country last year, displaying an un- matched ability to evade pressure while =nding open receivers down- =eld. But it was his uncanny second- half e?orts that helped drive Penn State to the Rose Bowl. Of his 29 touch- down passes, 18 came in the third and fourth quarters, while he also threw 30 passes that went over 25 yards. OUTLOOK With McSorley easing into his second year as starter, reinforced by a dynamic backup in Stevens who now has some experience, Penn State is in an en- viable situation with its quarterbacks. QUARTERBACKS QUARTERBACK NO NAME HT WT YEAR 9 Trace McSorley 6-0 204 Sr./Jr. 2 Tommy Stevens 6-4 224 Jr./So. 7 Jake Zembiec 6-3 209 So./Fr. 16 Billy Fessler 5-11 188 Sr./Jr. S P O T L I G H T B Y T I M O W E N * Starting experience in 2016 But no matter how flattering they may be, the trappings of fame offer little in the way of personal satisfaction. Among the more doggedly process-oriented players on Penn State's roster, Barkley finds joy in the work. The excellent numbers he has posted in the weight room and in speed testing are the byproducts of a core belief that his commitment to a demanding training regimen will translate onto the football field. The on-field success drives him to keep pushing in the weight room, creating a positive feedback loop that seemingly has no limit. Barkley's passion for both the game and the preparation that it requires, even the parts that some other people might con- sider drudgery, is so seemingly complete that it raises an obvious question: Is there anything about football that he doesn't love? "Losing," he says earnestly. "That's a given." Indeed, but not an acceptable answer for our purposes. So Barkley mulls the question a little longer. "If I had to elimi- nate something… I don't know the word I'm looking for. It's basically the things that come with being a football player…" As Barkley ruminates, McSorley, just arrived from the Merrill Lynch office, pulls up a chair and joins the conversa- tion. He is asked to guess what his team- mate likes least about football. "Heavy squatting," he says. Noticing Barkley's nonplussed expres- sion, McSorley tries again. "Injuries." Barkley says he'll consider both of those answers acceptable, but they're not get- ting at his original line of thinking. The part of football that he doesn't love, he says, is the "all eyes on you" sensation that accompanies players off the field. "The spotlight," McSorley says. The spotlight. Barkley and McSorley have both seen their lives change dramat- ically in the past year. And while they cling to any semblance of the normalcy they enjoyed pre-stardom, their influ- ence on Penn State's remarkable 2016 season has rendered those efforts fruit- less. For Barkley, the transition started to take hold by the end of his true freshman season. Racing to the top of the depth chart before the season's midpoint, he announced his presence on the national stage by gouging Ohio State for 194 yards on 26 carries. Soon after that nationally televised game, strangers began to recog- nize him, whether he wanted them to or not. It's now been nearly two years since he started garnering widespread acclaim, and while the scrutiny has only intensi- fied, Barkley continues to find it perplex- ing that strangers would want to take his picture. He's constantly on guard, aware that even the most routine interaction could easily end up on social media and be subject to misinterpretation. "You always have to be aware, even if you're not doing anything wrong," he said. "You could be at a party and say you don't even drink,