Blue White Illustrated

T H E M O N T H I N . . . Joe Moorhead was very apparently loaded up to address what he feels is a percep- tion from one corner or another about Trace McSorley and last year's Penn State offense. And he unloaded. The fifth question of Saturday's brief session with the PSU coordinator was an open-ended one about what might be "the next step in McSorley's evolution as a quarterback." And Moorhead decided someone's infer- ence somewhere needed to be corrected – that a substantial part of last year's of- fense merely involved McSorley heaving up 50-50 balls and letting Chris Godwin or one of the Lions' other athletic receivers high-point them. I don't know where any of that came from, frankly, from either what was written or what Moorhead might have seen. What I do know is that McSorley had a couple of remarkable knacks, especially for a rookie. One was sensing pressure without being preoccu- pied with it. And another was resisting the quick-and-dirty scramble from a crumbling pocket for 4- or 7- or 10-yard gains when bigger chunks were out there through the air. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM Of all the great recruiting James Franklin has done since arriving here, a case can be made that no one has made a bigger one-year splash than Joe Moorhead. Never mind that he's not a player but the Nittany Lions' offensive coordinator. Moorhead took a dormant offense and turned it into arguably the most explosive in Penn State history as the Lions established school records for points, total offense and passing yardage and won the Big Ten championship. NEIL RUDEL ALTOONA MIRROR Since he arrived in January 2014, Franklin has made an extra effort to engage pock- ets from throughout multiple communities and constituencies. That extends to practice. Over the past year, groups of youth sports teams, ROTC undergrads, inter- national students, and faculty and staff season-ticket-holders all have made special invitation-only visits to a Penn State practice. For most — like the spouse of a fac- ulty member who has family ties to PSU dating back to Rip Engle — it was their first time to a Penn State football practice. MIKE POORMAN STATECOLLEGE.COM For most of [Andrew] Nelson's career, this offensive line has been looked upon as the offense's — if not the team's — Achilles' heel. It's been lambasted and ridiculed, criticized and made fun of. But not this preseason. And not anymore. "But, truthfully," Nelson said, "the mindset on the offensive line hasn't changed. We were struggling then, but we still wanted to be the best. We were inexperi- enced, and we were going to do anything we could to make our team successful. And were we as successful back then? No, but the mentality is still the same. And there's no one on this unit that thinks we've arrived because we're finally no longer targeted by the media." JOSH MOYER CENTRE DAILY TIMES Me and my teammates, we joke around about it. But that's actually really one of my goals. I really want to see Alabama in the national championship or just [play] them somehow, some way. TORRENCE BROWN, a Tuscaloosa native, on his goals for the season Walking downtown, taking pictures and signing stu3 – I just try to smile, be nice, be kind, because you never know, a picture or saying one word to someone could change someone's day. SAQUON BARKLEY on his interactions with fans O P I N I O N S Q U O T E S A Penn State football book by Lou Prato with a forward by Adam Taliaferro The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions Price: $14.95 plus shipping Published by Triumph Books (soft cover) Autographed copies available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171 Autographed copies of Lou's book We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions are still available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171. Price: $19.95 plus tax where applicable and shipping

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