Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/899908
PLAYER OF THE GAMETrace McSorley has grown accustomed to leading Penn State's offensive attack in recent weeks, and that's exactly what he did against Rutgers. With the Scarlet Knights keying in Saquon Barkley all game long, McSorley used the open space to complete 16 of his 21 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. The junior quarterback added a 20-yard rushing touchdown to his stellar day, helping Penn State cruise to a 35-6 vic- tory over Rutgers. PLAY OF THE GAMEPenn State has to be creative to get the ball in Barkley's hands in space anymore. Using a cre- ative play design from offensive coor- dinator Joe Moorhead, McSorley completed an underneath pass to Dae- Sean Hamilton, who lateraled the ball to Barkley. The running back promptly hurdled a Rutgers defender, taking the ball down to the 1-yard line in one of his displays of freakish athleticism. He finished off the scoring drive with a touchdown two plays later. BEST PASS Trailing 6-0 early in the game with the defense keying in on Barkley, McSorley led the Nittany Lions down the field for the first time early in the second quarter with a pair of chunk plays through the air. McSor- ley first found tight end Mike Gesicki for 19 yards over the middle of the field, and completed a 25-yard dime to Hamilton on the left sideline to set himself up for a rushing touchdown on the next play. WORST PASSGesicki had a step on the coverage as he angled toward the sideline about 30 yards downfield, and it looked like the Nittany Lions were set up for an explosive play. But McSorley couldn't hit Gesicki with an accurate throw, as his pass sailed harmlessly over the tight end's head. BEST RUNBarkley once again strug- gled to find any open space on Satur- day, so the Nittany Lions looked to their quarterback to make a play on the ground. McSorley scored the Nittany Lions' first points of the game by keep- ing the ball himself on an option play, making a few defenders miss on his way to a 20-yard score. BEST CATCHJuwan Johnson hadn't surpassed the 30-yard threshold in any JUDGMENT CALLS N O V E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 4 D A V I D E C K E R T | B L U E W H I T E c O N T R I B U T O R The best and the rest from Penn State's victory over the Scarlet Knights