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and junior seasons and compare them to what Ohio State's J.T. Barrett accom- plished during his four years in Colum- bus, you can make a strong case for McSorley's inclusion on the list of 2018 Heisman Trophy contenders. Statistically, Barrett was the best quarterback in Ohio State history. Dur- ing his four seasons as a starter, he amassed 12,697 yards of total o7ense to set a Big Ten record. He passed for 9,434 yards and was responsible for 147 touch- downs. Let's compare McSorley's statistical portfolio to Barrett's: The rising senior quarterback has started for only two seasons but has already passed for 7,369 yards and rushed for 899. That amounts to 8,268 yards of total o7ense, and he has totaled 77 touchdowns: 59 passing and 18 rushing. If McSorley's 6nal season is anything like the past two, he could approach or surpass Barrett's career numbers in a number of statistical categories. Let's say he passes for 3,600 yards in 2018, an entirely plausible number considering that he threw for 3,614 as a 6rst-year starter in 2016 and 3,570 this past sea- son. That would bring his career passing total to 10,969 yards, which would be third-best in Big Ten history behind for- mer Purdue quarterbacks Drew Brees and Curtis Painter. Now let's say McSor- ley duplicates his 2017 rushing total of 491 yards. That would raise his career rushing total to 1,390. With 12,359 yards of total o7ense in three starting seasons (plus an extended appearance in the TaxSlayer Bowl as a redshirt freshman), he would rank third in Big Ten history, 338 yards short of Barrett's four-year total and 333 behind Brees. Of course, these numbers are purely speculative on my part; we don't know yet how Penn State's o7ense is going to evolve with Barkley, Mike Gesicki and DaeSean Hamilton gone. But coming o7 of McSorley's Fiesta Bowl performance against Washington, one has to think he is primed for that type of showing in 2018. McSorley had the best game of his col- lege career in Penn State's victory over the Huskies, completing 32 of 41 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns. The most impressive aspect of his a9ernoon was what he was able to accomplish on third down. McSorley moved the chains on all 12 of his third-down passing at- tempts, completing 12 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns. During the past two years, McSorley has mastered the o7ense that former co- ordinator Joe Moorhead put in place. Just look at how he was able to distribute the ball this past season. Four receivers had 50 or more catches, as Gesicki 6n- ished with 57 for 563 yards, followed by Juwan Johnson with 54 for 701 yards, Barkley with 54 for 632 yards and Hamilton with 53 for 857 yards. Fourteen receivers caught passes, and McSorley 6nished 6rst in the Big Ten with an aver- age of 274.6 passing yards per game. He also led the league with 4,061 yards of total o7ense, averaging 312.4 yards per game. McSorley not only mastered Moor- head's o7ense, he distributed the foot- ball to those 14 di7erent receivers with precision. "I think that's one of the things we do a great job of," coach James Franklin said in his Fiesta Bowl postgame press con- ference. "These guys are unsel6sh. We don't have one receiver with 100 recep- tions who is leading the conference, but it makes it really di8cult to defend us because there are so many guys who can hurt you – our tight ends, our receivers, our running backs – in the passing game. "And Trace just does a great job of going through his progressions and tak- ing what the defense gives." Franklin was still at Vanderbilt when he started recruiting McSorley, but he continued to pursue the three-star Vir- ginia prospect a9er taking the Penn State job in January 2014. He was one of the few Football Bowl Subdivision coaches who recruited McSorley as a quarterback. It seemed as though Franklin saw something in the young prospect that others didn't. Now, Mc- Sorley has a chance to rank among the Big Ten's all-time total o7ense leaders, and maybe even contend for the Heis- man Trophy in his 6nal season. ■ !"#!" $%&'( !! "#$%&$' &' ()* + ! ,-)) +. /-% #$ !"#"$ %$ &' () " & *& +,-,../01

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