Blue White Illustrated

A T T H E 2 0 1 8 N I T T A N Y L I O N S TOO HOT TO HANDLE With his resilience and accuracy, Trace McSorley lifts PSU past Washington and sets the stage for a big senior season in 2018 I n two seasons as Penn State's start- ing quarterback, Trace McSorley has become known for his offensive pyrotechnics: the long completions, the touchdown passes, the runs. But one of the most important things he does for the Nittany Lions is one that tends to get overlooked, perhaps be- cause he does it every time he gets hit: He gets up. This is not faint praise. An injury at quarterback can alter the trajectory of a team's entire season in profound and discouraging ways; just ask Maryland or Michigan. But in McSorley, Penn State appears to have found a player with a seem- ingly superhuman pain threshold. Despite carrying the ball 290 times over the past two seasons as the cen- terpiece of the Nittany Lions' RPO offense, the 6-foot-0, 195-pounder didn't miss a start and barely missed a snap, except for the times in which he gave way to backup Tommy Stevens in the fourth quarter of lop- sided games. It isn't as if he hasn't taken any big hits during that span, or that those tackles don't hurt. They do – a lot. To- ward the end of the regular season, McSorley admitted to reporters that he would wake up some days wondering how he had managed to absorb so much punishment. "You'll be sore in places you've never been sore before," he said. "You're trying to figure it out: Why am I sore? Did I get hit there? What happened?" What happened, of course, was that he opted to play quarterback in ar- guably the most physical of the Power Five conferences. And the pain didn't subside when the Big Ten season ended. In the first quarter of the Fiesta Bowl, McSorley was on the receiving end of a violent and possibly illegal blow from Washington safety Ezekiel Turner. The hit looks even worse on replay than it did in real time. As McSorley slides to the turf near midfield, Turner dives to meet him. McSorley sees him coming in hot and tries to turn away but isn't able to avoid the collision. Their helmets meet, and McSorley's head snaps downward as he comes to a stop. On the sideline, James Franklin throws up his arms, looking for a flag. It never comes. Officials don't review the play for targeting and don't even assess a penalty. The hit had online commentators, fans and even ESPN's broadcast crew wondering why no flag had been thrown. But, true to form, McSorley stayed on the field. And then he in- flicted some pain of his own. McSorley accounted for 402 yards in Penn State's 35-28 victory: 342 yards passing on 32 completions in 41 at- tempts, and 60 yards rushing on 12 carries. He carved up a Washington de- fense that had been allowing only 277.4 yards per game to rank fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and he did it in the cruelest way possible, allowing DESERT STORM McSorley enjoyed one of his all-time great games in the Fiesta Bowl, throw- ing for 342 yards and rushing for 60 to fuel PSU's victory over the Huskies. Photo by Steve Manuel |

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