Monday, February 24, 2025, 1:03AM |  35°
MENU
Advertisement
Penn State's Trace McSorley celebrates after scoring a touchdown against Michigan on Oct. 21.
1
MORE

For Penn State's unassuming Trace McSorley, a quiet assault on the record books

Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette

For Penn State's unassuming Trace McSorley, a quiet assault on the record books

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Trace McSorley’s objective, as always, is to go 1-0 this week.

That’s the mindset preached by Penn State coach James Franklin, and McSorley has embraced it as much as, if not more than, any of his teammates.

Tough to argue with the results, too, since Penn State enters its regular-season finale at Maryland Saturday at 3:30 p.m. with a 19-5 record in the nearly two seasons McSorley has been its starting quarterback.

Advertisement

And it’s not as if McSorley’s success is rooted in any exceptional physical assets.

Penn State and tight end Mike Gesicki could be heading to the Cotton Bowl to face Notre Dame.
Adam Bittner
Penn State trending toward New Year's Six bowl matchup

He is listed as being 6-feet, 202 pounds — roughly the size of one of Ben Roethlisberger’s legs — and could pass for an equipment manager when he’s not in uniform.

“It’s not like he’s 6-4,” Franklin said. “It’s not like he runs a 4.3. Not like he can throw it 80 yards, any of those types of things.”

Rather, Franklin added, McSorley “does everything well” and has “worked really hard to refine and get better at his craft.”

Advertisement

His efforts have been rewarded. McSorley already has scrawled his signature in the Penn State record book several times — he owns records for everything from career touchdown passes [55] to consecutive games with a touchdown pass [26] — and is poised to reach several other milestones Saturday. A sampling:

• He needs nine passing yards to record the fourth 3,000-yard season in program history, and to become the first player to do it twice.

• If he passes for 210 yards, McSorley will join Christian Hackenberg and Zack Mills as Penn State’s only quarterbacks to throw for more than 7,000 in their careers.

• McSorley is five rushing yards short of joining Michael Robinson as the only Nittany Lions quarterbacks to gain 400 or more on the ground in a season. He also is one rushing touchdown shy of matching Robinson’s single-season record of 11 by a quarterback.

Quarterbacks Tommy Stevens (2) and Trace McSorley celebrate after Penn State pulls out a narrow victory earlier this season against Iowa State on the road.
Dave Molinari
Penn State backup quarterback Tommy Stevens embraces multi-slash role

• His next completion will be the 231st of his career, tying Hackenberg for fifth place on the all-time list.

Some other numbers of note as Penn State prepares to close out the regular season:

• Despite allowing 27 or more points in three of the past four games, Penn State is tied with Auburn for the 8th-most stingy defense in FBS, allowing an average of 16.6 points per game. That’s down from an average of 25.4 in 2016.

• The Nittany Lions’ turnover margin of plus-12 ties Alabama and SMU for fifth-best in the nation.

• Penn State and Washington State are the only FBS teams with four players who have 40 or more receptions. The Nittany Lions who have done it are Saquon Barkley [46], Mike Gesicki [46], DaeSean Hamilton [43] and Juwan Johnson [42].

• Gesicki has at least one reception in 25 consecutive games.

• Kicker Tyler Davis has had a tough season on field-goal attempts, making just eight of 15, but has made all 130 extra points he has tried at Penn State and has 244 career points. That’s just two fewer than running back Lydell Mitchell, who is seventh on the school’s all-time list.

• Penn State has gotten a first down on first down 82 times this season, or 33.7 percent of its first-down plays.

• The Nittany Lions have trailed for just 37 minutes, 42 seconds of the 660 minutes they have played this season. Most of that came during a 27-24 loss at Michigan State Nov. 4. Penn State has held the lead for 1,534 of its 1,871 plays in 2017.

• Penn State is tied for fifth in FBS with 5.36 three-and-outs per game.

Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG.

First Published: November 22, 2017, 6:29 p.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Protesters gathered at the corner of Murray and Forbes avenues to speak out against the Trump administration's policies on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Squirrel Hill.
1
news
'We will fight back': Hundreds rally in Squirrel Hill in opposition of Trump, Musk and president's administration
Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller warms up in the outfield befiore their first home game of the Grapefruit League season at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida, on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.
2
sports
3 takeaways from Pirates’ second straight win to start spring training
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - FEBRUARY 23: Joel Blomqvist #30 of the Pittsburgh Penguins stands in the crease as the New York Rangers celebrate a goal by Adam Fox #23 in the third period during the game at PPG PAINTS Arena on February 23, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
3
sports
Goaltending woes cost the Penguins again as they fall to rival Rangers
The University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning
4
business
Amid funding uncertainty, Pitt pauses doctoral admissions
Kash Patel, new Federal Bureau of Investigation director, speaks after he is sworn in during a ceremony at the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building within the White House complex Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, in Washington.
5
news
New FBI Director Kash Patel will also be named acting head of the ATF, source says
Penn State's Trace McSorley celebrates after scoring a touchdown against Michigan on Oct. 21.  (Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette)
Antonella Crescimbeni/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story