Penn State Football: Position Grades versus Pittsburgh
Quarterback
After a week where Trace could do almost no wrong, he struggled to do many things right. The number one thing came down to accuracy. McSorley failed to hit some wide open throws downfield and threw a lot of drive-killing incompletions.
With that said, McSorley completed the most important task of a quarterback, zero turnovers. Before the keyboard warriors call me out, the hail Mary interception doesn’t count. He didn’t put the team in a vulnerable position, and he also didn’t put the ball on the turf. In the 2016 matchup McSorley and the Penn State football offense struggled with turnovers.
This year, he took what the defense gave him and finished with a stat line of 15-for-28 for 164 yards, three interceptions and one meaningless interception. He hit Mike Gesicki for two easy touchdowns and found Barkley out of the backfield for another.
His three touchdown passes gave the defense a point cushion. And, his third down conversion to DaeSean Hamilton late in the fourth helped get the defense some needed rest.
McSorley needs to play better as the season wears on. But, if this is his one down game, it’s a pretty good time to have it.