Penn State Football Players of the Game vs Georgia State
By Marty Leap
On Saturday night the Penn State football team pounded Georgia State 56-0. Here are the players of the game for the Nittany Lions.
After dominating Georgia State 56-0 the Penn State Nittany Lions are now 3-0 this season. This marks the second time in James Franklin’s four seasons in Happy Valley that the Nittany Lions have gone undefeated in non-conference play.
Saturday night’s game could not have gone much better for the Penn State football team. As you would like to see against an undermanned opponent like Georgia State, the Nittany Lions dominated in all three phases of the game.
Here are Penn State’s players of the game from their 56-0 victory over Georgia State.
Offense – Quarterback Trace McSorley
Redshirt junior signal-caller Trace McSorley was in need of a rebound performance after struggling last week against Pitt. McSorley would go on to rebound in a big way on Saturday night.
Trace McSorley was 18-of-23 passing on Saturday night. He threw for 309 yards, four touchdowns, and he did not turn the ball over. McSorley also added 24 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on Saturday night.
After having happy feet, being over-amped, and being victimized by poor mechanics against Pitt last week Trace McSorley looked much more like himself on Saturday night. His performance is a big reason why the Nittany Lions rolled to victory.
Honorable mention – RB Saquon Barkley, QB Tommy Stevens
Defense – Defensive End Shaka Toney
When Nittany Lion opponents get into obvious passing situations redshirt freshman Shaka Toney enters the game at defensive end as a pass rush specialist. Due to the score, Toney was able to get additional playing time on Saturday night. Toney would take advantage of this opportunity.
Shaka Toney finished Saturday night’s game with three tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, and half a sack. The half a sack was Toney’s first career sack. He also recorded the first forced fumble of his career on Saturday night.
Throughout the night Shaka Toney was a terror coming off the edge for the Nittany Lion defense. He routinely used his great speed and burst to beat the offensive tackle across from him off the ball. This led to Toney spending plenty of time in the Panther backfield.
Honorable mention – DE Daniel Joseph, CB Grant Haley
Special teams – Punter Blake Gillikin
Very quietly, punter Blake Gillikin continues to be one of Penn State’s best players. Gillikin punted three times on Saturday night and netted a total of 136 yards. This is an average of 45.3 yards per punt and his long punt was 52 yards.
Blake Gillikin can be a real weapon for the Nittany Lions and his booming punts could help the Nittany Lions steal a victory a down the road.
Honorable mention – WR DeAndre Thompkins, DB Garrett Taylor
Next: Penn State 56, Georgia State 0
That will do it for this week. Next up for the Nittany Lions is their first big test of the season, as well as their Big Ten Conference opener, as they travel to Kinnick Stadium to battle the 3-0 Iowa Hawkeyes next Saturday night at 7:30 PM.