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Penn State Football: Trace McSorley showing better play

By Collin Wieder

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions passes the ball during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers on September 30, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Indiana 45-14. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions passes the ball during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers on September 30, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Indiana 45-14. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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Struggling Penn State football signal caller Trace McSorley found a bit more of his 2016 swagger Saturday. Is he almost back to his normal self?

Fans and analysts alike have continued to criticize Trace McSorley’s early season struggles. They want to see better play or Tommy Stevens take the reins. What does the Penn State football signal caller do during his slump? He keeps winning. At 5-0, he’s beaten a lot of cupcakes, but in the roller coaster world of college football, he’s been huge when needed.

Who cares that he’s not playing A-plus football every week. Penn State football is playing well and it’ll take off out of the stratosphere when he returns to form. Right now, he’s heading toward that path. Against Iowa, he clearly showed those signs on the game-winning drive.

He followed that up with a solid performance against Indiana. It wasn’t void of mistakes, but he’s showing improvement consistently hitting his throws. The biggest grievance is that he’s killing drives by overthrowing receivers. Iowa and Pitt were prime examples, but he also found his receivers better against Indiana.

In terms of the interceptions, he still needs to cut those down. Some of those struggles were due to the pressure coming through an up-and-down offensive line, but it’s got to be fixed. He needs to not do too much and just play for the next down.

People want to say his numbers are inflated because of cupcake opponents, but he’s actually been fairly efficient against Power 5 opponents. He’s completed 69-of-107 passes for 763 yards, six touchdowns against three interceptions while rushing for two more.

Against Indiana, he hit his receivers in stride and seemed more comfortable. Chemistry and trust can take a long time to build. McSorley and Chris Godwin had loads of it. McSorley may not have a receiver like that, but he’s trusting Juwan Johnson and DaeSean Hamilton a lot more. (Video Courtesy of Nittany Nation).

Northwestern’s defense makes for a quality test this week. They allow just 239.3 passing yards per game at just a 56.8 completion percentage. McSorley can take on some much-needed confidence if he succeeds against Northwestern.

Must Read: A look at Penn State football commits’ performances in Week 6

Powerhouse defenses Michigan and Ohio State are just around the corner. So, Penn State needs to take the final step forward. McSorley can do that with a win and nice performance.

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