Penn State Football Rewind: Trace McSorley has huge day against Georgia State
Trace McSorley had a huge day for Penn State football against Georgia State
With two wins to start the 2017 season, Penn State next faced an opponent from the Sun Belt Conference. Heavily favored on paper, it seemed that the only question was just how large the margin of victory would be for the Nittany Lions.
In a rare early season contest under the bright lights of Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions put on a show for their fans from the onset.
Quarterback Trace McSorley was primed and ready for a huge performance in primetime. Early in the game he connected on a 10-yard pass to backup quarterback Tommy Stevens for the first score of the game. Later in the quarter McSorley hit Saquon Barkley for an 85-yard touchdown strike.
McSorley was just getting started on his evening. He would be responsible for two more scores in the second quarter — a 27-yard pass to DaeSean Hamilton and an 8-yard touchdown run. He also threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Polk in the third quarter before taking a seat on the bench for the remainder of the game.
The junior quarterback threw for 309 total yards and accounted for four touchdowns.
Barkley struggled on the ground, as Georgia State was keying to stopping him. Although he rushed for just 47 yards, he led the Nittany Lions with 142 receiving yards on four receptions.
The entire Penn State offense had a great night and racked up 526 total yards, 360 of which came through the air.
On defense, the Nittany Lions pitched their second shutout in just three games. Although they allowed the Panthers to rack up 320 yards, they once again locked down in the red zone. Head coach James Franklin caused a bit of controversy with just 11 seconds left in the game when he called a timeout that appeared to ice the Georgia State kicker on a short field goal attempt. Of course, the kick was missed and the shutout was preserved.
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Franklin later claimed that he called the timeout because his backup special teams unit wasn’t lined up correctly and he was simply just coaching till the end. No matter the reason for the timeout, Penn State kept the shutout and improved to 3-0 on the season.