Penn State Football: Quarterback Report Post Rutgers 2018
It was a far from polished performance for Penn State football’s Trace McSorley. Despite the rough game, he did become the winningest QB in school history.
Saturday’s 20-7 Penn State football win over Rutgers was an ugly, defensive-riddled battle. In what was supposed to be a coronation for the winningest quarterback in school history for senior Trace McSorley, ended on a more somber note.
McSorley did get win No. 30, the most of any QB in school history, and became the first player in history to reach the century mark in total touchdowns. In the same breath, he had an abysmal start to Saturday’s game, hitting just 4 of his first 15 passes, struggling with accuracy on an ailing knee. As gutty as he’s been to fight through the injury, the argument could be made that he’s hurt the offense. In fact, since he’s injured the knee against Iowa, he’s gone through a roller coaster in the passing game and has broken even in TD-to-INT ratio with just 4-to-4.
In total, McSorley finished the game 17-of-37 for 183 yards, two touchdowns against one interception, while adding 39 yards on seven carries. After shaking off a slow start, he hit 12-of-19 passes, including both touchdowns to freshman tight end Pat Freiermuth. The first of which was some nice short-range touch and the last one on a vintage McSorley roll right dime to the back shoulder.
His receivers did help him out in the win. KJ Hamler and Jahan Dotson make a few fantastic catches on some inaccurate throws to help build his confidence. It seemed like the biggest problem was finding the right touch or power on throws when he did miss. Miles Sanders was wide open on a route of the backfield, and he put too much heat instead of touch. On the interception, he somewhat overshot the intended receiver, uncorking a ball that had too much juice.
To be fair, he’s earned the opportunity to work through struggles. As arguably the program’s greatest QB of all time, he has that right to keep getting reps. The results haven’t hurt Penn State enough to cost the team a game, outside of Michigan, but no one could’ve saved them in that.
In relation to the other QBs, Tommy Stevens did not play at all in the win after seeing an uptick in action in recent weeks.
Next. Penn State Football: Defense sets tone in 20-7 win over Rutgers. dark
McSorley SEASON STATS: 8-3, 2018 record; 163-of-306, 2,054 yards, 15 touchdowns, six interceptions; 659 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, 4.7 yards per carry; 2,713 total yards, 24 total touchdowns
McSorley CAREER STATS: 30-8 career record; 9,424 passing yards; 59 completion percentage; 74 touchdowns, 24 interceptions; 1,558 rushing yards, 27 rushing touchdowns; 10,982 total yards, 101 total touchdowns
Stevens CAREER STATS: 22-of-39 for 279 yards, four touchdowns and one interception; 471 rushing yards, eight touchdowns, 6.5 yards per carry; 14 catches, 62 yards, two touchdowns; 812 total yards, 14 total touchdowns