Trace McSorley

Trace McSorley

Penn State Nittany Lions No. 9
Position	Quarterback
Class	Sophomore
Major	Accounting
Career history
College	Penn State (2014–present)
Bowl games	2014 Pinstripe Bowl 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl 2017 Rose Bowl
High school	Ashburn (VA) Briar Woods
Personal information
Date of birth	(1995-08-23) August 23, 1995
Place of birth	Ashburn, Virginia
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Career highlights and awards
Big Ten Champion (2016) Big Ten Championship game MVP (2016) Second Team All-Big Ten (2016)
Stats at ESPN.com

Richard Thomas "Trace" McSorley III (born August 23, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Big Ten Conference.^[1]

Early years

McSorley attended Briar Woods High School in Ashburn, Virginia from 2010 to 2014, where he started from his freshman year of high school. In his freshman year, he led the team to a 13–2 record and a state championship. Two seasons later in his junior year, he led the team to a 15–0 record and its third consecutive state title.^[2] He was named First-team All-State by the Virginia Coaches Association and Virginia Preps. As a junior, he was awarded All-Dulles District First Team; Dulles District Offensive Player of the Year; and Second-team All-Region quarterback.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
Trace McSorley QB	Ashburn, VA	Briar Woods HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	4.53	Jan 20, 2014
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 79
Overall recruiting rankings:
‡ Refers to 40 yard dash Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

College career

Redshirt freshman year

During McSorley's redshirt freshman year, he appeared in a total of six games, five of them when the game was in hand and McSorley was only in for a few plays.^[3] In the 2016 Taxslayer Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs, after then starter Christian Hackenberg went out with an injury, McSorley was brought in with Penn State down 24–3. He nearly led a comeback, finishing the game 14 for 27 with 142 yards and two touchdowns, but PSU fell short 24–17.^[4]

Sophomore year

With the early departure of quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who was drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, McSorley and redshirt freshman Tommy Stevens competed for the job. On McSorley's birthday, August 24, 2016, head coach James Franklin announced that McSorley would be the starter. In his first start on September 3, against Kent State, he went 16 of 31 for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 33–13 win.^[5] In McSorley's second game, he threw for 332 yards and a score in a rivalry game at Pitt. Later in the season when the Nittany Lions played Minnesota, McSorley put up career high yardage numbers when he threw for 335 yards in a 29–26 OT win.^[6]

On October 22, 2016, Penn State and McSorley played Big Ten rival Ohio State. McSorley struggled with accurately throwing the ball, completing 8 of 23 passes for 153 yards. However, he scored two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing, en route to a stunning upset of No. 2 Ohio State by unranked Penn State.^[7] The win gave PSU a No. 24 ranking in the AP Poll, PSU's first ranking in the top 25 since the 2011 season.^[8] The next week at Purdue, McSorley completed 12 of 23 passing for 228 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. The Nittany Lions won in a 62–24 rout and cemented their place in the AP Top-25 with a no. 20 ranking.^[9]

On November 1, 2016, Penn State was no. 12 in the first official College Football Playoff rankings of the season.^[10]

In a week 12 matchup vs rival Michigan State, McSorley threw for a career high 376 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He went 17/23 with a completion percentage of 73%, and led Penn State to the 45–12 win, earning a berth to the Big Ten Championship game against Wisconsin.^[11] On November 30, 2016, McSorley was named Second Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media.^[12] With a third quarter completion to DaeSean Hamilton, McSorley broke the Penn State single-season record for passing yards. The sophomore started the night fourth on the single-season list, but passed Christian Hackenberg, Daryll Clark and Matt McGloin’s to retain the top spot. McSorley finished the game with 384 yards, 22 of 31 passing, and four touchdowns in an MVP, Big Ten Championship winning performance. He now has 3,360 yards in his first season as the Nittany Lions’ starter.

"Trace has been dynamic all year long," head coach James Franklin said after the game. "I'm really proud of him, you know, his attitude, his demeanor, the type of teammate he is, the type of leader he is. Obviously he made plays tonight."

The sophomore led the Nittany Lions back from a 28-7 deficit and broke the Big Ten Championship Game record for passing yards, set by Michigan State’s Connor Cook back in 2013, and touchdowns. His 364 total yards was also a championship game record.^[13]

On December 5, 2016, it was revealed that McSorley was on multiple Heisman ballots, some even as high as two, just behind Louisville QB Lamar Jackson. McSorley became the first Nittany Lion to be on a Heisman ballot in over ten years.^[14]

After the Big Ten Championship game, McSorley ranked third in FBS in passing yard on throws over 20 yards with 1,491.

Statistics

Reference^[15]

Honors and awards

• Big Ten Champion — 2016
• Big Ten Championship game MVP — 2016
• Second team All-Big Ten — 2016

Records

• Big Ten
  • Most passing yards in Big Ten Championship game — 384 yds
  • Most passing touchdowns in Big Ten Championship game — 4 TDs
• Penn State
  • Most single-season passing yards — 3,360 yds (as of December 2016)
  • Most single-season total yards — 3712 yds (as of December 2016)^[16]
  • Most single-season passing touchdowns — 25 (as of December 2016)^[17]
  • Most single-season 300-yard passing games — 5 (as of December 2016)^[18]
  • Most consecutive games with touchdown pass — 15^[19]

Personal

Trace is the son of Rick and Andrea McSorley, and he has one younger sister, Micaela. His father played football at the University of Richmond and an uncle, Jeff McSorley, played football at Marshall University. He enjoys playing organized and pick-up sports and video games. McSorley plans on majoring in Accounting at Penn State.^[20]

McSorley is a Christian.^[21] McSorley has a tattoo on his left biceps consisting of a cross with the bible verses Psalms 23:4 and Phillipians 4:13. He has said that the message behind the tattoo is "always pulling me in the right direction" and keeps him grounded and true to his roots.^[22]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trace McSorley.

• Trace McSorley on ESPN
• Penn State biography