‘Captain of the ship’: Reliving Trace McSorley’s career-defining games as Senior Day approaches

Trace McSorley remembers running out of the south end-zone tunnel at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 6, 2014. He was a true freshman, redshirting and serving as Christian Hackenberg’s unused backup. He was a relative nobody to Nittany Lion fans, an undersized three-star recruit few knew anything about.

Now, as he prepares for Saturday’s Senior Day, it’s hard for McSorley to fathom how much time has passed and how much has happened since that moment.

“I’ve been here for so long,” McSorley said Tuesday with a smile. “I feel like this is never going to end.”

And yet, here we are. McSorley — the all-time program record-holder for wins, passing yards, passing touchdowns and touchdowns responsible for — is set to play for the final time before a Beaver Stadium crowd.

But before he does, we looked back on No. 9’s career and examined the nine games that defined it.

Oct. 1, 2016: Penn State 29, Minnesota 26

As James Franklin and the Nittany Lions jogged into the sound end-zone tunnel down 13-3, the message was clear. “The student section was chanting, ‘Fi-re Frank-lin! Fi-re Frank-lin!’” the coach recalled at Big Ten media days in July. “And I don’t think it was for a couple minutes.”

It wasn’t. The hecklers hummed on for at least a quarter. Stuck in a 2-2 start to Franklin’s third season, a vocal minority of Nittany Nation grew restless with their coach. And now, it felt like the Nittany Lions might lose to Minnesota after being blown out by Michigan a week before. Penn State needed a spark — to save its season and maybe Franklin’s job. That’s when it clicked for McSorley.

The gunslinger completed 10 of 22 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown in the second half against the Gophers. McSorley connected with Irvin Charles for a momentum-shifting, 80-yard score at the top of the third quarter, took a lick on a 6-yard TD run later in the period, and, most importantly, scrambled for a 26-yard gain with 11 seconds left in regulation to set up Tyler Davis’ game-tying field goal.

“That was probably a pivotal moment in our program,” Franklin said of the overtime win, “A pivotal moment in my regime.”

Dec. 3, 2016: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31

“One play, 70 yards. We’ve got a ballgame in Naptown.”

The voice of play-by-play personality Gus Johnson bellowed as FOX’s cameras panned to McSorley. After hooking up with Saeed Blacknall for a touchdown on Penn State’s first play of the second half, No. 9 looked to the Nittany Lion sideline, hit a dinger and saw the imaginary ball fly out of the stadium.

The game wasn’t over. Far from it, really. But McSorley — “The Wizard,” as Johnson called him — was locked in.

McSorley turned in the greatest quarterback performance in Big Ten Championship history, throwing for 384 yards and four touchdowns. His 18-yard wheel route dime to Saquon Barkley early in the fourth quarter gave Penn State a lead it wouldn’t surrender. The comeback kids were down 28-7 early, but outscored Wisconsin 31-3 down the stretch, capturing the program’s first conference crown since 1994.

And it did it on the back of McSorley.

“He was the captain of the ship,” Blacknall said. “And he was steering us in the right direction.”

Jan. 2, 2017: Southern California 52, Penn State 49

McSorley sat at his locker in a grass-stained jersey trying to hold back tears. Cameras flashed and phones recorded every word the distraught leader could muster. Understandably, he wasn’t in a talkative mood. But two words came to his lips most frequently: “It hurts.”

McSorley threw for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth. But following the Nittany Lions’ electrifying, heartbreaking Rose Bowl loss to USC, QB 1 shouldered the blame after a three-interception showing. On the third INT, McSorley forced a deep shot to Chris Godwin in a tied contest with 27 seconds left. USC’s Leon McQuay snared it, and the Trojans kicked a time-expiring field goal to win it.

McSorley walked off the field stunned, at a loss for words. And when asked how that game, that moment, would affect him, he offered inspiring words as teammates looked on in a gutted locker room.

“We need to use this emotion, this pain we feel now as a team,” McSorley said. “It’s all about how you finish. It’s not about how you start. It’s how you finish.”

Sept. 23, 2017: Penn State 21, Iowa 19

Need a snapshot of McSorley’s career? Look no further than the final 112 seconds in Iowa City.

Pulling off what Barkley called “a clinic,” McSorley guided Penn State on a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to beat the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. The quarterback completed 7 of 11 passes for 68 yards, ran for the other 12 and ripped a 7-yard pass to Juwan Johnson in the back of the end zone.

Even now, when you go back and watch the YouTube clip, you half expect Iowa safety Amani Hooker to get a finger on McSorley’s needle-threading throw. But he didn’t. It was a perfectly weighted ball to kill Iowa’s upset hopes — and at the time, keep the Nittany Lions’ playoff dreams alive.

“Coming down to that last play, it was now or never,” McSorley said. “We’re going to score a touchdown. That was just the mentality.”

Added Barkley: “That guy is cold-blooded.”

Dec. 30, 2017: Penn State 35, Washington 28

A year after New Year’s Six sorrows, the Nittany Lions triumphed. Barkley did Barkley things, Mike Gesicki and DaeSean Hamilton were reliable, and the defense limited Huskies signal-caller Jake Browning in a Fiesta Bowl win over Washington. But everyone in Penn State’s postgame locker room knew who carried them.

“You need a quarterback like that, to put it all on his shoulders,” wideout Juwan Johnson said of McSorley. “The way he handles himself is beyond words.”

McSorley was stellar in the Sonoran Desert, rightfully earning the game’s offensive MVP honors. He completed 32 of 41 passes for 342 yards and added 60 rushing yards. On third down alone, No. 9 was 12 of 12 passes for 193 yards.

McSorley, like he always has, praised everyone but himself. But he further cemented his legacy as a big-game showstopper.

“He deserves more credit than he’s been given,” Johnson said with a smile. “But the Fiesta Bowl MVP, man, he deserves that wholeheartedly.”

Sept. 1, 2018: Penn State 45, Appalachian State 38

Penn State wasn’t supposed to be in this position. Down seven with a minute to go, the Nittany Lions — 24-point favorites in their opener against upset-minded Appalachian State — needed their savior to start the season. And he pulled through.

After KJ Hamler’s 52-yard kickoff return sparked the Beaver Stadium crowd, McSorley went to work. He found Brandon Polk with a fourth-down dart to extend the game before firing a 15-yard touchdown toss to Hamler with 42 seconds left in regulation. It was a pressure-packed throw, not only given the surrounding circumstances, but because two Mountaineer blitzers bore down on McSorley.

But he made what Big Ten Network analyst Matt Millen called “a Heisman play.” And while he never really contended for the trophy, McSorley’s highlight reel is filled with those moments.

Sept. 29, 2018: Ohio State 27, Penn State 26

A day before the highly-anticipated White Out affair, ESPN’s College GameDay crew joined reporters to talk everything Penn State-Ohio State. And, of course, McSorley was brought up.

“He’s got that little edge, bravado and swagger to him,” host Rece Davis said. “When the time comes for a clutch drive, who would you rather have than him?” Oh, the foreshadowing.

With 82 seconds left, the Nittany Lions faced a fourth-and-5 on the Buckeyes’ 43 down one. And McSorley — who accounted for a program-record 461 yards (286 passing, 175 rushing) — wasn’t given the opportunity to make a play. Instead, offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne called a run for Miles Sanders, which lost two yards.

It’s a play that not only defines Penn State’s 2018 season, but also directly influences McSorley’s legacy. If he were given an opportunity to make a play, who knows how the Nittany Lions’ season turns out? Maybe a win catapults No. 9 into the thick of the Heisman discussion.

But that didn’t happen.

Oct. 27, 2018: Penn State 30, Iowa 24

McSorley — the fifth-year senior seen as invincible, a guy who kept getting up no matter what — stayed on the ground. Beaver Stadium held its collective breath, as the grimacing record-holder held his right knee.

McSorley suffered a serious enough injury to be kept out of the game for a bit, serious enough that no one knew if he’d return for good. But when he did come back, boy, was it a scene. Four plays into the third quarter, with a bulky brace strapped to his right knee, McSorley dashed 51 yards for a stunning score.

It was in that moment that McSorley realized he can still play despite the injury. And it was in that moment that fans were reminded — just weeks after frustrating losses to Ohio State and Michigan State — what kind of quarterback McSorley is.

“I don’t coach them, and I’m not on the other sideline,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “But when you see him across the field, it seems like everyone trusts him. Everyone believes in him when he’s in there. ... He’s pretty much done it his whole career.”

Nov. 17, 2018: Penn State 20, Rutgers 7

In pregame warmups, McSorley caught a snap from center Michal Menet. But instead of slinging it back to the lineman, QB 1 flicked a 5-yard toss to someone on the sideline: An 8-year-old boy wearing a Penn State shirt and New England Patriots hat. The kid caught and threw the ball back to McSorley before shyly turning away with a wide smile.

“Holy crap,” the boy’s father said. “You just caught a pass from Trace McSorley.” And by the end of the day, that youngster wasn’t alone.

It wasn’t a vintage McSorley performance by any means; he admitted after that he struggled and missed wide-open receivers. But the fifth-year senior tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Pat Freiermuth and picked up his 30th career victory, making him the winningest quarterback in program history.

After the game, everyone from Franklin to safety Nick Scott explained in detail what makes McSorley so great as a quarterback. Hamler, meanwhile, kept it simple.

“He’s a soldier. He’d do anything. He’d die for this team,” the redshirt freshman wideout said. “He’s the best quarterback to ever go to Penn State. That’s it. That’s how it is.”