Penn State loses TaxSlayer Bowl to Georgia, 24-17

Trace McSorley got his legs lifted from underneath him by Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith in the middle of the fourth quarter of Penn State’s 24-17 TaxSlayer Bowl loss.

Smith had his arms clamped around each one of McSorley’s lower legs, and as he lifted the backup quarterback off the ground, stopping a would-be gain on the keeper, he split them apart and simultaneously slammed his 6-foot-1, 217-pound frame down on McSorley’s.

The crowd groaned in sympathy.

But a play later, after his teammates peeled him off of the EverBank Field turf, McSorley fired a bullet of a pass to receiver Geno Lewis for 16 yards and a first down.

Then, a mere seconds after Smith had split his legs, McSorley split Georgia’s coverage, threading the needle between two defensive backs to find an outstretched, diving DaeSean Hamilton in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown catch, the second scoring strike of the young quarterback’s career.

“In my mind, I tried to just equate it to practice,” McSorley said. “When I was in there, it was my time to run the offense and everyone just being confident in me (reinforced) my confidence.

“That was huge for me, just all the belief I felt my teammates had in me.”

After a third quarter full of three-and-outs and stuffed runs, McSorley began to settle into a rhythm.

His first collegiate touchdown pass opened the fourth quarter, after Penn State elected to go for a score on fourth down, bringing back to the sideline the field goal unit sent out as the final seconds of the third quarter ticked off the clock. McSorley kept his feet underneath him and found Geno Lewis in the far corner of the end zone.

The throw was a little late, but the receiver executed some fancy footwork to scrape his toes along the in-bounds side of the grass.

“First of all, I felt pretty excited, I mean, that was my first touchdown pass,” McSorley said, grinning. “It just got me getting into a roll, and helped me know that I could give these guys a chance. And they came back and told me they felt confident, you know, and to keep feeding the ball.”

McSorley finished the game with 14 completions on 27 attempts for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

“I noticed the shift in him once we starting making some plays, scoring some touchdowns,” said head coach James Franklin. “He came to the sideline, was fiery, had some emotion. That’s the next step. At that point up until then, he was (just) kind of doing his job. At the quarterback position, you need that leadership as well.”

Georgia’s Smith brought down 38-game starting quarterback Christian Hackenberg with about 8:30 left in the second quarter. The junior landed hard on his right shoulder, forcing him to exit the game a few plays later. Franklin said after the game that Hackenberg’s X-rays came back negative and that he had sprained his shoulder but didn’t think it was serious. He completed 8 passes on 14 attempts with 142 yards and an interception before leaving the game, and after, announced his intent to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft.

“My family and I felt like this was best for me,” he told reporters. “My role here at Penn State, my job has been accomplished. It’s in good hands moving forward, and I’m proud of that.”

Defensive tackle Austin Johnson also declared for the draft in similar fashion.

Receiver Chris Godwin accounted for almost half of Penn State’s 281 total receiving yards, and with his six-catch, 133-yard game he became just the fifth receiver in Penn State history to go over 1,000 yards in a single season.

He was a bright spot for the Nittany Lions, who struggled on both sides of the ball as the Bulldogs pulled away in the second and third quarters.

“You can’t come out and start slow the way we did and think you’re going to beat that kind of opponent in a bowl game,” said Franklin. “That’s not just offense. I think it’s easy to sit here and say ‘offensively, we started slow.’ But I really feel defensively that was the case, and special teams too.”

Georgia kicker Marshall Morgan hit a 44-yard field goal on the team’s first drive of the game to lead 3-0.

Penn State tied things up with a 34-yard Tyler Davis field goal with 8:08 left in the half, immediately after Hackenberg exited the game and McSorley took his place.

The Bulldogs scored twice more before halftime, once on a direct-snap 44-yard rainbow touchdown pass from receiver Terry Godwin to Malcolm Mitchell (during which Mitchell blew right by the secondary coverage of Malik Golden and Trevor Williams), and again as Godwin pulled in a 17-yard pass himself from quarterback Greyson Lambert.

Hackenberg returned to the sideline to start the second half wearing a large immobilizing brace that held his right arm motionless at his side under a jacket.

Georgia’s Morgan also suffered an injury, and backup Collin Barber missed a 44-yard attempt to cap a drive after the Bulldogs returned a low, short punt deep into Penn State territory.

“Left one punt out in the middle of the field, which is the last thing we wanted to do,” said Franklin. “Talked about that all week long. We did that and it hurt us.”

Running back Sony Michel scored with 4:15 left in the third quarter on a 21-yard carry, and dragged defensive end Garrett Sickels along with him for the last five yards of the run.

McSorley rallied his team with his two touchdown passes in the final quarter of the game, but when Georgia got the ball back it kept the drive alive on the ground behind Michel and running back Kevin Marshall. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on Johnson gave the Bulldogs a crucial first down.

Linebacker Jason Cabinda and Sickels stopped Marshall on the next fourth down and 2, and Penn State got the ball back with 1:52 to play.

A gutsy run by McSorley for a 14-yard gain set up a Hail Mary attempt with eight seconds left, but his pass fell incomplete and Penn State fell to 7-6 to end the season.

“There are no moral victories,” said Franklin. “But our guys battled. They should be very proud. They should walk out of that locker room with their chest out, their head up. We got a lot of work to do moving forward, (but) No. 1, I love these guys and I’m proud of them.

“The future is bright.”

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Penn State loses TaxSlayer Bowl to Georgia, 24-17."