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This story appears in the September 10, 2018 issue of Sports Illustrated. For better storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine and get up to 94% off the sale price. Click here for more.
It's only in college football that a whole season can be suspended before the first Sunday of sunrise. Last Saturday, 58 minutes and 54 seconds after the first game of the season, the masses of Happy Valley prayed for a dream year to unfold a second day. Senior quarterback Trace McSorley waited for the slam with 66 seconds left in what should have been a Penn State waltz on the Appalachian state. Instead, the Nittany Lions were seven behind and faced a fourth and second place on the 40-yard mountain line. A season that would lead to a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff race was dangerously close to becoming a hit line of several decades.
It was 11 years since the Appalachian state shocked Michigan in Ann Arbor and Mountaineers color analyst Steve Brown shouted "YARD SALE AT THE BIG HOUSE! Now, with the Appalachian State in 38-31, the signing of a new college football season was already underway. No one remembers that the 2007 Wolverines won nine games, placed 6-2 in the Big Ten game and led a team led by the Heisman Trophy winner of the season in a championship game (Tim's Florida Gators Tebow). We remember that this Michigan team was at the loss of one of the great upheavals in the history of modern college football. Although the Appalachian State has moved from the FCS (63 awards) to the FBS (the same subdivision as Michigan and Penn State, with a total of 85 scholarships), it has become one of the Sun Belt's best programs Conference. The Mountaineers would crush Penn State's College Football Playoff aspirations and take a serious blow to the nation's Big Ten character.
This is not because the 201-meter quarterback 20 feet behind the center was caught unawares when he looked at the Appalachian State defense in this fourth loss. Remember this kid in math class who seemed to know how the numbers came up before the teacher even asked the questions? "The things you have to study for hours, they understand," said Penn State head coach James Franklin. "Trace is like that with football." McSorley did his calculations. He considered linebacker Anthony Flory and safety Josh Thomas as a stunning defensive field a split second before the end of the match. What originally looked like a blitz in a kitchen sink now resembled a classic four-man race. Then, as the slam went towards him, McSorley noticed that linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither had fallen into the blanket instead of rushing to McSorley's right. Penn State coordinator Ricky Rahne had called a play designed to take advantage of a blitz, which would have forced the defensive backs of the Mountaineers to cover the receivers Penn State. Instead – thanks to Penn State's decision to keep its backs back and tail for maximum protection – the Appalachian State was able to play eight against three in the covered area.
Fortunately, Penn State had practiced this. On the outside of McSorley's left, junior catcher Brandon Polk noticed cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles playing 10 meters from the line of scrimmage and running fast. If he could settle in the area, McSorley could find him before cornerback Clifton Duck, assigned to that area of the field, does not notice it. Polk did not need to say anything to McSorley. After two years at Briar Woods High in Ashburn, Va., And another three years together at Penn State, both companies have complete chemistry. McSorley grabbed the slam, turned to his left and shot Polk just before Duck arrived.
First down The Nittany Lions stayed alive. Three pieces later, the Appalachian State made a blitz. With two defenders who turned to him, McSorley fired at KJ Hamler's center, who took advantage of an individual blanket and clinched a 15-meter run that kicked off McSorley. The extra point, combined with a 56-yard goal attempt missed by the Appalachian state 27 seconds later, forced the overtime. The scene was ready for a final act that would show why college football is the best football brand: an extra period in front of 105,232 fans in a memorable setting, the possibility of a titanic surprise, a Heisman candidate up to par with everything on the line – all the first day of September.
Penn State fans are just as excited about the team's potential during McSorley's senior season (left) as in 2019, when versatile supporter Tommy Stevens (right) takes the reins of l & # 39; offensive.
Brett Carlsen / Getty Images
Moments like this are not new to Trace McSorley. He led Briar Woods to four straight games with the state, winning the first three. As a starter from Penn State, he led the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten title in 2016 and to an 11-2 record and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Washington in 2017. This year he is leading a Penn attack State that was dynamic last season. quarterback Saquon Barkley (NFL draft No. 2 pick in April) or 17-year-old main catcher DaeSean Hamilton or red zone wizard Mike Gesicki. Yet he has faith of all at State College. They saw him finding a way against Minnesota in 16, when McSorley used his arms and legs to force an overtime that allowed the Lions to win their first title in eight years. They saw it last September in Iowa, when McSorley passed a ball through three defensemen for a touchdown in a 21-19 win at the end of the allotted time. "When you have a quarterback who has won so many big games like he did," says Franklin, "it's hard not to trust him."
Franklin and Rahne recruited McSorley when the coaches were together in Vanderbilt. They had to tell defensive coordinator Bob Shoop that he was not allowed to launch McSorley on safety. However, before McSorley could sign with the Commodores, Franklin was hired by Penn State to replace Bill O'Brien. McSorley decided to go north instead of south and signed with the Nittany Lions. Given how Franklin and his team recruited behind McSorley, the QB could lead Penn State to a new golden age.
To do this, he will have to prove that he is up to the offensive success of Penn State. He is now 23 to 5 years old as a starter from Penn State, but Nittany Lion's share went to Barkley and Joe Moorhead, the former offensive coordinator who left in December after two seasons to become the coach Mississippi State Chief. Rahne, who was promoted from the tight final coach to the coordinator position after Moorhead's departure, believes McSorley knows the offense as well as anyone on the coaching staff. And McSorley is not afraid to speak. "He'll tell me what he really thinks," says Rahne. "The biggest thing about him is that he's very respectful, but he's not a man of trust. I'm not looking for those in my life and I certainly do not need my starter. "
Still, McSorley will need more help creating games. And as the season progresses and the Nittany Lions face the Big Ten portico, McSorley could get it from a most unlikely source: his backup. Tommy Stevens, a fourth-year junior, did not play against the Appalachian State because of a foot injury, which partly explains why Penn State started slowly against the Mountaineers. Stevens should take over from McSorley next year, but in another college football scenario, coaches expect the 6 "5", 240-pound Stevens to play a major role in the attack this season as a kind of Swiss Army Knife, which occupies a position that Rahne and Franklin call "Lion." The opportunity to play this role is one of the ways that Penn State coaches have persuaded Stevens – who could have graduated in spring seasons – to return to Penn State after considering other options.
The Nittany Lions have been building this package since 2016. In the fourth quarter of their 41-14 victory over Iowa that season, Stevens lined up on McSorley's right. Stevens waved to the left and arrived next to McSorley just as the break came. McSorley gave Stevens the ball for a sweep and Stevens defeated three tacklers for a 13-yard touchdown run. The following season, Moorhead, Franklin and Rahne expanded the package. Stevens aligned himself as an H-back. He's aligned as a receiver. He's lined up like a back. McSorley handed him the ball. McSorley threw him the ball. On occasion, McSorely gave the ball to Stevens and Stevens launched. When the games went out of control, Stevens finally had to queue at quarterback.
Such an arrangement probably could not happen in today's NFL. Yes, Kordell Stewart played the role of "slash" for the Steelers in the 90s, but the quarterback wages were not what they are now. What Penn State is doing would look like a quarter of Chiefs cyclists 2017, Patrick Mahomes, in the other positions, while Alex Smith remained at quarterback. Imagine how much coach Andy Reid was torn on the radio and by the leaders of his team. You want to do what with our quarter of tomorrow?
Penn State coaches would like the opposing Big Ten defensive coordinators to care about Stevens in all these roles. Meanwhile, McSorley wants Stevens to try to win the starting quarter every day, which pushes McSorley, which pushes the entire team to work harder. "The rest of our team has a chance to see that and see this dynamic between us," said McSorley, who has amassed 3,570 yards and 28 touchdowns in 17. "That certainly helps to boost the competitiveness of all the others. ". This relationship has filtered over the rest of the team, creating the kind of fierce competition to create jobs at the practice that has made Alabama, Clemson and the Ohio State competitors eternal . Combine the standard established by McSorley and Stevens with one or two other recruiting classes, and Penn State is on the verge of joining the elite college football ladder. Or maybe it could happen sooner. Maybe this season?
Amani Oruwariye has risen at the best time to snatch the most dangerous surprise of Saturday
Justin K. Go / Getty Images
A loss to a Sun Belt team in the first game would have seriously damaged this plan. After Nittany's Lions imposed an overtime, McSorley stood in midfield with the rest of the captains for the overtime draw. Mountaineers called the tails. The piece landed at the tail. In the NFL, the team that wins the draw wants the ball. In college, where both teams are guaranteed to score points, the smart game is to choose to play defense first. The Appalachian state did not want the ball to start. But McSorley knew that Nittany's Lions had received the ultimate consolation prize: they had to choose the end of the field that would host the first set of extra time. As soon as the referee turned to the Penn State captains, McSorley, who had already passed 230 yards and a touchdown, ran for 53 yards and two more touchdowns, and started to point to the area. South. most suffocating student section in America.
If Nittany's Lions were to save their season, their comrades would help. These fans downplayed the noise that Penn State put up on the 25-yard Appalachian State Line. They played four times later when Miles Sanders, who played in all of Penn State's overtime games, broke through the middle for a four-yard touchdown run that allowed the Lions to reach 45- 38.
Now, the Appalachian state had the ball. When quarterback Zac Thomas looked up, he saw a pot of pom-pom shaking, students raging with hormones and not worrying about homework for at least 24 hours. On the sidelines of Penn State, Franklin and McSorley each lifted both arms, begging the children to make more noise while "Welcome to the Jungle" was pumped through the speakers of the stadium. In the middle of the student section, just above the tunnel from which Penn State takes the field, some students wear blue shirts and some wear white shirts for the entire block to form a white "S". State. At that time, Saturday, he represented stop. "They have to score a touchdown in our student section? It's a tough job for everyone, "McSorley said later in the evening. "Our student section gives us a ton of energy and probably helps us on the ground more than what they realize.
After a first run, the Mountaineers had a first and tenth to 15. Thomas simulated a transfer, dropped and shot. In the end zone, receiver Corey Sutton jumped. Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye jumped higher and caught the ball for an interception. The student section broke out as a gang of Nittany Lions ran to Oruwariye to celebrate. Near the midfield, McSorley shook hands with the Mountaineers while DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" was cascading onto the stadium.
Two years ago, after Penn State survived in overtime against Minnesota on a day when a possible upheaval became a constituent part of a championship, a camera surprised Franklin by dying out in the locker room. Saturday, more than 100,000 people simultaneously filled the air of central Pennsylvania with carbon dioxide. They were scared, but they were also delighted.
The best part was that it was only the beginning. They start again at least 11 times.
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