Franklin's first two years seem so distant now don't they? Do we really remember how difficult things were at the time? We opened the season in 2015 with a loss to Temple and lost 4 straight to end the season. Christian Hackenberg was a senior who was under pressure constantly and seemed to be a shell of the player that played the past two years.
There were many who felt Franklin had ruined Hackenberg's career and was going to ruin Penn State.
It seemed as though Penn State was at a bit of a crossroads, where our negativity about the future of the program, and specifically whether we could trust Franklin and his incoming choice for quarterback, a six foot, two hundred pound athlete that most other schools looked at as a potential safety.
Then in 2016, they lost to Pitt, they barely beat Temple, and they got throttled by Michigan, and it seemed like everyone wanted to blow it all up again. There were a lot of fans who were filled with doubt and filled with anger.
Trace McSorely and James Franklin were not among those people.
They preached a message of positive reinforcement, that things were going to get better and that they were doing everything they could to put a winning effort on the field.
If you are a Penn State fan you probably remember Saquon Barkley winning the Minnesota game with an overtime touchdown, but you might forget the entire team effort that brought the team back from an early ten point deficit, and then later again, push themselves with under a minute to go to tie the game and force the overtime in the first place.
In that game, Trace McSorely accounted for 335 passing yards and 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
That would become the game that everyone pretty much agrees that things changed for Penn State. It became part of the validation that the program was actually tracking upwards and that the work Franklin and his staff were putting in was going to bear fruit.
One of the first things I noticed about Trace was his decision making. Early in his career, the offensive line struggled as injuries and depth became an issue for the unit. However, Trace often successfully adapted by throwing the ball away rather than taking sacks, or making ill advised throws.
As the offense evolved over time, Trace then started making big plays down field with the help of other big time players and an increasingly talented and deep offensive line.
Signature wins against Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Michigan State would ensue, and a sense of being completely back and potentially competing for a National Championship became a real possibility.
This year, has been without a doubt a difficult year at times for the Nittany Lions, with close losses to Ohio State and Michigan State at home and a blowout loss on the road to Michigan. For the second year in a row, goals of playing for a National Championship were dashed in the middle of the year, allowing for finger-pointing and self-pity in a fan base that is as passionate as they come.
With lesser leadership, perhaps that would allow for a disappointing end to the year, one in which the team might not show up to defeat teams such as Wisconsin or Maryland.
Instead in both cases the team responded with great efforts, cementing a nine win season with the opportunity to win at least ten games for the third consecutive year. Instead the team responded to the leadership and came away looking like a team that absolutely has the talent and confidence to continue their climb back into the national conscience.
The two things that I like about Trace McSorley are his willingness to run, and his willingness to throw the ball deep.
Those are the plays that show a lack of cowardice, and a confidence in his teammates as well as himself. The risks are obvious, that deep throws are, by nature, a bit more prone to fall incomplete or intercepted than shorter throws. Scrambling runs open himself up to contact and injuries.
Yet McSorley routinely ran and threw and did everything he possibly could do to help his team win games. In his final contest in Beaver Stadium, McSorley did the same. Throwing for 230 yards and running another 64. The game wasn't close but his play style was exactly the same as the coach that recruited and trusted him against Minnesota two years ago.
Fearless.
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