Trace McSorley

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. 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.

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. 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, however PSU fell short 24–17.

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. 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.

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. The win gave PSU a No. 24 ranking in the AP Poll, PSU's first ranking in the top 25 since the 2011 season. 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.

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

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. On November 30, 2016, McSorley was named Second Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media. 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.

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.

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

Statistics

Reference

Honors and awards

Records

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 business at Penn State.

McSorley is a Christian. 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" in and keeps him grounded and true to his roots.