Trace McSorley and Penn State's sick new up-tempo offense dominate Blue-White game

Hey, guys. Here’s my gamer from the Blue-White game so ya’ll won’t have to wait until tomorrow’s paper to read it. I’ll have a Kevin Givens story for Monday’s paper as well, so look out for that. Hope y’all enjoyed this spring!

UNIVERSITY PARK — The winner of Penn State’s rather one-sided Blue-White game was obvious: Trace McSorley, leading the team’s new offense.

If the 37-0 winning score line for McSorley’s Blue team Saturday at Beaver Stadium wasn’t enough of an indication, White squad defensive tackle Robert Windsor threw up on the 1-yard line in the second quarter while trying to keep up with the up-tempo attack.

That wasn’t even the first time the redshirt freshman had tossed his cookies this spring — coach James Franklin relayed a similar story just days into spring practice. And for McSorley and the offense, those moments make the system overhaul completely worth it.

“It’s huge for us, knowing that we can do that to a defense just from our tempo and guys up front,” McSorley said. “Not only is it a big boost for the offense, but for our offensive line, it’s so much easier for them to block a dude that’s tired and gassed than it is for a guy that’s energized and juiced up every play.

“They see that, everyone kind of turns around and, like, high fives each other, slaps each other,” McSorley said. “It’s kind of, like, in our mind, ‘Now we’ve got them. Now we have the upper hand.’ And that’s what we want to do with this tempo.”

As soon as McSorley grabbed the ball, the Blue team’s no-huddle spread offense took off running. The first drive went 70 yards in seven plays in 2 minutes, 53 seconds. McSorley threw 15 yards to junior wide receiver Chris Godwin with 7:33 left in the first quarter for the score.

Even with the Blue team’s second drive ending in an interception, courtesy of redshirt sophomore cornerback Amani Oruwariye at the White team’s 14-yard line, five of the Blue team’s eight drives ended in touchdowns – two others ended with the halves. And the White team’s drive after the interception actually scored the Blue team two points when fifth-year senior defensive end Evan Schwan tagged redshirt freshman quarterback Tommy Stevens for a safety with 15 seconds left in the second quarter.

Franklin said despite McSorley’s miscue in the red zone, he thought the quarterback looked poised, confident and under control.

“One of the things I tried to talk to him about is when you get in that fringe area, you’ve got to be careful. Those defensive backs are going to sit on routes because you just run out of real estate,” Franklin said. “So we had a go route with a corner in front of it, the DB kind of sat between the two. And in those areas, you’ve got to be aggressive with the ball down the field or take the check down when the DB sits in the grey area. But I thought [McSorley] did some really nice things.”

McSorley finished the game 23-of-27 for 281 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. He threw a 22-yarder to junior wide receiver Saeed Blacknall and a two-yard toss to redshirt junior tight end Tom Pancoast for scores in the second quarter. He added a 35-yard pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins, who switched over from the White team at halftime, for his final score in the third quarter.

The Blue team’s last score of the game was also it’s only rushing touchdown, a 28-yard run from redshirt freshman running back Andre Robinson, who also switched from the White team, in the fourth quarter.

Stevens was the quarterback for the Blue team for that touchdown, playing the final 10 minutes with the mostly first team. He went 7-of-14 for 48 yards with the White team and was sacked four times. With the Blue team, he went 3-of-3 for 52 yards.

“The next step for him is that he has so much confidence in his athletic ability and his ability to break the pocket and make plays, that he needs to be careful in certain situations,” Franklin said of Stevens, who is trying to close the gap from McSorley for the starting job. “When you’re backed up, it’s not worth the risk of scrambling. When it’s two minutes, it’s not worth it. There are times and places to use that athletic ability, and there’s times when you just have to understand – throw the ball away, and let’s live to play another down.”

Other note: Sophomore running back Saquon Barkley, last season’s leading rusher, did not play. Franklin said he already knows what Barkley has to offer and didn’t want to risk him in a live situation.

Megan Ryan: mryan@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1722 and Twitter @theothermegryan.