Tag: Trace McSorley

Five Nittany Lions who deserve to be on the cover of EA Sports’ College Football 25

Five Penn State players that deserve to be on the cover of EA Sports’ College Football 25

Social media exploded on Thursday morning as EA Sports dropped a teaser video for College Football 25, and Penn State fans shared the excitement of the entire college football community. Due to naming rights and licensing with the players, EA Sports has been unable to release a new installment of the game since 2013. But with the world of NIL at an all-time high, those difficulties are no more, and the game will be back this summer just in time for the new college football season.

If you watch closely during the teaser, Penn State is one of only a few schools to be shown throughout the trailer, along with Oklahoma, Florida, Notre Dame, Alabama, Michigan State, Nebraska, Michigan, Texas A&M, Florida State, and Georgia. This may not mean much, but this does all but guarantee that Penn State will be included in the game’s newest edition.

In the 11 years since the previous game, the Nittany Lions have had some dominant collegiate players who never got to see themselves in a video game unless they made it to the NFL. Several Nittany Lions delivered video game cover-worthy performances, so there is no shortage of options if EA Sports decides to put a Penn State player on the cover.

With three consensus All-Americans, four first-round NFL draft picks, six New Year’s Six bowl appearances, and five 10-plus win seasons since the release of the last NCAA Football game, Penn State fans will for sure have many players that come to mind when discussing the next cover athlete.

Penn State’s ability to consistently win double-digit wins makes Penn State one of the best programs to build from if they choose to play dynasty/franchise mode, but as the much-anticipated game’s release draws closer, here are five Nittany Lions who deserve a shot at being on the cover.

Steelers release QB Trace McSorley from practice squad

The Steelers released Trace MCSorley on Tuesday.

With Kenny Pickett fully healthy and Mason Rudolph named the starter, the Pittsburgh Steelers had one quarterback too many. So on Tuesday, the team released former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley from the practice squad.

This leaves Pickett and Rudolph along with Mitch Trubisky on the roster for this week’s playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. The Steelers added McSorley after Pickett suffered his high ankle sprain.

Pittsburgh will likely use Trubisky this week to play Josh Allen on the scout team. Trubisky has a strong familiarity with the Bills offense after his time there and is the guy who can most closely mimick Allen’s athleticism.

The Steelers and Bills square off in Buffalo at 1 PM ET on Sunday, January 14 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

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Every Penn State player in the NFL playoffs in 2024

Here is every former Penn State football player on an NFL playoff team’s roster in 2024.

Another NFL postseason is set to get underway, and there is a good chance at least one team playing in the Super Bowl will have a Penn State player on the roster. All but two teams in this year’s NFL playoffs have at least one Penn State player on the roster this year. The top seeds in each conference have multiple Penn State players on the roster, seemingly making it more likely Penn State will see a former player earn a Super Bowl ring.

In all, a total of 64 Super Bowl rings have been won by a former Penn State player. Last year’s Super Bowl had just one former Penn State player on the field, but Miles Sanders and the Philadelphia Eagles came up short of winning the big game. There is an excellent chance there will be more than one former Nittany Lion competing in the Super Bowl this postseason.

The Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns are the only two teams in the NFL postseason without a Penn State player on the roster. Here is a look at every Penn State player on an NFL playoff team’s roster this postseason.

How did Drew Allar’s first season as a starting QB compare to his predecessors?

Let’s compare Drew Allar’s firts year as a starting quarterback to his predecessors at Penn State, Sean Clifford and Trace McSorley.

Penn State head coach James Franklin has had the luxury of having pretty stable starting quarterback stability during his time as a head coach. Since Franklin came to Penn State, Franklin has had just four starting quarterbacks over the past decade, which is pretty rare in this day and age of college football. Three of those quarterbacks were named a first-time starting quarterback under Franklin’s watch; [autotag]Trace McSorley[/autotag], [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag], and [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag]. Christian Hackenberg was an incumbent starter when Franklin was hired.

Allar had his ups and downs throughout his first season as a starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions, and he most certainly took on the job with the highest ceiling compared to his predecessors in the role. But Allar also may have had the toughest first year as a starter compared to McSorley and Clifford.

Numbers often only tell a fraction of the overall story when it comes to quarterbacks, but how did Allar’s first year as a starter compare to Clifford and McSorley? Let’s take a quick look.

Comp. Att. Yards TD INT Rating
Trace Mcsorley (2016) 224 387 3,614 29 8 156.9
Sean Clifford (2019) 189 319 2,654 23 7 148.5
Drew Allar (2023) 233 389 2,631 25 2 136.9

Notice any trends here? Things seem to be trending downward. The first-year starting quarterback for Penn State has seen a decline in passing yards and passer rating during Franklin’s time as head coach, although the difference between Allar’s numbers and Clifford’s are not too far off from each other. But Allar completed more than 40 passes more than Clifford did and still had 23 fewer passing yards. Allar also attempted 70 more attempts than Clifford did in 2019.

McCorley seems like the reception to the rule for quarterbacks under Franklin at this point, but it is also fair to point out the kind of offensive weapons McSorley had around him on that 2016 team. For starters, having Saquon Barkley in the same backfield is pretty darn nice. But, more importantly, McSorley had the best crop of wide receivers any of these three quarterbacks have had. And that is reflected in the numbers.

McSorley also had the best offensive coordinator of these three quarterbacks with Joe Moorhead. That is a major factor as well.

The hope is that new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki will come in and find ways to rejuvenate the entire offense in 2024 with Allar at quarterback. Allar’s season had far too many frustrating moments, most notably in the three losses to Ohio State, Michigan, and Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. And it is fair to suggest Allar did not come close to matching the hype placed on him. That is one reason why the pressure in 2024 will be mounting. But spring will offer a chance to wipe the slate clean and get to work for the entire offense, including Allar.

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Top 10 Penn State bowl game passing performances

Top-10 Penn State bowl game passing performances

When looking at historic performances in Penn State bowl games, the quarterback performances are not as eye-popping compared to other yardage records but still offer some memorable moments.

Penn State’s bowl success seems more often than not centered around its defense and rushing attack rather than a dynamic passing game. Just take a look at the Nittany Lions’ top bowl game rushing performances and you can see how Penn State typically relies on a strong running game. Only twice as a Penn State quarterback completed more than 30 passes speaking to the typically run-dominant offense.

A general rule of thumb is that a 300+ yard day as a quarterback is a pretty good day at the office. Penn State has only had two players ever accomplish that feat in a bowl game. There are a few bowl game outings, including the two 300-yard games, from former Nittany Lion signal callers that most Penn State fans will undoubtedly remember.

With [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] being touted as one of the most talented quarterbacks in recent Penn State history, perhaps a new top-10 performance is on deck in this year’s Peach Bowl.

Report: Steelers to sign ex-Ravens QB Trace McSorley to practice squad

The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to sign former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Trace McSorley to their practice squad.

Shortly after Mike Tomlin ended his press conference stating he’d explore options to add a quarterback, they did just that.

The Steelers are signing free agent Trace McSorley to their practice squad, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter,

McSorley has appeared in nine games since the Baltimore Ravens selected him in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft. In that span, he’s thrown for 79 yards, no touchdowns, five interceptions and has fumbled twice. He had the first start of his career in 2022 for the Arizona Cardinals.

Expect McSorley to be added to the 53-man roster but inactive (as the emergency QB) when the Steelers take on the New England Patriots on Thursday.

Mitch Trubisky will start in place of the injured Kenny Pickett, who had surgery on his high-ankle sprain this morning.

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Report: Bears signing QB Trace McSorley to practice squad

The Bears are adding reinforcements at quarterback with the addition of Trace McSorley to the practice squad, per Jordan Schultz.

The Chicago Bears are signing quarterback Trace McSorley to the practice squad, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, which shores up a position now suddenly in flux.

Starter Justin Fields suffered a dislocated thumb on his right throwing hand in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Head coach Matt Eberflus ruled Fields doubtful for this Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The expectation is undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent will make his first career start against Las Vegas. Bagent replaced an injured Fields against the Vikings, where he completed 10-of-14 passes for 83 yards with an interception, fumble and rushing touchdown.

Eberflus had previously announced Bagent as the backup quarterback a few weeks back. Nathan Peterman will serve as backup if Bagent starts.

McSorley, 28, is a former sixth-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2019. He spent three years with Baltimore (2019-21) and also had a stop with the Arizona Cardinals (2021-22). McSorley was most recently on the New England Patriots’ practice squad this year.

Last season, McSorley appeared in six games with the Cardinals, completing 54.2 percent of his passes for 412 yards with no touchdowns and five interceptions. He added 61 rushing yards and lost two fumbles.

A look back at past Penn State vs. Northwestern matchups

Check out some classic photos from past Penn State-Northwestern games, including Joe Paterno’s 400th career win.

Penn State heads to Evanston, Illinois in Week 5 to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. The Nittany Lions will do so as a heavy favorite on the road in Big Ten play as they look to remain undefeated. Northwestern will be looking for a massive upset nobody sees coming after coming from behind to top Minnesota in overtime a week ago.

Penn State and Northwestern isn’t exactly a classic Big Ten matchup, but the two schools have played some close games over the years. And the game tend to be defensive battles with scrappy play from start to finish. Northwestern will look to keep that mentality going as it looks to keep things at least respectable against Penn State.

Here is a look back at some of the best photos available from previous meetings in this series, including a historic milestone victory for former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno.

Former Penn State QB Trace McSorley waived by Patriots

Former Penn State QB Trace McSorley among final roster cuts by New England Patriots

With NFL teams making their final roster decisions ahead of the 2023 season, former Penn State quarterback [autotag]Trace McSorley[/autotag] is back on the market.

McSorley was waived by the New England Patriots on Monday as the Patriots, although there is a suggestion he could return t the Patriots as a practice squad player.

Mcsorley appeared in two games for the Patriots during this preseason. He attempted just four passes and completed one for four yards. But Mcsorley’s impact may have been more on helping to educate young Patriots franchise quarterback Mac Jones, who enters his second season in Foxboro out of Alabama.

“He definitely helped me a lot,” Jones said of his relationship with McSorley. “He’s an older quarterback, played for a few different teams and definitely taught me a lot.”

McSorley was on his third NFL roster in four seasons in the NFL. After two years with the Baltimore Ravens, McSorley was picked up by the Arizona Cardinals in 2022 and was signed by the Patriots this offseason. McSorley was not likely to land a roster spot on the Patriots’ 53-man roster with starter Jones and backup options in Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham also on the roster.

We’ll hope to see McSorley land on another NFL roster somewhere for this season, although he could still stick around the Patriots and former Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien. O’Brien is New England’s offensive coordinator, although O’Brien and McSorley did not cross paths at Penn State. McSorley flipped from Vanderbilt to Penn State to follow James Franklin to Penn State after O’Brien left the Nittany Lions to coach the Houston Texans.

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Report: Patriots released QB Trace McSorely on Monday

The Patriots are now down to three quarterbacks.

The New England Patriots released quarterback Trace McSorley on Monday afternoon, ahead of Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline. This was reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

McSorley was signed by the Patriots to a one-year deal on April 13. His play was limited in the preseason, where he recorded a completion for four yards.

The emergence of Malik Cunningham throughout the course of the preseason certainly did not help McSorley’s case in the quarterback room. Cunningham’s positional versatility was praised by coach Bill Belichick earlier Monday, and that versatility could translate in the quarterback room, assuming he sticks around on the roster.

McSorley started his career as a sixth-round draft pick in a backup quarterback role for the Baltimore Ravens in 2019. Only time will tell what the future holds for the former Penn State standout.

As for the Patriots, another release means the team is one step closer to finalizing their 53-man roster and setting their sights on the Philadelphia Eagles in the Sept. 10 regular season opener.

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