The Nittany Lions appeared primed for a blowout loss at the hands of Georgia when starting quarterback Christian Hackenberg went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter of the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl. Then, redshirt freshman Trace McSorely cemented himself into Penn State’s future.
After struggling for most of the game, McSorely came alive in the fourth quarter. The backup led two scoring drives to nearly bring Penn State back from a 24-3 deficit before falling short 24-17. He finished the game with 147 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Considering he came off of the bench against a top SEC defense for his first career meaningful action, McSorely was quite impressive.