When a limited Trace McSorley re-entered last weekend’s wipeout, down 35-0 to Michigan with nine minutes remaining, Penn State fans and media members alike were surprised. So was Tommy Stevens.
Stevens — McSorley’s patient backup and Penn State’s starting “Lion” — expected to be in the game. Heck, he didn’t think he’d be yanked after tossing a pick-six late in the third quarter, after coming in for a brace-stricken McSorley to provide a spark. But he was pulled then and pulled later in the game, too, forced into an awkward situation on the sideline.
“In my mind, when Coach Franklin came up to me and told me that I was going to get a series (with Penn State trailing 21-0), I was kind of assuming that I was going to play the rest of the game,” Stevens said on a Wednesday conference call.