Penn State’s Trace McSorley Brings X-Factor to Rose Bowl vs. USC

First-year starting quarterback Trace McSorley has been a revelation for Penn State, leading the Big Ten in a heap of passing categories. He’ll give USC plenty to think about in the Rose Bowl.

If you’ve played EA Sports’ NCAA Football series or even some Madden, the playing style of sophomore Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley will look familiar when he takes on USC in the Rose Bowl.

“I don’t want to say he’s Johnny Manziel, but he has that Johnny Manziel factor,” PSU running back Saquon Barkley said. “It was funny sometimes being back there and watching him scramble and make a play, like ‘Whoa, how did he just do that?'”

Like clockwork, McSorley uses his feet to make something happen outside the pocket, or takes chances deep downfield with an aggressive passing attack as part of new offensive Joe Moorhead’s offense.

McSorley’s breakout year has made the Nittany Lions’ Christian Hackenberg a distant memory.

He’s gained 511 rushing yards when you extract sacks, and his healthy16.3 yards per completion average ranked No. 1 in the nation going into the bowl season.

McSorley’s breakout year has made the Nittany Lions’ Christian Hackenberg a distant memory. Almost as impressively, the former three-star recruit has done it despite all of the traditional critiques on a quarterback of his makeup.

At just 6-feet, he’s not tall enough. Then there’s his arm, which requires him to crow-hop on passes downfield.

“It’s stronger than you think,” Moorhead said. “To me, it’s a lot about ball placement, and understanding coverage, pre-snap and post-snap, and that’s something I think is great about what we do and unique about our spread.”

The offense, which Moorhead brought to Penn State after his head coach tenure at FCS Fordham, is akin to an aggressive version of what USC deploys. More quarterback runs and more deep shots offset a lower completion percentage and an overall lack of efficiency.

READ MORE: USC Must Defend Joe Moorhead’s Explosive Offense 

But you can afford to rank 82nd nationally in offensive efficiency –just 41.1 percent of Penn State plays are ‘successful’ against down and distance– when you’re consistently making highlight reel plays.

McSorley does just that.

“His confidence level bleeds through us,” wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins said. “When he’s back there making those crazy plays, it just goes to show how much confidence we have in him, to know that no matter what he does back there, he’s going to do his job at the end of the day.”

But don’t let words like ‘crazy’ muddy your view of McSorley. His best asset, and the key to improvising, is his grasp of how to assess risk.

He’s thrown just five interceptions all season, and boasts a 20-to-2 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio since Penn State started their nine-game winning streak on October 1st.

“Not only is he throwing the deep ball well, he’s throwing it to the right person when he’s open,” Moorhead said. “He’s been accurate. But he’s also made the right reads to get it to the right person within the pass concept.”

For USC, that makes limiting McSorley tricky. Especially since the Trojans haven’t seen a carbon copy of him yet in 2016, only vaguely similar dual-threat quarterbacks.

In September, USC was burned by Alabama freshman sensation Jalen Hurts and Utah’s Troy Williams. But they shutdown and knocked out Arizona State’s Manny Wilkins, subdued Oregon’s Justin Herbert and never let Notre Dame’s future first round pick DeSone Kizer beat them.

Washington’s uber-efficient Jake Browning —a similar chunk-play passer to McSorley— threw two interceptions and had a season-low passer rating against USC.

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The most comparable to the Penn State quarterback is none other than the Trojans’ Sam Darnold. But he’s still not quite the same.

“Going against Sam and stuff like that in practice is great,” USC linebacker Michael Hutchings said. “But for what we’re going to see, I don’t know how much you can mimic that in practice.”

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“It can help you prepare. but everybody brings something different,” Adoree’ Jackson said. “We don’t know exactly how he is in the game and what he may do.”

That uncertainty can be harrowing when defending high-energy dual-threat quarterbacks, a dilemma USC’s opponents know quite well.

RELATED: How Penn State Plans to Blitz to Sam Darnold in the Rose Bowl

Penn State linebacker Jason Cabinda, who has faced McSorley every day in practice this year, sums it perfectly.

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Therein lies the challenge.

To make the Rose Bowl a positive dream-like experience with containment and effective coverage, USC must rely on playmakers like Uchenna Nwosu and Porter Gustin to set an edge, while Thorpe Award winner Jackson and Iman Marshall patrol the secondary to limit downfield threats.