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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 8, 2016

Trace McSorley

University Park, Pennsylvania

Q. I noticed a few times Saturday night you were scrambling out of the pocket on third down and you found Godwin cutting back and looked like it wasn't the route originally called. How do you determine that chemistry and build that chemistry where he knows it's time to break off the route.
TRACE McSORLEY: We work drills like that in practice. We'll work scramble drills, things break down in the pocket, quarterback gets out. Kind of little base set of rules for receivers, where you are in relation to where the quarterback is whether you have to mirror him or break down the field or come back to the quarterback, things like that.

We just work that in practice. It's one of those things that as guys are in their routes, just let them be an athlete and break open from defenders and find open space in the defense, things like that.

Q. How can you tell your offensive linemen are gelling, kind of getting on the same page other than just looking at results and what happens maybe during the course of a game?
TRACE McSORLEY: I think a lot of it is just kind of the body language that they have. Just kind of how you see them working together on the sidelines. You know, talking through things that they are seeing, different kinds of twists and stunts and alignment that they are seeing on defense. And working with Coach Limegrover with how to block up certain looks that might be a little bit different than what we had presented during the week of practice and things like that.

So I think that's the biggest thing, you see them on the sidelines and in practice, just how they gel with each other, talking to each other and their body language and things like that.

Q. What do you think are maybe two or three of the most telling stats from this five-game win streak, was there anything that jumps out to you that you think maybe explains how this offense has put it all together?
TRACE McSORLEY: I think a big thing would be our turnover margin. We've done a really good job with this kind of win streak of not turning the ball over and being able to end every drive with a kick as Coach Moorhead says, whether it's a punt or field goal, just not turning the ball over.

Obviously the explosive plays for us have been huge. That's something that this entire year, I think we've been pretty good at, and continue to have success at doing those type of things.

Our turnover margin is probably the biggest thing and continue to go have the explosive plays has been big for us.

Q. Talk about Indiana and what you have in store out there and what you need to keep this streak going?
TRACE McSORLEY: Part of it is kind of the same thing I just said: Not turning the ball over, taking what the defense gives us. Not forcing the ball, putting the ball in jeopardy from the quarterback position, trying to force things in the pass game. And then as we have, being able to run the ball, trying and be able to increase (ph) the defense up front and get Saquon and our running backs in one-on-one matchups against safeties and defensive backs and linebackers; that we are confident they will be able to win those one-on-one battles. So just continue to do those things. Get our running backs and our athletes in space, and let them be athletes and win their one-on-one matchups on the outside and protect the football.

Q. Chasz looked pretty frustrated with himself after he gave up his sack. Did you say anything to him? Did anybody say anything to him and how do you think he did in his first extended period of time on the field?
TRACE McSORLEY: I think just kind of told him afterwards, that he obviously knew that he kind of messed up a little bit. So the biggest thing is he knew what happened, and he knew how to fix. I think that was the best thing for him was that he himself knew what he needed to do to not let that happen again.

I think that was able to help him out the rest of the game. The rest of the game, didn't give up any more sacks. That was the only one we had. I think it was awesome for Chasz to be able to step in, replacing Brendan when he went out during the game.

And for him to come in, kind of not miss a beat, just kind of step right in with the offensive line and continue to gel with the whole unit as they have been, I think was huge for him, not only for him to be able to have that confidence for him, but also in our offensive line to know that we have guys in our depth that can come in and not miss a beat with what we've got going on.

Q. How do you think you've progressed throughout the year in making split-second decisions -- talking about third down, you had Gesicki open, and you would have got the third down, halfway through your throwing motion, you checked and found Godwin open down the field for a bigger conversion on a third down. Is that something that you have progressed in seeing the field and being able to make those decisions split-second, even while you're about to throw the ball?
TRACE McSORLEY: Yeah, I think as I've been able to be more comfortable and gain more confidence throughout the year personally, that's something that I kind of have been able to see things a little bit better, kind of see how things have been progressing and anticipate things a little bit better. I think that's part of it.

But also just kind of how we've been preparing during the week as an offensive unit I think has been huge for us. Our preparation has stepped up each and every week. What we did the week before isn't going to be good enough this next week. That's something we've really taken ahold of as an offensive unit and continued to progress on a lot, and I think that's a big part of being able to anticipate things and being more confident and seeing things better because we are preparing that much better during the week.

Q. Obviously with the experience you have with the new offense, you guys can get a little more creative, but did you ever once think that you would be handling the jet sweep off to Tommy?
TRACE McSORLEY: Definitely not when we first came in. We were going through some of the old Fordham tapes and I had never seen that. We kind of had it in the works, started kind of talking about it and working on it, got real excited about it.

It was awesome for us to be able to put that in and show that we can have a package where we have two quarterbacks in the game and be able to use -- there's so many different things that we can do; it definitely puts a defense on their heels. From that play, just looking over the defense, once they realized that Tommy wasn't a slot receiver, there was this kind of look of confusion on a lot of the guys on the defense, not really knowing how to approach it.

It was definitely I think huge benefit to our offense and a lot of excitement for the things that we can do with throwing Tommy in there and having both of us in there at the same time.

Q. From the first Monday you met after the Michigan loss to yesterday, how have those extra film sessions changed at all or improved, grown?
TRACE McSORLEY: More guys are showing up now that they are seeing how that's been able to help us. And the dialogue that goes on during those meetings is a lot more between guys on the offensive line, between Saquon and the offensive line, me and Saquon and me and the offensive line, things like that. And all the guys that we've got showing up, just different things that guys are seeing and kind of pointing out with how a guy might play a different move or stunt, things like that.

So I think that's been the biggest part is just more guys showing up and the dialogue that's been evolving during those meetings.

Q. Last season, Hackenberg was kind of known for his arm strength, but this season when it comes to balls thrown over 20 yards, you have the higher completion percentage, more completions, better QBR. You've been better at the deep ball. I'm just kind of curious if that surprises you, and why do you think you've been so effective on those explosive plays and those long balls this season?
TRACE McSORLEY: I think part of it is what we've been able to do on offense with our running game. I think we're getting guys more open downfield and being able to kind of have better one-on-one matchups where you can let one of our guys go up and make a play.

We've got some big body receivers that are athletic and can go up and make a catch and make contested catches and that's part of it is you don't have to put the ball in the exact perfect place every time. You've got a one-on-one match up with one of our guys, you can put it up high and outside or maybe a little behind them.

But guys like Saeed and Chris and DaeSean will still be able to box the defender out and go up and get the ball and make plays. I think that's been part of it.

And we been able to get guys running wide open down the field, whether it's based off of concepts or defensive breakdowns, things like that, where we have been able to put a lot of stress on defenses with our run game and things like that and plays breaking down and guys getting open downfield.

And like I said earlier, kind of being an athlete when plays break down and quarterbacks start scrambling. Kind of being able to create some separation from a defender, I think that's probably been a big part of it, as well.

Q. Curious how you're feeling physically. Obviously going into the season, it had been awhile since you took a season full of hits and I think there's a play in the first quarter where you got bent over backwards pretty good and the next play or right after that, you ran up the middle again. How are you feeling and how do you erase some of those hits from your mind?
TRACE McSORLEY: I feel good. Our trainers do a really good job; if there's any kind of bump, bruise, anything that's kind of aching you, they do a really good job with getting us back to feeling 100 percent and making sure that we're able to go out and play.

As far as not thinking about things, it's football. Things like that happen. You've just got to be able to treat every play as its own play and not worry about things that happened a couple plays before or what happened on the last play. Just focus on the task at hand and the play you're about to run and things will take care of themselves.

Q. Going back to that Tommy Stevens jet sweep, it looked like he had an option to lateral or throw to receiver on the outside and it was covered and then against Ohio State, you had a play where you cut up field and looked like either you passed it, it was a lateral or legal pass at the time. Being able to fake out the defense in that way, what was your reaction to that wrinkle in the offense and Jim Moorhead first showed you that?
TRACE McSORLEY: That's part of what we kind of do with putting guys in distress on defense. We were kind of running off -- at least the Ohio State one, kind of ran off of a base read, reading one guy, and then there's kind of a next phase to it, so that's part of it. We're constantly putting one guy on defense in a bind where he's got to choose between two guys, and we have answers to that.

So I think that's the biggest part is what we do on offense is we try and put certain defenders in a bind with kind of knowing what defense they are running and kind of being able to diagnose that and understand what that guy's responsibility might be and how he's trying to be taught to play based off our film study and what we can gather through that. And then running plays that attack that and be able to put that guy in a bind and things like that.

Q. You mentioned Monday's film. Is that players only?
TRACE McSORLEY: Yeah, that's players only.

Q. Your ball protection has gotten so much better. Do you attribute that to the offensive line, or is there something more conscious that you're doing when you're getting hit?
TRACE McSORLEY: I think part of it is definitely the offensive line in what they have been able to do, how they have improved over the entire year is a big part of it. And then what we do in practice, we do ball security circuits every single day. I think that's a big part of it is just taking those as seriously as we possibly can, especially after the first couple games where turnovers were an issue for us.

So the entire team, from the skill guys's perspective, started taking those ball security circuits seriously. Not that we weren't before, but when turnovers became an issue, that became a very big focal point for our offense and the guys on the offensive side of the ball; so we weren't turning the ball over and putting our team in the best position to win, based off of that.

Q. Last year, you spoke highly of Hackenberg after the Bowl, and wondered how much communication has there been with him not playing, has there been much interaction?
TRACE McSORLEY: I mean, not too much. He's been able to come back a couple times. Just kind of talked to him, say hey, what's up. Not really talked too much football. Just hey, how you doing. I haven't talked to him in a while. It's more that kind of conversation, not too much of actually talking about football.

He's got a full plate. He's doing a real job now and he's getting paid. He's got a lot on his plate and he understands the position I'm in now I have a lot on my plate. A lot of times you see one of those guys, you want to catch up and say what's up and not talk too much football and things like that, kind of hang out and see how each other is doing.

Q. James has talked about the team shares and we talked about Paris Palmer this morning, what do you remember about Paris's share, because obviously he's got a pretty unique story?
TRACE McSORLEY: From Paris's share, he just kind of talked about his family and how he was raised, kind of coming from North Carolina and how he progressed from North Carolina going to JuCo and some of the struggles he went through with the injuries and kind of things like that and how he was raised in his hometown and things like that. And then how he kind of got here to Penn State.

I heard he talked about a peanut story where he was working in a peanut factory or something. I hadn't heard that story. That wasn't part of it. But definitely that's something that those shares have been awesome for us because you get to see guys in a different light and get to learn a little bit more about some of the guys -- you see guys every single day you're with them all the time, but you don't realize how much you don't know that person.

So I think it's been awesome for the team to kind of have guys come up and tell their story and kind of tell things that might be a little more personal than they would want to say on the outset and go a little bit deeper into who guys are.

Q. After having competed with Tommy right up through camp, how has your relationship with him changed during the regular season and how have you seen him progress and maybe settle into his role on the team right now?
TRACE McSORLEY: I mean, our relationship is as good as ever. Me and him, all the quarterbacks, me, him, Bill, Jake and Mike, we all have a good time. We're all in a really good relationship. Me and Tommy room together on all the trips, whether it's home or away.

We've got a real good relationship. I don't think it's been any kind of weird thing since everything's kind of happened where had to name a starter and all that from the beginning of the year to where we're at now. He's done a really good job with what he's been able to do.

Every time that we've had an opportunity to get him in the game, he's been able to lead the team down the field and either get points on the board or get some more yards, always getting positive yards and kind of showing his athletic ability, what he can do, especially when he's got the ball in his hands.

I think it's been awesome for him and what he's been able to do in his role and kinds of being able to help the offense as a whole. He comes to the Monday meetings and he's giving input just as everyone else is. It's been awesome with how he's been able to handle that and really the entire team has been able to handle the Monday meetings and things like that.

Q. This receiving core is obviously very deep. How is each different individual kind of helped you adjust in the starting role and maintain it and progress as you've gotten more experience?
TRACE McSORLEY: I think each guy kind of does -- that is one certain thing that they are really good at. Talking about DaeSean with how he runs his routes and how savvy he is in and out of cuts. Chris plays the ball really well in the air. Saeed is a deep threat with his speed and how he plays go balls and stuff like that.

I think just as far as from my perspective with those three guys, and that's not even to mention Irvin, Juwan, DeAndre and guys like that who have made big plays for us throughout the year. Each guy has their own certain little niche that they are really good at. So you can kind of gauge just based off of that and what those guys are really good at and what their kind of forte is on certain plays.

If you have got a guy on a route, one, how to throw the ball to give them the best chance to go up and make the play; the best way that they are capable of doing it. But also if you've got like a deep shot with Saeed, let him run and go throw the ball out, let him run, use his speed. And same with DeAndre and things like that.

Kind of knowing the talents that they have got and the certain things that they are best at. And being able to, I don't want to say pick and choose based off the route we got called, but knowing the type of routes that they are more likely to win on and being able to anticipate when they are going do be able to come out of breaks and being able to do that.

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