Gator Bowl Wrap Up

It was a disappointing end to the 2016 Gator Bowl as the Nittany Lions fell to the Georgia Bulldogs on an overcast afternoon in Jacksonville.  Penn State rallied in the 4th quarter with a backup QB and showed a ton of guts, but the 21 point deficit was too much in the end.  PSU finishes the season 7-6 for the second consecutive time and is now 1-1 in Franklin era bowls.  However, the future looks bright as the team will be back at full strength with regard to scholarships next year and will look to improve thanks to a new Offensive Coordinator and a ton of emerging talent.

But the big story was when star QB Christian Hackenberg injured his throwing shoulder and left in the 2nd quarter.  He would not return.  It was an extremely rare sight for a guy who, despite racking up well over 100 sacks and countless hits, still managed to start all 38 games of his collegiate career (virtually unheard of these days).  Assuming Christian leaves for the NFL draft in a few months, this was his last game in the blue and white.  I'm sure that is not the way he wanted to go out, with an injury and a loss, but hey, maybe he'll feel like he has unfinished business come back!  Regardless, all Penn State fans should be incredibly grateful that a 5-star recruit who could've gone literally anywhere chose to come to Happy Valley and stayed in spite of scandals, sanctions, coaching changes, and bowl bans.  He will leave nearly every school passing record, and he did so in the face of untold adversity, serving as a role model to all of his fellow student athletes.  He was a class act from day one and perfect embodiment of the grand experiment.  Case in point, unlike most early entrants to the draft, Hack already has his degree and is officially an alum.  I wish him nothing but the best and just want to say, thank you Christian Hackenberg for proving yourself among the truest of Nittany Lions!

*Update: Hackenberg will officially enter the 2016 NFL draft, along with DT Austin Johnson*

The game was your classic tale of two halves.  In the first half, Saquon Barkley couldn't get anything going, although the passing game found a rhythm right away.  Hackenberg connected on 3 consecutive 1st down passes to Godwin, Lewis, and Hamilton.  He looked comfortable from the start until a pass hit Barkley right in the hands, only to be deflected into the waiting arms of a Georgia defender.  The Bulldogs capitalized, and got a little bit of luck, hitting a 44 yd FG attempt off the post and in to make it 3-0.

In the 2nd quarter, Hackenberg scrambled, landed awkwardly on his shoulder, and to make matters worse, a large defensive lineman fell on him.  He was slow to get up, but stayed in the game, completing 3 passes to Chris Godwin for 75 yds and getting the Lions down to the 17 yd line, all in spite of his injury.  It was too much though, and eventually Hack would leave the game and head to the locker room.  Trace McSorely took over and a Tyler Davis 34 yarder tied things up.

A 26 yd run by Isaiah McKenzie got UGA into PSU territory, and a 45 yd TD pass gave them a 10-3 lead.  Their next drive was more of the same, ending in another TD and making the score 17-3 going into the half.

By the 3rd quarter, Georgia was on their third kicker due to 2 injuries and their backup punter predictably missed a 48 yd FG attempt.  A few drives later, however, the Bulldogs' Sony Michel made it 21 unanswered points and the score stood at 24-3 as Penn State fans started to lose hope.

Finally, in the 4th quarter, passes to Chris Godwin and Saeed Blacknall got the Nittany Lions into FG range, but just when it looked like we would settle for 3, McSorely fired a strike and hit Geno Lewis in the endzone for Penn State's first TD of the day!  Now it was a much more respectable 24-10.  The next drive was more of the same.  Another 4th down, this time to Lewis continued to breathe life into the PSU bench.  Then, only a few plays later, McSorely found Hamilton in the back of the endzone for the score!

He would eventually get the ball back, down by just 7, with 1:52 left, and no TOs.  Give Christian Hackenberg that scenario and he wins the game.  Give it to Trace McSorely?  Well, at least he made things interesting.  8 seconds was just enough time for a hail mary… but it would fall short, and that would be the end.  Final score, 24-17.  It was the closest I've ever come to feeling like a loss was actually a win.

An interesting observation - it was refreshing to see a competent game plan put in place on offense.  Ricky Rahne didn't call any wacky gimmick plays, he adjusted as the game went on (especially when he had to simplify things for McSorely), and the only time we saw the same play twice was if it worked the first time.  The simple absence of John Donovan made for a noticeable improvement.  I can't wait to see what this team looks like under the direction of new OC Joe Moorhead.

As for McSorely, I honestly didn't think he played well, especially early on.  But nearly every other pundit and observer apparently begs to differ.  They see 14 points on the scoreboard and immediately anoint McSorely as the heir-apparent.  On the other hand, what I saw during the actual game was a young man that looked like a deer in headlights and was clearly in way over his head.  His first instinct on every play was to panic and take off with the ball, a move that inevitably resulted in no gain, or even a loss.  This was even more worrisome when you consider how dramatically smaller he is than your standard QB, and how that smaller frame isn't designed to take all those hits.  Putting yourself in that much danger right after your starter just went down with an injury is plain old stupid.  When he did throw, his wobbly passes either fell short or sailed over his intended target's head.  It took a series of highlight worthy circus catches by the WR corps to bail McSorely out... Then I saw this piece from OnwardState.  Now I'm starting to think that maybe I was a little hard on Trace due to his early struggles, which were understandable from a redshirt freshman coming off the bench in the middle of a high-pressure bowl game and down by 21 points.  He wasn't actually that bad, and I am excited to see him compete with incoming stud Jake Zembiec.  Blue/White weekend will be very interesting this year.

Ok, so how did I do with my prediction?  Well the Trace McSorely-led 4th quarter comeback made that 7 point spread look inspired, didn't it (unlike my score prediction)?  No one saw Hackenberg's injury coming, so everything about him is basically a moot point.  Chris Godwin was the leading WR, though, and boy did he have one heck of a game!  He caught 6 passes for 133 yds!  But he didn't score a TD.  No, for that, we got the law firm of Hamilton and Lewis back together.  The pair combined for 8 catches, 124 yds, and 2 TDs!  Barkley only had 69 yds on 17 carries and was routinely replaced in the second half due to ineffectiveness.  In fact, McSorely was arguably the best rusher of the day with 31 yds on 7 carries, giving him a 4.4 yd average (Barkley averaged 4.1).  So overall, not my best performance.  That will happen with bowl games.

Alright, that will do it for tonight.  Be sure to check back in probably on Wednesday for my bowl grades.  In the meantime, head on over to my Facebook page and give it a like or even a share.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!