NFF National Scholar-Athletes
Accounting – 3.31 GPA
Head Coach: James Franklin | Athletics Director: Sandy Barbour
Faculty Athletics Representative: Dennis Scanlon
Trace McSorley has taken the Nittany Lions back to national prominence while setting multiple school records and being a positive role model on and off the field. The Ashburn, Virginia, native becomes Penn State’s 18th NFF National Scholar-Athlete.
McSorley graduated in May 2018 with a degree in accounting and is currently working on a second bachelor’s degree in journalism. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, he spent the summer of 2017 interning for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He was named a 2018 First Team Academic All-District selection.
This season, McSorley has thrown for 2,054 yards and 15 touchdowns while guiding the Nittany Lions to an 8-3 record, bowl eligibility and the No. 15 national ranking. A semifinalist for the 2018 Maxwell Award, he has rushed for an additional nine touchdowns on 659 yards, which are the second-most rushing yards in a single-season by a Penn State quarterback all time. He has been named a finalist for the 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the 2018 Pop Warner National College Football Award while appearing on the list of semifinalists for the 2018 Walter Camp Player of the Year.
A two-time All-Big Ten selection, McSorley has rewritten the Penn State record books, setting new career marks for passing yards (9,423), passing touchdowns (74), total offense (10,981), rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (27), 300-yard passing games (10), 200-yard passing games (26). and wins by a starting quarterback (30). His 9,423 career passing yards move him into 11th place on the Big Ten's all-time list.
The only Penn State quarterback to ever have multiple 3,000-yard passing seasons, he set single-season school records in 2016 for passing yards (3,614) and passing touchdowns (29) while leading the Nittany Lions to their first Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth in eight years. The two-time team Offensive MVP has led Penn State to back-to-back 11-win seasons and back-to-back top 10 finishes. An Honorable Mention All-American in 2017, McSorley was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and received MVP honors after a win in the Fiesta Bowl.
A counselor at the Manning Passing Academy, McSorley is heavily involved in Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes Chapter, serving as president of the organization in 2017 and vice president in 2018. He has participated in numerous “Lift for Life” events, raising money for kidney cancer treatments, and he visits local hospitals.
