He announced his decision following Penn State’s 24-17 loss to Georgia in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
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After watching wide receiver Terry Godwin execute the trick play in practice, Georgia interim coach Bryan McClendon was having second thoughts about calling it in the bowl game.
Quarterback Christian Hackenberg is the fourth player in program history to throw for 500 career yards in bowl games, joining Tony Sacca, Todd Blackledge and Kerry Collins.
“Those plays included two fourth-quarter touchdowns – a 17-yard pass to Geno Lewis and a 20-yarder to Hamilton – that fueled McSorley”. “I talked to him at halftime in the locker room”.
Lambert was steady, going 10 for 20 with 115 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
Hackenberg will undoubtedly dazzle during draft workouts, but how his game tape stands up against his measurables will say a lot about whether or not he lives up to the first-round billing he received as just a freshman in college. Tough way it kind of ended, but I bleed blue and white, and this place means the world to me.
“I feel like it was a big experience”, McSorley said. Franklin hears the criticisms, but what he has seen from the 2015 team encourages him, he said. “I’m not going to call this a successful day, because we didn’t get the win”. As a sophomore last season, Hackenberg completed 55.8 percent of his passes for 2,977 yards, throwing 12 touchdown passes compared to 15 interceptions.
The Bulldogs responded with a 50-yard drive that could have sealed the victory, but they could not convert on fourth-and-2 at the 23.
Trace McSorley, Penn State’s backup quarterback who played the remainder of Saturday’s game, was taken by surprise when the CDT told him of the announcement, and asked for his reaction. The Penn State drive continued under the direction of the junior signal caller for five more plays two, of which he found Godwin for gains of 19 and 51 yards.
But Mitchell sped up and sprinted past the safety as Godwin came to a stop and launched a pass. Mitchell came down with the pass and strolled into the end zone, as he was the recipient of former high school quarterback Godwin’s first career college touchdown pass.
The Nittany Lions lost their fourth in a row to end Franklin’s second season.
Godwin also joined Engram and Allen Robinson as the only Penn State receivers with 1,000-yard seasons. He also caught his first career pass, a 14-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown versus IL, marking the first catch by a Nittany Lion quarterback since 2011 (Matt McGloin from Curtis Drake; Nebraska) and first TD reception by a Penn State quarterback 2004 (Zack Mills from Michael Robinson; Akron).
He played well enough to keep Kansas State relatively close. He scored three touchdowns and passed for another, racking up more than 370 receiving yards in 13 games.
With the Texans more than likely taking a look at every option at quarterback in the draft, Hackenberg to the Texans will be the easy connection becasue of O’Brien and Hackenberg’s past.
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Godwin, whose success this year was fueled by a big performance in the Pinstripe Bowl last season, believes McSorley’s performance could do the same, “I definitely thinking it has the potential to be big for him”.
