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INDIANAPOLIS &#8212; It was T.J. Watt who blasted him. As in, brother of J.J., the NFL defensive MVP.Man, did Trace McSorley ever feel it. First play of the Big Ten championship, and Penn State&#8217;s quarterback didn&#8217;t even have the ball, handing it off on a zone-read play. The Wisconsin linebacker planted him into the Lucas Oil Stadium turf anyway.&#8220;The very first play &#8230; he just beelined straight at me,&#8221; McSorley said. &#8220;Rocked me right in my chest. I didn&#8217;t have the ball &#8212; I felt like that was kind of like a little message.&#8221;&#8220;I guess their mindset was try to break him,&#8221; tailback Saquon Barkley said. &#8220;You&#8217;re not gonna do that with Trace. It&#8217;s not gonna happen.&#8221;Not on this night.Not after McSorley turned in one of the most memorable performances in Penn State history to lead the program to its fourth Big Ten title, a frantic 38-31 comeback against the Badgers.It was Grant Haley and Marcus Allen &#8212; the defensive back duo who combined on the decisive blocked field goal to upset Ohio State &#8212; who cut down Wisconsin bruiser Corey Clement on fourth-and-1 to seal the victory in the final minute.<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gRrvfvNpDLE" height="315" width="560"></iframe>But it was McSorley who made it all possible, ensuring that 2016 will go up on the Beaver Stadium facade next to the program&#8217;s unbeaten seasons and Big Ten titles from 1994, 2005 and 2008.The sophomore from Virginia led a 21-point comeback and finished with 384 yards and four touchdowns, both Big Ten title game records.&#8220;That guy doesn&#8217;t panic,&#8221; Barkley said. &#8220;He&#8217;s so calm and so relaxed in the pocket. He can make you miss, he can run through tackles and he&#8217;s got a big arm.&#8221;In the process, the first-year starter even broke Penn State&#8217;s single-season passing yardage and passing touchdown records, both previously held by Scranton&#8217;s Matt McGloin.Saeed Blacknall caught two of the scores &#8212; 40 yards and 70 yards &#8212; including one in the final minute of the second half that turned a 28-7 deficit into a more manageable 28-14 margin.&#8220;It was a humbling lesson for us to start like that,&#8221; said Blacknall, who set a Big Ten title game record of his own with 155 receiving yards. &#8220;But once we got our feet under us, we were able to just keep rolling.&#8221;<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WeHP0japdW8" height="315" width="560"></iframe>Tight end Mike Gesicki (33 yards) and Barkley (18 yards) also caught touchdowns, with Barkley putting Penn State ahead early in the fourth.Will it be enough to jump the No. 7 Lions (11-2) up three spots and into the College Football Playoff? At worst, they are heading to the Rose Bowl as the Big Ten champion, where they would most likely face USC on Jan. 2 in Pasadena.&#8220;What I do know is that we just won the toughest conference in college football,&#8221; Lions coach James Franklin told the crowd while holding the championship trophy on the field after the game. &#8220;We&#8217;ve won nine straight. They say you&#8217;re allowed to overcome minor setbacks and we&#8217;ve done that.&#8220;It&#8217;s up to you, committee.&#8221;As said selection committee gathered Saturday night to begin deliberating, conference rival Ohio State looked to be in good shape despite sitting home for the Big Ten championship game.&#8220;I think Ohio State has done enough&#8221; to reach the Playoff, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Saturday morning on ESPN.Whether two Big Ten schools get into the four-team field will be revealed around 12:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN. The selection show runs from noon-4 p.m. with the other New Year&#8217;s Six bowl games being announced around 2:30 p.m. as NFL games head into halftime.Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt would not give any hint about his thoughts of the Big Ten champion reaching the Playoff.&#8220;I can&#8217;t speculate,&#8221; Hocutt said Saturday morning on ESPN. &#8220;I&#8217;d be trying to guess what 11 other members thought.&#8221;So what chance does Penn State have to steal a spot?&#8220;First of all, it has to be a beatdown, I think,&#8221; said David Pollack, an ESPN analyst and former Georgia linebacker. &#8220;I think it needs to be a convincing 50-something-to-nothing &#8212; like Ohio State did to Wisconsin a couple years ago that propelled them into the mix.&#8220;If the game&#8217;s emphatic enough, then maybe Washington&#8217;s in trouble.&#8221;The No. 6 Badgers looked to have that going for them, taking a commanding 21-point lead late in the second quarter before Penn State fired back to tie it up in the third and take the lead in the fourth.Penn State couldn&#8217;t block Watt and fellow outside linebacker Vince Biegel in the early going. Inside backer Ryan Connelly even scooped up a loose ball on a way-too-high snap, returning it 12 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead that quickly ballooned to 28-7.From there, the Lions outscored the Badgers 31-3 to win the game, continuing a remarkable run where they have outscored opponents 199-53 in the second half since their midseason bye week.Not that the finish was free of heartburn for the Lions.Wisconsin was determined to milk as much time off the clock at the end of the fourth quarter looking to score a tying touchdown without giving Penn State enough time to counter in regulation.It came down to a fourth-and-1 play from the Penn State 24 with 1:05 to play.The Badgers had burned the Lions back in the first quarter when Clement ran a counter play off left tackle and made Haley miss at the corner en route to an impressive 67-yard touchdown sprint.Not wanting to charge right up the middle, this time the Badgers ran the play to the right side. Only Haley didn&#8217;t miss.The 5-foot-9 corner caught the 227-pound back low to get him off his feet. And then Allen smacked him high to ensure he couldn&#8217;t fall forward to reach the marker.Haley and a few other defenders knew immediately that Clement didn&#8217;t make the sticks, running to the sideline to celebrate the title-clinching play.It took Garrett Sickels a little longer to realize it.<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/moUoNSHMemc" height="315" width="560"></iframe>&#8220;I thought it was third-and-1,&#8221; the junior defensive end admitted with a smirk. &#8220;So I was like, &#8216;Guys, what are you celebrating about? You gotta come back on the field!&#8217; &#8230; I thought we had another down to play.&#8221;No, sir. The party on the field and then in the Penn State locker room was on.Afterward, just about every Lions player said they would wait to see what the CFP committee would do rather than make a case for Penn State&#8217;s inclusion.As it was, No. 1 Alabama had punched its ticket into the four-team field earlier on Saturday, moving to 13-0 with a decisive win over Florida in the SEC title game.No. 4 Washington made its case on Friday night with arguably its best win of the season, hammering No. 8 Colorado in the Pac-12 championship. No. 3 Clemson beat Virginia Tech 42-35 for the ACC title.But the Huskies may have been the most vulnerable thanks to a non-conference schedule that ranked near the very bottom of the country &#8212; facing Rutgers, Idaho and FCS Portland State.&#8220;I think conference championship games should carry weight,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;And to talk about strength of schedule being important, well, that obviously was another opportunity. That&#8217;s a very good football program we just played.&#8221;And, as it&#8217;s gone almost all season for the Lions, it went right down to the wire.&#8220;No different than life,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;The script is not always going to go the way you want it to go. You take the hands you&#8217;re dealt and you play it to the best of your ability. That&#8217;s what our guys are learning.&#8221;<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KA-AV6CwUG8" height="315" width="560"></iframe>2016 Big Ten Championship GameNo. 7 Penn State 38, No. 6 Wisconsin 31Wisconsin 14 14 3 0 &#8212; 31Penn State 7 7 14 10 &#8212; 38First QuarterUW &#8212; Austin Ramesh 1 run (Andrew Endicott kick), 5:27UW &#8212; Corey Clement 67 run (Endicott kick), 3:06PSU &#8212; Mike Gesicki 33 pass from Trace McSorley (Tyler Davis kick), 1:10Second QuarterUW &#8212; Ryan Connelly 12 fumble return (Endicott kick), 9:42UW &#8212; Dare Ogunbowale 7 run (Endicott kick), 5:15PSU &#8212; Saeed Blacknall 40 pass from McSorley (Davis kick), 0:58Third QuarterPSU &#8212; Blacknall 70 pass from McSorley (Davis kick), 10:58PSU &#8212; Saquon Barkley 1 run (Davis kick), 4:22UW &#8212; Endicott 23 field goal, 0:16Fourth QuarterPSU &#8212; Barkley 18 pass from McSorley (Davis kick), 13:47PSU &#8212; Davis 24 field goal, 5:14Team stats UW PSUFirst downs 22 21Rushes-yards 49-241 29-51Passing 174 384Comp-Att-Int 16-21-0 22-31-0Return Yards 62 88Punts-Avg. 4-33.5 2-49.0Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-1Penalties-Yards 4-40 3-25Time of Possession 36:57 23:03INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; UW, Corey Clement 21-164, Bradrick Shaw 15-62, Dare Ogunbowale 6-26, Jazz Peavy 1-5, Austin Ramesh 1-1, Zander Neuville 0-0, Quintez Cephus 1-(minus 3), Bart Houston 4-(minus 14). PSU, Saquon Barkley 19-83, Andre Robinson 3-7, (Team) 1-(minus 19), Trace McSorley 6-(minus 20).PASSING &#8212; UW, Houston 16-21-0-174. PSU, McSorley 22-31-0-384.RECEIVING &#8212; UW, Peavy 4-53, Ogunbowale 4-28, Clement 3-43, Troy Fumagalli 3-30, Eric Steffes 1-14, Kyle Penniston 1-6. PSU, DaeSean Hamilton 8-118, Saeed Blacknall 6-155, Mike Gesicki 3-58, Chris Godwin 3-33, Barkley 2-20.MISSED FIELD GOALS &#8212; UW, Endicott 48 (WR).A &#8212; 65,018.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns Saturday to rally the Nittany Lions to a 38-31 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_PSU-A1-cmyk-11.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns Saturday to rally the Nittany Lions to a 38-31 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. </caption0><photoCredit0>Michael Conroy | AP photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_AP16339182588181201612402415611-10.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Less than a mile from NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, where Penn State was delivered debilitating sanctions in July 2012, Lions coach James Franklin celebrated a Big Ten championship with his team in December 2016. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_AP16339182588181201612402415611-10.jpg</photo1><caption1>Less than a mile from NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, where Penn State was delivered debilitating sanctions in July 2012, Lions coach James Franklin celebrated a Big Ten championship with his team in December 2016. </caption1><photoCredit1>Michael Conroy | AP photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>McSorley helps Penn State capture fourth conference crown</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> TEXHDxSHsrM</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEXHDxSHsrM</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Derek Levarse | Times Leader</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</videoMeta></div>

Nittany Lions claw back to glory with rally to win Big Ten championship