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Northwest school board makes security changes

<p>Trace McSorley was still a Vanderbilt recruit when his cell phone rang with a Pennsylvania number showing up on his screen.</p><p>McSorley had a hunch that on the other end would be James Franklin, who had recruited him to play at Vanderbilt but had recently taken the job at Penn State.</p><p>And McSorley wasn&#8217;t especially eager to hear from him.</p><p>&#8220;I remember being probably a little short on the phone because I was upset with kind of how everything had gone down,&#8221; McSorley said this week. &#8220;And obviously not knowing exactly what was going on in the dead period, not hearing anything for a while.&#8221;</p><p>The teenager who would become Penn State&#8217;s all-time winningest quarterback &#8212; among a host of other single-season and career records &#8212; wasn&#8217;t initially a sure thing to follow Franklin to the Nittany Lions.</p><p>The culprit was red tape that prevented Franklin and his staff that was also arriving from Vanderbilt from contacting recruits on behalf of Penn State. That left players like McSorley in limbo, not sure of what their options were with signing day only a few weeks away in January 2014.</p><p>That group included Lions recruits who had pledged to previous coach Bill O&#8217;Brien, as well as Franklin&#8217;s commitments from Vanderbilt.</p><p>&#8220;So we didn&#8217;t talk to these guys from the time we left Vanderbilt to the time we actually cleared here for like a week and a half or so,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;And now they&#8217;re mad at us, because they&#8217;re kind of left out, stuck in between all of that.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He was just saying, &#8216;Hey, sorry (for) all these weeks, how this all panned out, but we want you to come up here,&#8217; &#8221; McSorley said. &#8221; &#8216;Take a visit. We want you to come play here.&#8217; All that kind of stuff.</p><p>&#8220;After that phone call, I kind of hung up. I was on my way home, talked to my parents and we made the trip up that weekend. We were like, had a free weekend, let&#8217;s just do it.&#8221;</p><p>McSorley and others made it to State College to meet up with Franklin and his new staff, and the core of a team that has gone 30-8 with a Big Ten title over the past three seasons came together.</p><p>&#8220;I remember sitting in, I guess it was the Penn Stater (hotel), and we were all kind of stuck in that room for however long it was,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Fortunately when we were able to get these guys on the phone and kind of explain the situation, most of them were really good.</p><p>&#8220;But some of them, it was a battle. And feelings were hurt and things like that. But it&#8217;s hard to explain to a 17-year-old kid about HR and clearing the paperwork and those type of things from a compliance standpoint, as well as a university standpoint.&#8221;</p><p>Arguably the most important person Franklin won over that day was McSorley.</p><p>&#8220;I remember, yeah, I was probably a little short at the time on the phone, but everything worked out,&#8221; McSorley said. &#8220;Coach Franklin I think kind of knew that because when I came up that weekend, I remember ended up telling him I was coming here.</p><p>&#8220;He said to me, &#8216;So we&#8217;re cool now?&#8217; Like we don&#8217;t have any animosity between us anymore. So yeah, I think he got that sense a little bit, too. But just everything worked out well.&#8221;</p><p>Better than most anyone could have predicted. Especially because most schools had been recruiting McSorley as a safety and the Lions had a four-star quarterback prospect named Michael O&#8217;Connor, who had committed to O&#8217;Brien.</p><p>McSorley quickly established himself as the top backup to Christian Hackenberg in training camp in 2014 and then won the job in summer 2016, starting a three-year run as the starter that has been one of the most successful stretches in program history.</p><p>Penn State will pay tribute to McSorley and a group of 21 departing seniors and juniors before Saturday&#8217;s game against Maryland.</p><p>Of those 21, only nine arrived together as scholarship players in that 2014 signing class, a mix of guys recruited by two different coaching staffs.</p><p>McSorley and cornerback Amani Oruwariye flipped from Vanderbilt to Penn State. Both accepted bids to play in the Senior Bowl this week.</p><p>Running back Mark Allen was the first member of the class, committing in his junior season of high school. He and defensive end Torrence Brown had their careers cut short by injuries.</p><p>Wideout DeAndre Thompkins and tackle Chasz Wright have been in and out of the starting lineup. Running back Johnathan Thomas emerged as a special teams standout this season.</p><p>Two others, Koa Farmer and Nick Scott, arrived at Penn State as a safety and running back, respectively. They&#8217;ll start Saturday&#8217;s game at linebacker and safety instead.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;d say one of the biggest things I&#8217;d like to the senior class to be remembered as is a group of guys who are extremely hard-working,&#8221; Scott said. &#8220;You know, took care of their business on the field as well as off the field. And also were a huge part of this growing process, this rebuilding process of putting Penn State back as a top contender or in the conversation each year.&#8221;</p><p>Their first time in a Penn State uniform was Franklin&#8217;s first on the sideline for the Lions, and it didn&#8217;t even come on this continent. A matchup against UCF in Dublin, Ireland, that was set up by O&#8217;Brien, who had already left for the Houston Texans, and one of his mentors, George O&#8217;Leary, who was eyeing an exit of his own at UCF.</p><p>The game was created because Penn State was still under a postseason ban at the time, and the trip was a way of replacing a bowl game-type experience for Lions players.</p><p>Four-plus years later, Penn State is still alive for a third straight trip to a New Year&#8217;s Six game with a win over the Terrapins and a third straight top-10 finish if the Lions can win the bowl as well. That would give Penn State three seasons in a row with double-digit wins for the first time since 1980-82.</p><p>At the center of it has been McSorley.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s hard at times to not think about the end, especially with it being so close at this point,&#8221; McSorley said. &#8220;This is the end of these senior times and my time here at Beaver Stadium, and I think that&#8217;s something that tough to not think about &#8212; understanding the magnitude of it all and everything that&#8217;s gone into it.</p><p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t realize it&#8217;s gone until it is, and I think that&#8217;s kind of the point where I&#8217;m at. I&#8217;ve been here for so long, I feel like this is never going to end. And here we are this week.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State's DeAndre Thompkins (3) takes off running after a catch against Wisconsin during the second half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. Penn State won 22-10. (AP Photo/Chris Knight)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18314740281107.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State's DeAndre Thompkins (3) takes off running after a catch against Wisconsin during the second half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. Penn State won 22-10. (AP Photo/Chris Knight)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18309863033426.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye (21) plays against Michigan in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18309863033426.jpg</photo1><caption1>Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye (21) plays against Michigan in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18294672556229.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State safety Nick Scott (4) gets an interception during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Bloomington, Ind. Penn State won 33-28. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18294672556229.jpg</photo2><caption2>Penn State safety Nick Scott (4) gets an interception during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, in Bloomington, Ind. Penn State won 33-28. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18314762874498.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley (9) walks the sidelines during a timeout against Wisconsin in the second half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. Penn State won 22-10. (AP Photo/Chris Knight)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18314762874498.jpg</photo3><caption3>Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley (9) walks the sidelines during a timeout against Wisconsin in the second half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. Penn State won 22-10. (AP Photo/Chris Knight)</caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Five long years: Penn State’s oldest seniors helped lead Nittany Lions into a new era