Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from huge win over Indiana

2. Trace McSorley finally broke out a big game to lead Penn State to win

Trace McSorley, like his counterpart Sam Darnold from last year’s Rose Bowl, started the season with hot-and-cold performances. Penn State has continued to win, but it has often done so despite the uneven play of its quarterback. That all changed on Saturday, when Indiana dared McSorley to beat them with his arm.

McSorley was up to the challenge at home. He finished the game with 315 passing yards and two touchdowns in the blowout of the Hoosiers, completing 23 of his 36 passing attempts along the way. Indiana thought they had a winning game plan when they bottled up Barkley on the ground, but McSorley put that pipe dream to rest quickly.

It wasn’t a perfect game for the senior quarterback, who was sacked several times and threw an interception. But he came out and put together a complete performance to snag another critical win in Big Ten play. In addition to his two touchdown passes, McSorley also punched in a score on the ground to bolster his stat line.

This season, the Nittany Lions will probably go as far as their Heisman hopeful in the backfield will take them. But Penn State cannot win with Barkley alone producing, and McSorley stepped up to show why he was hyped coming into the season.