STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ Trace McSorley gave the wet, chilled crowd something to remember him by in his final appearance Saturday at Beaver Stadium, and Penn State found a way to stop what had been a prolific running attack by Maryland.
McSorley rushed for two touchdowns and threw for one, and the 15th-ranked Nittany Lions defense held the Terrapins to 74 yards rushing to help the team roll to a 38-3 victory on Senior Day.
The Lions (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten), who were 12th this week in the College Football Playoff rankings, closed their regular season with a third-place finish in the conference's Eastern Division, and now will await the announcement next Sunday of their bowl destination. A top-12 finish in the final CFP ranking would get them to a New Year's Six game.
McSorley scored on runs of 3 and 20 yards in the first quarter, and threw a 5-yard scoring pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth early in the fourth. He rushed 11 times for 64 yards and completed 12 of 22 passes for 230, going 6-for-6 in the second half. His 12 completions gave him 703 for his career, breaking the record of 693 previously held by Christian Hackenberg.
He left the field to an ovation with 9 minutes, 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Ricky Slade added a pair of touchdowns on runs of 8 yards and 1 yard. Starter Miles Sanders picked up 128 yards _ his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season _ on 14 carries to lead a rushing attack that picked up 310 yards.
The Terrapins (5-7, 3-6), who fell short of bowl eligibility, were limited on the ground after gaining 339 and 353 yards on the ground in the previous two weeks. Redshirt freshman Anthony McFarland, who rushed for 298 yards last week against Ohio State, had just six carries for 12 yards and did not play in the second half.
Leading 17-3 at the half, Penn State went 86 yards on its initial third-quarter possession and rushed the ball on seven of the nine plays. Slade completed the drive with a nifty spin move up the middle for the touchdown.
McSorley completed three passes on the next Lions scoring drive _ 22 yards to Freiermuth and 38 yards to Juwan Johnson before the 5-yard TD throw to Freiermuth. Slade finished the scoring on a 1-yard run with 6:03 to play.
The Nittany Lions came out hot. On the game's first play, McSorley connected with K.J. Hamler on a 34-yard pass, then Sanders zigged and zagged for 35 yards to the Maryland 5. Two plays later, McSorley faked to Sanders and took off around the left side for a 3-yard score.
The Terps put up their first points on a 26-yard field goal by Joseph Petrino, a kick set up on a 48-yard pass from Tyrrell Pigrome to Brian Cobbs. But the Lions answered with a 75-yard, eight-play drive to go up 14-3 on McSorley's 20-yard run with just under 2 minutes remaining in the quarter.
Slade picked up 20 yards rushing and caught a 12-yard pass on the drive, which was aided by a personal foul penalty against Maryland. On first down from the 20, McSorley dropped back but quickly saw an opening, and took off up the middle for the TD.
Penn State went 12 plays in a second-quarter drive that ended with Jake Pinegar's 25-yard field goal with 2:06 left before halftime. The Lions benefitted from a video review that overturned an apparent interception by the Terps' Antwaine Richardson, but failed to push over a touchdown after a 21-yard pass from McSorley to DeAndre Thompkins gave them a first-and-goal at the 7.
