UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman wide receiver KJ Hamler and senior quarterback Trace McSorley collected weekly honors following their performances against No. 4 Ohio State. Hamler garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades and was named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor, while McSorley was selected as the Rose Bowl Big Ten Player of the Week.
It is the first career Big Ten weekly honor and second Hornung Award Honor Roll appearance for Hamler. The Paul Hornung Award is presented to the most versatile player in major college football.
Hamler had a career-high 138 receiving yards on a personal-best four receptions. He also had an electrifying 93-yard touchdown catch, his fourth receiving score in five games. Hamler's 93-yard touchdown grab is the second-longest play from scrimmage in Penn State history. The play is second only to the 95-yard passing score from Sean Clifford to Daniel George against Kent State in week 3. Hamler also had 57 yards on punt (10 yards) and kick (47 yards) returns for a career-high 195 all-purpose yards.
The native of Pontiac, Michigan, ranks fourth in FBS yards per reception (23.69), 22nd in kickoff return average (26.2), 26th in all-purpose yards per game (127.2) and 28th in receiving touchdowns (4).
McSorley was 16-for-32 for 286 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 25 carries for 175 yards. He finished the game with 461 yards of total offense to set the Penn State game record, surpassing the 456 yards by Christian Hackenberg against UCF in 2014. McSorley also had a career-high 175 rushing yards, which is the second-most by a quarterback in a game in Penn State history, behind Eugene "Shorty" Miller's 250 yards against Carnegie Tech in 1913.
The senior quarterback extended his streak for consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 33 games, which is the fifth-longest streak in FBS Autonomy 5 history. He also moved into 11th place in Big Ten history in career total offense yards with 9,727 yards. He also jumped into 19th place in conference history in career passing yards with 8,418.