STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — As he walked around Beaver Stadium for a victory lap, Trace McSorley stood with his five best friends and classmates by his side, soaking in every stride.

The fans who lined the perimeter of the field to thank the senior quarterback and ask for his autograph during the game’s final minutes and those in the student section soaking wet from a miserable, gray day who shouted “Trace! Trace! Trace!” after the last note of the alma mater all added to McSorley’s emotional farewell to the home crowd.

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“This was about as good as it gets, getting a big win and finishing out the Big Ten right,” McSorley said after No. 12 Penn State’s 38-3 victory against Maryland. “Really, a win in general was all I think any of us really wanted.”

By the time McSorley made his way back around to the end zone near the student section, which still waited for one final glimpse of No. 9 before he rang the victory bell and ran off, he dropped to a knee to reflect and pray. He finished by crouching down in a push-up position and kissing the field.

“I got chills as it was happening,” McSorley said of his farewell lap. “It’s one of those times where you know you’re never going to get it again and realizing that in the moment you just try and enjoy it as much as possible.”

Somewhere mixed in with the mud, chunks of grass and puddles on the sidelines were memories attached to McSorley’s prolific career on this field. For as much as he tried to suppress those emotions before the game, his teary-eyed parents waiting for him as he stepped off the bus and again at midfield before kickoff made it more difficult. There’s something about crying moms that even the most stoic of sons and James Franklin can’t shake.

“I walked into the stadium tonight and his mom was crying, and you know me, I am a big crybaby, so I was trying not to cry with her,” Franklin said. “But then I look over and dad was crying, so that threw me over.”

A page-long thank you to the fans from McSorley was part of the game program. It was a note the quarterback mulled over during the weeks leading up to Saturday, trying to be as succinct as possible with the understanding that however many words he used probably would never be enough.

Trace McSorley with a thank you letter to PSU fans in the game program.

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) November 24, 2018

Seemingly every question the past week was a reminder about McSorley’s inevitable last run through the tunnel and his final home-run swing of a touchdown celebration at the place where he exits as a 23-year-old with numerous school records, and Saturday’s performance was vintage McSorley. For all the ups and downs of this season, both for him and this team, it was a high note to finish the regular season on.

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Looking healthier and more mobile, McSorley accounted for 294 total yards with two rushing touchdowns and another touchdown pass. McSorley added to the bursting list of mental images he hopes to revisit down the road. He eluded defenders, ripped off some chunk plays and finished with 230 passing yards. In beating the Terrapins (5-7 overall, 3-6 Big Ten), Penn State (9-3, 6-3) scored 30-plus points for the first time since Oct. 27, when it scored 30 points in a win against Iowa.

As a whole, the Lions turned in a complete game after such a feat eluded them for much of the Big Ten slate. Having the quarterback back to his old ways after a right knee injury slowed him since that late-October win against Iowa made the night even sweeter.

“I told him that knee is perfectly fine,” running back Miles Sanders said between laughs. Sanders finished with 128 yards on 14 carries. “He was back to himself, and that’s what makes our offense so dangerous. Instead of just worrying about the running back, you gotta worry about Trace, too.”

McSorley said he felt good in practice this week, better than he has, but he still wore the bulky knee brace and might play with it in the bowl game, too. Hellbent on leaving this place and these fans on a high note, he went through warmups shirtless in the frigid weather like most of his teammates, eager to still be a carefree college kid, yet realizing all the while his steadying, calming presence as the quarterback will always set the tone.

So he went along for the ride, tossing passes with just his dog tags around his neck as his breath visible in the air above him. He even hustled down the field throwing a block on Sanders’ 35-yard run during the Lions’ opening touchdown drive.

“In pregame, right before we ran out of the tunnel, I was talking to the offense and I said, ‘I promise you guys I’m going to leave everything out there today,’ ” McSorley said. “That was part of trying to get down there and throw a block, anything I could do. I felt really good today, and I’m glad that we were able to come in and get a big-time win.”

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McSorley exited the game with a 31-3 lead in the fourth quarter, prompting the crowd to rise to its feet and cheer him off as Tommy Stevens entered for mop-up duty. McSorley’s final pass at home was a 5-yard touchdown to tight end Pat Freiermuth, who jokingly pleaded with his quarterback to defy the rules of eligibility and stay for a sixth year.

“I do not know if you could have written a better script for how this last game would have went for this senior class,” Franklin said. “Not only with Trace being able to get the curtain call, but Johnathan Thomas being able to get in the game and run the ball, Joe Arcangelo catching a pass and Christopher Welde getting into the game. It was fantastic to see all of those guys get on the field and have a chance to play. Tyler Shoop getting on the field and playing, as well. I don’t know if you could have written a better script for the way that this regular season ended.”

In the process of ending the regular season, the Lions might have started a new senior tradition. Coincidentally, the spot where McSorley ran out of bounds during Penn State’s 2016 overtime win against Minnesota after picking up 26 yards to put the Lions in position for a field goal to force overtime — a win that he and Franklin credit with the program turning the corner from back-to-back 7-6 seasons to a Big Ten title contender — was near where the seniors’ victory lap began.

The final lap around Beaver Stadium for Penn State’s senior class. Much more coming to @TheAthleticCFB.

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) November 25, 2018

The idea for a final lap was devised Friday night as linebacker Koa Farmer’s father, Jamal, a former collegiate football player at Hawaii and Cal State Northridge, suggested the idea to his son. Farmer passed it along to his roommates in a group text, and the end result was a tearful goodbye for a group of fifth-year seniors who figured out what it took to get past mediocrity and achieve the type of buy-in required to sustain double-digit win totals.

As they strolled around the field, Nick Scott cheered that he’ll never have to attend another dreaded early morning winter workout. Mark Allen, Johnathan Thomas, Amani Oruwariye and Farmer all flanked their quarterback, reminiscing about the memories they started making here on visits and cobbled together recruitments a half-decade ago.

James Franklin pulled McSorley out of the tunnel to go back and meet with more fans on his way to the locker room

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) November 24, 2018

By the time McSorley slapped high-fives with fans through the tunnel and into the concourse, even turning back around to dish out another round of high-fives, he said yes, he is satisfied with how this chapter of his career ended.

“There’s things that I want back and moments and opportunities that we missed on,” McSorley said, “but all in all, to be able to leave Beaver Stadium like this, especially with a win, yeah, I’m satisfied.”

(Top photo by Abby Drey / Centre Daily Times / TNS via Getty Images)