Tommy Stevens Returns To Happy Valley For Homecoming Weekend
Tommy Stevens was among the Penn State alumni who flocked back to State College for Penn State’s 2019 Homecoming weekend.
Stevens, who spent the first four seasons of his college football career with James Franklin and the Nittany Lions, posted a photo of Beaver Stadium on his Snapchat story on Friday evening.
Stevens transferred to Mississippi State in the offseason, and he reunited with former Nittany Lion offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead in Starkville. The Bulldogs are idle this weekend as they await their week 7 match-up with Tennessee on October 12.
On September 16, Stevens joined former teammate Adam Breneman’s podcast to discuss nearly every aspect of his college football career — including his reasons for moving away from Happy Valley.
The quarterback said he “couldn’t afford” to lose the quarterback competition that would’ve played out between him and Sean Clifford at Penn State’s fall camp. Clifford ended up beating out redshirt freshman Will Levis to be the Nittany Lions’ starting quarterback, and he’s 4-0 so far as James Franklin’s newest QB1.
“We get to the spring, and there was no guarantee of anything,” Stevens said. “I didn’t want to get to the situation where Cliff has the opportunity to be a three-year starter. Maybe it makes more sense for him to be the starter and me to continue at the Lion. I wasn’t afraid of competition. Some fans think I left because I was scared to compete, but that just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Trace McSorley beat Stevens in the Nittany Lions’ 2016 quarterback competition, and Stevens waited in the wings as McSorley’s back-up for three seasons before leaving the team. He explored a transfer prior to the 2018 season, too, but he ultimately decided to stay in Happy Valley.
Stevens’ tenure as a Mississippi State Bulldog is off to a tough start. He’s passed for 448 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions, but he’s also battled a lingering foot injury throughout this season. He took just one snap in Mississippi State’s blowout loss to Auburn in which the team fell to 2-2 on the year.
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