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Alek Torgersen To Represent Penn In East-West Shrine Game

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The East-West Shrine Game will kick-off Saturday afternoon down in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The annual game is a showcase of some of the best talent in college football. This year there are a handful of players from local colleges taking part, including Penn quarterback Alek Torgersen.

Torgersen enjoyed an outstanding four-year career as the starting quarterback for the Quakers. He led Penn to a share of the Ivy league title in both his junior and senior seasons and finished his career as the program's all-time leader in touchdown passes (51) and total offense (7,937 yards).

He is the first Penn player since offensive lineman Joe Valerio in 1991 to accept an invite to the Shrine Bowl.

"The fact that I'm able to put on a Penn helmet one more time and be able to represent my school for one more game is a total honor," Torgersen tells KYW Newsradio. "It's something I've been thinking about all week. I'm going out there and representing Penn and Penn football. I'm hoping that I can make anyone who has come through Penn football proud and anyone who is still going through the program proud."

Listen to the entire interview with Penn's Alek Torgersen:

 

He says preparations for Saturday's game have gone well.

"We've installed a whole new offense this week," Torgersen says. "The past few days I've just been learning some new stuff, learning a different system with a pro-style offense. My main adjustment has just been, and something I've been preparing for, is just that increase in the speed of the game."

With NFL scouts and coaches all over the place this week in St. Petersburg, Torgersen knows the importance of making an impression.

"I'm totally confident in my play this past week," he says. "There have been many scouts who have come up to me and talked to me throughout the week. I think my performance has really shown that I can really compete at a higher level of football and that I have the talent necessary to play at the next level. I think I was able to show that so far throughout this week and I want to continuing showing that through the week and the game on Saturday."

In addition to Torgersen, Temple defensive back Nate Hairston and Villanova linebacker Austin Calitro will also suit up for the East team on Saturday.

The East-West Shrine Game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday.

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