In his Nittany Lion debut against Akron at home on September 5, Newsome went 3-for-4, threw for 26 yards, and rushed for 12 yards on two carries. Against Syracuse, he fumbled the ball on a sack, which gave the Orange their only points (against Nittany Lion reserves), but recovered from that mistake to lead the Nittany Lions into the red zone, at which point he was relieved by third-stringer Matt McGloin, who had his first instance of playing time. Against Temple, he played in the final two drives, but little else, and he ran for a first down to kill the clock against Illinois. Against Eastern Illinois on October 10, Newsome passed for 34 yards on four completions. He rushed for 49 yards on seven carries and scored his first career touchdown to put Penn State up 52-3. He led Penn State to a second drive into the red zone late in the fourth quarter before being relieved by McGloin. Against Minnesota, he handed the ball off a few times, but saw little action elsewhere. Against Northwestern, after the Nittany Lions had put the game away 34-13 early in the fourth quarter, Newsome nearly led them to another scoring drive, but were forced to punt. He also saw this degree of playing time against Indiana. Against Michigan State, he scored his second career touchdown to give Penn State a 42-7 lead over the Alamo Bowl-bound Spartans and score his first touchdown against an FBS team and against a Big Ten team, following Michigan State's touchdown pass to Keshawn Martin against reserves.
