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of his presence during winter conditioning and spring practice. The 6foot-3, 213-pound sophomore got a head start on his rival after arriving on campus from College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif., and he apparently maintained that lead in the early going, despite a difficult summer in which he returned home to spend time with his mother, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Ferguson continued to work on football while he was home, Fisher said. "He had all his information, he had all his notes from going through spring ball. He didn't go away from football. And he's come back and hasn't missed a beat, so we're excited about Tyler." Of course, the coaches are excited about Hackenberg, too. The 6-4, 220pound freshman has only been on campus since late June, and while he might ordinarily be expected to redshirt, he's not an ordinary prospect, and these definitely aren't ordinary times. Fisher said that Hackenberg, the son of a former college quarterback, has proven to be a fast learner. "He works hard at that part of it," the veteran assistant said. "He works hard at studying. And he lets us coach him. That's always a key to learning the game, allowing yourself to be coachable, and then learning from your mistakes and putting in the time away from the practice field – studying your plays and being attentive to detail." While Fisher has never been involved in a youth movement as thorough as the one under way at Penn State this season, he has worked with a few freshman quarterbacks over the years. His most well-known protégé, Jay Cutler, was a redshirt freshman when he seized Vanderbilt's starting quarterback spot in 2002. Cutler completed only 48.6 percent of his passes that year and threw nearly as many interceptions (nine) as touchdown passes (10), but he got better every year and eventually was drafted 11th overall by the Denver Broncos. Fisher also coached Temple's Mike McGann, who completed 45.8 percent of his attempts as a true freshman in 2001, throwing three touchdown passes and nine interceptions. Junior defensive end Brad Bars ruptured his right achilles tendon in July during a summer workout. Bars underwent surgery with Penn State orthopedic physician Dr. Scott Lynch and will miss the entire 2013 season. Recovery time is estimated to be four to six months. In addition, coach Bill O'Brien announced Aug. 8 that incoming freshman wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton will miss the upcoming season due to a wrist injury that occurred in high school. Also, sophomore tight end Brent Wilkerson will be out indefinitely with a lingering back injury, and junior linebacker Ben Kline is still rehabbing from off-season shoulder surgery. He was held out of the initial portion of preseason practice, but O'Brien was hopeful that he'd be ready for the opener vs. Syracuse. McGann and Cutler didn't win a lot of games as freshmen. The Owls went 4-7 in 2001, while the Commodores went 2-10 in 2002. Those two quarterbacks didn't have the kind of talent around them that the Nittany Lions appear to have this year. But even so, their struggles illustrate the need for two qualities the Penn State coaching staff has been looking to instill in its young leaders: patience and resilience. "You're going to make mistakes," O'Brien said. "It's not an easy offense to learn as a quarterback. Matty McGloin made mistakes [as Penn State's starter last season], but he was tough. He was resilient. He played the next play, and that's what these guys have to continue to do." O'Brien dismissed the need for a veteran quarterback to guide the newcomers through their first preseason camp, saying, "They've got a seasoned coach they can learn from." The reference was to O'Brien himself, and as part of his effort to speed their acclimation process, he has shielded the team's 2013 recruiting class from the media. Neither Ferguson nor Hackenberg was made available for interviews at media day. Given the raw talent that the two young quarterbacks appear to possess, it's little wonder that hopes for this season have remained fairly high despite Penn State's inexperience at the game's most prominent position. Fisher's pretty hopeful himself. "There's a learning curve, but these guys are talented kids and they're here for a reason," he said. "They learn quickly. They're eager and they help each other. They're unselfish guys, they're team guys. And that's why we I recruited them here."

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