Blue White Illustrated

LAST WORD N AT E BAUER | NBAUER@BLUEWHITEONLINE. C O M Growing season T here were grainy recruiting videos and occasional eyewitness accounts of his high school career, but the actual evaluation of quarterback Christian Hackenberg heading into his freshman season at Penn State wasn't all that complicated. In short, the 18-year-old Virginia resident was athletic, possessed all the physical gifts that separate great players from the merely good, and clearly had all the tools that one would expect to see in the nation's No. 1 pro-style quarterback prospect, which was the title Rivals.com bestowed on him in its 2013 rankings. With Hackenberg getting set to wrap up his freshman season at Penn State, it looks as though the recruiting experts got it right. Hackenberg's picture-perfect touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Carter in the Nittany Lions' recent overtime victory over Illinois was a perfect example. As Penn State coach Bill O'Brien made clear in his postgame news conference moments after the Lions' dramatic 24-17 win, Hackenberg's throw was impressive for any number of reasons. In the red zone, the windows get smaller and the pace quickens as oncoming blitzers work that much harder to keep offenses out of the end zone. And yet Hackenberg handled it all with aplomb. "When he had a chance to make a play, he stepped up in the pocket and made a great throw," O'Brien said. "I thought that was a hell of a throw. It was right on the body of Kyle. "If that throw is six inches one way or the other, it's batted down or maybe intercepted. I give Christian a lot of credit for a great throw and a great catch by Kyle." Hackenberg has started every game for Penn State this season, just months after arriving on campus out of high school, and his evolution has been fascinating – not just because he has demonstrated the physical ability to make great throws, but because he has shown the ability to make those throws during the game's most critical moments. As he has made clear this season, he relishes the opportunity to make decisive plays in the fourth quarter. "I think you've got to live for those types of moments, the ability to go in there and as a team, win the game," he said. "As an offensive unit, [we want to] put our team in the position to win the game, and we did today. I'm really proud of my guys, really proud of the offensive line and receivers." In looking at Hackenberg's statistics this season – 194 completions in 329 attempts (59 percent) for 2,399 yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions – he's fallen somewhat from the pace that allowed him to earn three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors through the season's first six games. In Penn State's 24-10 loss at Minnesota, he completed only 14 of 25 passes for 163 yards, his least-productive outing of the season. Yet, in O'Brien's mind, the numbers are not what matter. When asked recently about his onfield demeanor and relationship with Hackenberg, O'Brien said he's had to develop patience. That quality doesn't come naturally to him, but he has tried to see things from Hackenberg's perspective and ensure that the standards by which the first-year quarterback is being evaluated are fair and reasonable. "It's a difficult situation that he's in, just being a freshman and playing major college football at that position for the first time," O'Brien said. O'Brien acknowledged his own improvements in taking a reasonable tone with Hackenberg after each series. But it's not been smooth sailing all season. Sometimes, Hackenberg comes up short on plays that O'Brien knows he can make, and those moments have tested the coach's patience. Said O'Brien, "When he makes a mistake that I know he knows what to do on or he makes the mistake twice – it doesn't happen very often – that's when I lose my patience a little bit with him. I think he gets that." Following Penn State's rout of Purdue on Nov. 16, in which he completed 16 of 23 passes for 212 yards, Hackenberg was ranked 32nd nationally in total passing yards. There have been some rough moments, such as the botched snap in the fourth quarter of the Minnesota game that likely cost the Nittany Lions a touchdown and ended their comeback hopes. But throughout the season, Hackenberg has displayed an ability to not only make throws, but also rise to the occasion. Those moments offer an indication of what the expectations should be as he continues to develop as a quarterback at Penn I State.

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