Blue White Illustrated

Passing grades Christian Hackenberg gets set to wrap up a strong debut season M AT T   H E R B It's been one of those in-between seasons at Penn State. Some good, some bad. Some highs, some lows. Some wins, some losses. All in roughly equal proportion. The season is set to end on Saturday when the Nittany Lions visit Wisconsin. It will be the final game of a remarkable year for Christian Hackenberg, and when the freshman quarterback was asked earlier this week whether that year has seemed to pass by quickly or slowly, his answer was in entirely keeping with the noncommittal feeling that has infused the season as a whole. "I think it's been a little bit of both," he said. "I think everything's flown by. I feel like I just ran out of the tunnel against Syracuse. But then again, the physical toll [has been] a little bit of a grind. I think we're all feeling it. But this week we need to focus on getting healthy, and we're really excited about this last opportunity against Wisconsin." That the Lions still have hopes of finishing with a winning record is a testament to Hackenberg's rapid development. He may not have accomplished every last thing he set out to do as a freshman, but he's smashed some school records, won some Big Ten laurels, inspired a lot of gushing media coverage and garnered at least one comparison to a young Troy Aikman. No matter how it ends on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, Hackenberg's debut season has to be considered one of the most hopeful signs for a program that over the next few years will be looking to reclaim its place among the conference's elite. "I think he's done a good job, coach Bill " O'Brien said. "I think that we could all do a better job in certain areas, and I'm sure he has some plays he wishes he could have back, but we didn't get those plays back. I think overall, when you look at being 18 years old and coming in here and playing pretty much every snap of every | MATT@BLUEWHITEONLINE.COM Bill Anderson HACK ATTACK Hackenberg goes into the season finale ranked second in the Big Ten with an average of 237.8 passing yards per game. game, he's gotten better and better at doing that." A starter from opening day forward, he's completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,616 yards and has thrown for 200 yards or more in eight of Penn State's 11 games. He's topped 300 yards in three games and twice has broken the school single-game record for most passing yards by a freshman. Following his performance against Nebraska, in which he threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. It was the fourth time this season that he claimed the conference's weekly honor. Of course, statistics and awards don't tell the whole story, especially with the Lions having modernized their passing offense to a degree that makes comparisons with previous Penn State quarterbacks problematic. Only four quarterbacks in school history have sur- N O V E M B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 3 11 passed 300 yards passing in multiple games, and two of them – Hackenberg and predecessor Matt McGloin – owe their collegiate success largely to O'Brien and his staff. So while Hackenberg's passing average – 237.8 yards per game – ranks second in the Big Ten, both he and O'Brien see plenty of room for refinement. Hackenberg said he plans to add a few pounds in the weight room over the winter and wants to get better as a "game manager. " He has already led the Nittany Lions on an 80-yard, 23-second touchdown drive with no timeouts and less than a minute left to play against Michigan, so there's clearly a fair bit of raw material with which to work. But to O'Brien, game management involves the routine as well as the spectacular. "A game manager is somebody who understands when to run the ball, who does a good job of using the clock at the end of the half, using the clock at the end of a game, he said. "He understands coverage " reads and when to throw it, when to check to a run, things like that. Hacken" berg, he said, "has gotten better and better at that throughout the year. I think as time goes on, he'll be even better at it. " Hackenberg said one of the biggest challenges he has faced in transitioning from high school to college football has been dealing with the attention he has received as the starting quarterback for a high-profile program. He said he has turned to his more-experienced teammates for help in adjusting. "Guys like Ty Howle and the seniors were really good guys for me to talk to," he said. "They've all been through it. Each week, I was just trying to get better mentally and stay in good shape physically to continue to make plays for the team and help the team out. That's been my goal. Just managing the games and helping put us in situations where we can be successful. " BL UEW H I T E ON L I N E.COM

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