Blue White Illustrated

PHIL'S CORNER For Nittany Lions' offense, the best is yet to come espite the fact that quarterback Christian Hackenberg had been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times by mid-October and was completing close to 70 percent of his pass attempts, something appeared to be missing from Penn State's offensive performance in the first half of the season. The Nittany Lions lacked consistency in both the running and passing games, and while their struggles didn't come as a huge surprise considering that Hackenberg was in his first year running Bill O'Brien's complex NFL-style offense, some of their problems had nothing to do with the quarterback's steep learning curve. Penn State never really settled on a starting running back until the second half of the season, and that was because Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton seemed to fumble at the most inopportune moments. Penn State entered the final month of its season ranked last in the Big Ten in turnover margin, third-down conversions (under 30 percent) and red zone offense. Given the inconsistency it displayed on offense in those three critical areas throughout its first seven games, it's not surprising that, despite a string of remarkable performances by Hackenberg, Penn State's offense seemed to be running on only six of its eight cylinders. It also helps explain why the Lions were 24-point underdogs entering their season finale against Wisconsin. When they faced the Badgers, they were coming off a disappointing overtime loss to Nebraska. They had converted only 2 of D 14 third-down opportunities in that game, missed a field goal and an extra point and came up empty on one of their three red zone opportunities. The problems that had held back Penn State's offense for much of the season to that point were fully evident in the 23-20 overtime loss to the Cornhuskers. Few people outside the Lasch Building believed the Nittany Lions could fix those inconsistencies in time for a season finale in which they were set to face a Badgers team that had given up the second-fewest points in the Big Ten and was ranked second in the league in total defense and rushing defense and was sixth nationally in pass defense. And yet the Lions did just that, pulling off what has to be considered the biggest upset of the Big Ten season. Hackenberg had his best performance of the year, completing 21 of 30 pass attempts for 339 yards and four touchdowns. Penn State converted on three of its five red zone opportunities, putting 17 points on the scoreboard. It also converted 5 of 13 third-down attempts and didn't have a turnover. But the most surprising statistics of all were Penn State's 465 total yards, including 126 rushing yards. Zwinak ended up being the game's leading rusher with 115 yards on 22 carries, and for only the second time all season, Wisconsin didn't have a running back rush for 100 yards. There was no question it was Penn State's most impressive performance of the season, and I'm convinced it's a harbinger of things to come. If the Nittany Lions are to win eight or nine games in 2014, Hackenberg and company will have to be prepared to perform as they did against Wisconsin. I don't think that is an unrealistic expectation, especially if Allen Robinson opts to use his final season of eligibility. The only starters who were definitely set to depart as of this writing were center Ty Howle, right guard John Urschel and right tackle Garry Gilliam. Elsewhere, Penn State's offense returns its starters at running back, wide receiver, tight end and, most important, quarterback. I'm confident that Hackenberg will enter the 2014 season as one of the top two returning quarterbacks in the Big Ten. I believe he has a solid chance of earning All-Big Ten status after finishing as an honorable mention pick in 2013. His freshman season can be viewed as an indication of what he is capable of accomplishing over the next two or three seasons before he most likely enters the NFL. In his first 12 games as Penn State's starting quarterback, Hackenberg completed 231 of 392 passes for 2,955 yards (58.9 percent) and threw for 20 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. He finished the regular season ranked 32nd in the country in passing yards per game (246.2) and third in the Big Ten behind Nathan Scheelhaase and Devin Gardner. As impressive as all those accomplishments are, it was his performance against Wisconsin that convinced me he fully grasps O'Brien's NFL-style offense. In that game, he was able to create big plays, an element that had been absent from Penn State's passing game for much of the Big Ten season. Against Wisconsin, Hackenberg had completions of 68 yards to tight end Adam Breneman, 59 yards to wide receiver Eugene Lewis and 52 yards to Robinson. Following the announcement that he had been named Freshman of the Year, Hackenberg told the Big Ten Network that it wasn't until late in the season that he felt he had a full command of O'Brien's offense. "Things started clicking for me, I think, the last month here – understanding the entirety of the offense, the run game, the pass game and [defensive] coverages," he said.

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