Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/233832
SKY'S THE LIMIT Christian Hackenberg looks to build on a magnificent debut season | B ill O'Brien had wrapped up his postgame news conference a few minutes earlier and had ducked out the side door of the visitors' press room at Camp Randall Stadium just as players began filing in for their turn in front of the microphones. Usually, when coaches step away from the media scrum, they don't return. Why prolong the agony? But as Christian Hackenberg was fielding questions at the front of the room, O'Brien popped his head inside the door and barked instructions at the freshman quarterback: "Short answers. Talk about your teammates. You're so blessed to be here at Penn State. " Everyone laughed. The last thing Hackenberg needed at the conclusion of his debut season was more media coaching, and O'Brien's impromptu refresher course was presumably done more for comic effect than out of fear that Hackenberg was about to go rogue. During a remarkable first season at Penn State, he handled the crush of attention as deftly as he did opposing defenses. Which is to say, he handled it in a way that made you wonder: This guy's only a freshman? Only six months removed from high school? Only a teenager? "It's been different, Hackenberg admitted. "Obviously, it's a change of pace here. " But I think the recruiting process has changed, and a lot of people are being talked to at younger ages now. "It's definitely been on a larger scale [at Penn State] with ESPN and that type of stuff. So I just try and take it with a grain of salt and try to make it a positive. " It helps that Hackenberg has had a lot of positive things to talk about. He smashed some school records in 2013, won some Big Ten laurels and garnered at least one comparison to a young Troy Aikman. He also inspired a lot of gushing media coverage, including a profile by Grantland.com in which his commitment to Penn State in