Blue White Illustrated

the moment a thunderous soundtrack – the student section, like the rest of the stadium, was empty – but it was one of the most pivotal moments of Penn State's season. It confirmed the freshman's status as the leader of the offense. Hackenberg went on to complete his first six passes in a smashing debut against Syracuse, and he held onto the starting spot all season. He finished the year with 231 completions in 392 attempts, passing for 2,955 yards with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year, he broke 10 Penn State freshman records including the single-game passing marks for yardage (340), completions (30) and touchdown passes (four). His full-season yardage total was the highest for a freshman in school history, as were his marks for completions, attempts, touchdown passes, 200-yard passing games (nine) and 300-yard passing games (four). "I think he's done a good job," O'Brien said. "I think that we could all do a better seven-on-seven drill in June 2012, but he hit the ground running at Penn State after enrolling in January and didn't miss a single practice during the season. "Coming from high school, where people said I had injury problems, I think I held up pretty well for my first season of college ball," he said. Breneman admitted he struggled at first with the adjustment to college competition and having to fight for playing time at one of Penn State's deepest positions. "It was difficult," he said, "especially in the middle of the season when I wasn't playing at all, really. I just wasn't playing well. I wasn't practicing well and I wasn't completely into it. But once I made the full adjustment to how things work in-season – classes and practice – I started to practice a lot better. And when you practice well, you start to see the field more. So I was happy about that." – M.H. 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 game, he's gotten better and better at doing that." Of course, numbers and awards don't tell the whole story, especially given that the Lions have supercharged their passing game since their new coaching staff arrived in 2012. Only four quarterbacks in Penn State history have surpassed 300 yards passing in multiple games, and two of them – Hackenberg and predecessor Matt McGloin – have been O'Brien protégés. So while his single-season passing numbers are among the best in school history, both he and O'Brien see plenty of room for refinement. One of Hackenberg's off-season priorities will be to add a few pounds in the weight room. O'Brien said that it's customary to keep young quarterbacks on a "pitch count" in practice, and that was the case with the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Hackenberg this year. "His body is still developing – his shoulder muscles, his triceps muscles, his biceps muscles – so you've got to be careful there with a guy who's 18," he said. "It's totally different than with a guy who is 33, 34." Hackenberg also said he wants to get better as a "game manager" as he moves forward in his career. He has already led the Nittany Lions on a 23-second touchdown drive with no timeouts and less than a minute to play, so it looks as though there's a fair bit of raw material with which to work. But to O'Brien, game management involves more than just the stuff that ends up on SportsCenter; it also involves the routine plays that tend to get overlooked when the game is being dissected at tailgates and on message boards. "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 ADAM'S MARK Breneman breaks free from Wisconsin safety Nate Hammon during Penn State's season finale. The freshman tight end scored three TDs in his debut season, including the 68yarder vs. the Badgers. Steve Manuel

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