Blue White Illustrated

A U G U S T 3 0 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 10 N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m DUBLIN – Nyeem Wartman thought the loss was on him. The Nittany Lions' redshirt sophomore linebacker was devastated, his team trailing 24-23 with just 1:08 leB in the game following a dramatic 6-yard touchdown carry by UCF quarterback Justin Holman. Knowing that he'd slipped and missed the tackle on the draw play, Wartman watched as quarter- back Christian Hackenberg and his Penn State teammates took the field at their own 26-yard line, deflated. The game now beyond his control, Wartman turned to telepathy. "Be great! Be great! Be great!" he said to himself from the sideline, wanting the positive energy to reach Hackenberg. Already owning the school record for most passing yards in a single game, Hackenberg had already been as much for the entirety of the Nittany Lions' sea- son-opener against the Knights. As great as he'd been, faced with a fourth-and-3 from his own 33-yard line, Hackenberg would need to do it again – at minimum for his linebacker's sake. "That fourth-down play, I just knew in my head," Wartman said. "I actually said it out loud. 'Be great! Be great!' " Said Hackenberg, "I knew it was fourth down. If I was going to go, I had to go and I hit it. I tried to get as much as I could." Finding a pocket in the defense, Hacken- berg got enough, picking up 8 yards to earn the first down at Penn State's 41. Said a relieved Wartman, "He took it upon himself to get that first down and then from there, everything went our way." Forty yards on three completions later, senior kicker Sam Ficken sent home a 36-yard field goal to give the Nittany Lions the dramatic 26-24 victory. Hackenberg became Penn State's first quarterback to eclipse 400 yards, finish- ing with 454 yards passing while com- pleting 32 of 47 attempts with a touchdown and two interceptions. He is beginning to make the extraordinary look routine while already cementing himself as one of Penn State's greatest ever at the position. Said head coach James Franklin, "You guys know we've got a special guy playing quarterback." For his part, Hackenberg wouldn't take the credit for the late-game theatrics. Diffusing the praise to the young, inex- perienced wideouts, the steady tight ends and an offensive line that had been doubted all preseason, the Nittany Lion quarterback again played the part of savvy veteran beyond his years. "Christian is Christian, and that's what I basically can tell you," said Geno Lewis, who finished with 173 receiving yards. "He's the best quarterback in the country and I'm glad to have him on my team." I've been saying for MONTHS that PSU will have the best player on the field EVERY game. Hack made a couple mistakes throwing into cov- erage, but the guy is a monster! He threw for about 500 yards against what many were saying was a really good defense. Howie'81 Hack is special and will pick apart opponents given time. Lewis and Hamilton are going to have big years. The line had some issues, but not terrible for a first game. The run D is solid. Special teams were much improved. Haley is going to bust one for 6 this season. Open- ing games tend to be sloppy, but an ugly win is still a win. Brazillm10 UCF is a good team with Holman under center... very glad we were spotted a half of football. Some pos- itives, some negatives but we should be enjoying the win. Mkilvanick [Holman] was about eight trillion times better than the first kid. … As for why they started the other kid, I'm sure they had a good reason. Regardless, couldn't be happier about the decision. gemrich Did anyone notice how little the second-team defensive front seven played? I know he will eventually break in the young guys, but I can't wait to see what defensive subs played and the number of downs they were in for. psugo I think Hackenberg was trying to do too much at times and actually helped keep UCF in the game until they unleashed their backup QB who I am sure O'Leary wished had won the job in the first place. Old as Dirt HACK'S BACK Hackenberg picked up where he left off last sea- son, throw- ing for a school- record 454 yards. Steve Manuel FROM THE WEB ONLINE REAcTION TO PSU'S LATEST GAmE GREAT EXPECTATIONS Hackenberg shines brightest in game's decisive final minute

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