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games this season. The Nittany Lions didn't pull away from Akron until the second half and needed late-fourth- quarter rallies to dispose of UCF and Rutgers. Until they fix an ineffectual ground game that is ranked 117th out of 125 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Lions figure to have trouble running away from many of their upcoming op- ponents. Including Massachusetts? Maybe so. The Minutemen have not been the pushovers they were in the two seasons prior to coach Mark Whipple's arrival. They went a combined 2-22 in 2012 and '13, and while they're off to an 0-3 start this year, they were highly competitive against major-conference opponents in their two most recent games, a 41-38 loss to Colorado and a 34-31 setback against Vanderbilt. Playing in Nashville, the Minutemen led the Commodores for just under 59 minutes and took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter. Even aCer surrender- ing two late touchdowns, they re- grouped, driving to Vandy's 5-yard line in the final seconds. But with a chance to send the game to overtime, place-kicker Blake Lucas pulled his 22-yard attempt wide leC. Following the loss, Whipple took a bit of solace in his team's effort, but he was dissatisfied with its execution – so much so that he fired special teams coordina- tor Ted Daisher earlier this week. The Minutemen not only missed that chip- shot field goal – their place-kicking has been a problem for the past two seasons – but also allowed the Commodores to block a punt and return it for a touch- down. "We just didn't finish the game in the fourth quarter," Whipple said. "The loss wasn't on one person or one side of the ball. It was all three: offense, defense, special teams. We gave up a blocked punt and we missed a field goal at the end of the game after we gave up a big catch that should have been an inter- ception. We will go back to work and get ready for Penn State. I think our guys are learning, and we have a bunch of good guys. We need to get our best players to make a few more plays to get us a win." For the Minutemen to pull off one of the bigger upsets of the young season, they will need to clamp down on Nittany Lion quarterback Christian Hackenberg. Whipple knows Hackenberg well. The veteran coach was a frequent visitor to campus last year, because his son Austin was a walk-on quarterback with the Lions. (He has since transferred to Mas- sachusetts.) Whipple was on the sideline at Beaver Stadium for one of Hacken- berg's finest moments, a comeback vic- tory over Michigan that the then-freshman spearheaded by direct- ing a score-tying drive in the final sec- onds. Rival coaches have been raving about Hackenberg since his arrival, but no one will likely out-gush Whipple, a former NFL assistant who earlier this week pre- dicted that the true sophomore is going to be the first player picked in a future NFL DraC. "If he could come out this year, he'd be the first player picked," Whipple said. "I watched him every game and watched him practice last year, and he roomed with my son for a little bit. He's an awe- some kid – to see the way he's taken the team on his shoulders, the way he played all last year and the way he handles not only success but also the way he handles failures." With Penn State's running game bogged down, Rutgers was able to focus on the passing attack last week and sacked Hackenberg five times. But he still managed to throw for 300 yards for the third game in a row and will be the focal point of Penn State's offense on Saturday. "He's a great player and I wish I were sitting in the stands maybe this week," Whipple said. "He's doing what every- one knows he can do. He's a little more athletic than you think and he reminds me of a guy I had at Pittsburgh with the Steelers [Ben Roethlisberger]. Hacken- berg is a winner, and I couldn't say enough about him. I've seen him play every single game, I've seen his practice habits, seen him in the meeting rooms. I've seen the way he's worked with Bill O'Brien, and he's the real deal. He's dif- ferent than the guys we've seen the past two weeks, so we have a huge chal- lenge." NATE BAUER 2014 RECORD 3-0 With Penn State giving 30 points, hon- estly, I'd take the points. Even against lowly UMass, the Nittany Lions are going to have trouble consistently scoring – as made evident against three barely-average defenses through the first three weeks. PENN STATE 28, UMASS 3 PHIL GROSZ 2014 RECORD 3-0 UMass has played surprisingly well in three losses, but I expect this to be at least a two-touchdown win for PSU. Hackenberg will have his fourth con- secutive 300-yard plus passing day and Penn State's running hopefully will total 150-plus yards. PENN STATE 38, UMASS 10 MATT HERB 2014 RECORD 2-1 UMass jumped all over Colorado and Vanderbilt before fading in the fourth quarter of both games. The Lions will have to be on guard. They would surely prefer to use this game to establish their ground attack, not as another platform for showing off their come- back potential. PENN STATE 31, UMASS 14 TIM OWEN 2014 RECORD 3-0 UMass is a better squad than many give it credit for, but this will be its most difficult challenge of the year. Penn State's defense continues dominating and holds UMass to a touchdown or less. PENN STATE 28, UMASS 7 RYAN SNYDER 2014 RECORD 3-0 UMass has definitely shown signs of improvement, but it's still one of the worst 10 teams in the FBS. But if PSU struggles to run the ball this week, then that'll be a bit concerning going forward. PENN STATE 31, UMASS 7 S E P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 BWI'S FORECAST

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