Blue White Illustrated

T H E M O N T H I N . . . Offensive lines don't improve on a weekly basis. They develop on a glacial timeline. They are built over seasons and this one is at least a season away from being any good. Franklin knows this. It's not a problem he can fix this year although it could improve a little with the return of guard Miles Dieffenbach at some point, maybe in a month against Ohio State. Regardless, it's a permanent impediment that the of- fensive staff must continually massage and finesse and work around. Hackenberg probably must dial back the ball-release alarm in his head a second or two. He's not playing behind Marco Rivera and Jeff Hartings and he must acknowledge it. Taking leisurely amounts of time is the luxury of a well-protected quarterback. Some- times, he's just holding it too long. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM O'Brien knew what was coming and he started building an ark – while knowing, he said, "that you can win a national championship here." Then the sanctions were lessened, Bill beat it to the NFL and Franklin came promising a healing that bore no hint of the deep wounds the Penn State football program had suffered. Now, the defections, insurrections and program intersections have come home to roost. In just one week, genuflections are much, much harder to come by. Franklin, for one, is a bit surprised. Penn State is not Vanderbilt, where a 6-6 regular-season record and a bowl berth seemingly inspired that rare upbeat country music song. MIKE POORMAN STATECOLLEGE.COM After taking PSU and the college football world by storm in his first 16 games that included an 11-5 record and four come-from-behind victories, Hacken- berg has hit a wall these last two games. He unraveled with an interception and fumble, both in the fourth quarter, of a 29-6 loss to Northwestern, and here, with the Lions needing mainly to keep Michigan on a long field, he forced an interception into coverage, and the Wolverines capitalized, turning a 13-10 deficit into an eventual 18-13 victory before 113,085 in the Big House. Hacken- berg is not playing with the cool that he operated with last year, and it's leading to bad decisions. NEIL RUDEL ALTOONA MIRROR It's hard to call a game when you can't consistently run block and you can't con- sistently protect the quarterback. JAMES FRANKLIN Every day I'm still trying to improve. You never stay the same; you either go back- ward or you improve, and that's always been my approach. ... I'm not satisfied with where I am. I'm happy, but I'm still trying to improve. C.J. OLANIYAN Today was ugly... that is MY fault. We WILL get better because we have GREAT young men w/POSITIVE attitudes who aren't afraid to WORK. HERB HAND @CoachHand (tweeting after PSU's 29-6 loss to Northwestern) T W E E T S O P I N I O N S Q U O T E S A D M I N I S T R AT I O N Penn State hires Esten to serve as deputy AD Athletics director Sandy Barbour made her first big hire Oct. 6 when the univer- sity announced Phil Esten as deputy di- rector of athletics and chief operating officer for intercollegiate athletics. Esten and Barbour will work closely in their day-to-day oper- ations. He comes to Penn State after serv- ing the past two years in a similar position at Cal. Esten will take charge of development, mar- keting, communica- tions, and facilities and event management for Penn State's 31-sport varsity program, and he will also supervise several of the athletic programs. Development of rev- enue generation initiatives, fan experi- ence, strategic partnerships, multimedia rights and branding also will be among his key areas of oversight. Prior to his tenure at Cal, Esten served as president and CEO of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. He previously was an associate athletic di- rector at Minnesota for six years, man- aging the overall strategic plan for the Golden Gophers' 25-sport program. He also served as the department's point person for the new on-campus football stadium, TCF Bank Stadium, which opened in 2009. Esten played a major role in the stadium's fundraising initia- tive. He also served as the assistant director of athletic ticketing and events at Ohio State, where he worked from 1997- 2000. "We are thrilled to have Phil joining our team," Barbour said in a prepared statement. "Phil brings an outstanding depth and breadth of experience to Penn State, including extensive campus in- volvement outside of athletics." ■ ESTEN

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