Penn State Sports Magazine
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Zembiec commits to Lions R Y A N S N Y D E R | B l U E w h i t E i l l U S t R A t E D Penn State may not have been able to beat Michigan State on the field Saturday night, but head coach James Franklin and quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne did beat the Spartans on the recruiting trail, earn- ing a commitment from Class of 2016 quarterback Jake Zembiec, who took an unofficial visit to University Park this weekend. The four-star prospect from Aquinas Institute in Rochester, N.Y., earned a total of 15 scholarship offers over the past year but ultimately narrowed his list to the two Big Ten programs. "He wants to be the guy who leads Penn State back to greatness," said Tom Zem- biec, Jake's father. "He has faith in Coach [James] Franklin, believes in the staff and is excited for the challenge." In addition to both Penn State and Michigan State, some of the notable schools that extended offers to Zembiec include Boston College, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Pitt, Rutgers, UCF and Virginia. He's currently the No. 8 pro-style quarterback in Rivals.com's rankings and the 171st-best prospect overall in the Class of 2016. Although Zembiec's commitment may have grabbed the headlines, Penn State hosted a few other top prospects on Sat- urday. One of the most noteworthy of those players was juco offensive lineman Paris Palmer of Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa. A four-star prospect ac- cording to Rivals.com, Palmer emerged as one of Penn State's top targets shortly aBer the current staff took over in January. He committed to South Carolina in March, but Franklin, Rahne and offensive line coach Herb Hand stayed in contact in hope of convincing Palmer to take an offi- cial visit. It's still too early to tell whether he might flip his commitment to the Nit- tany Lions, but he has admitted that Penn State's situation along the offensive front – it needs players who will be able to make an impact in 2015 – is appealing. Along with Palmer, the Nittany Lions welcomed cornerback prospect Garrett Taylor of Richmond, Va. One of the staff's top defensive back targets last winter, Taylor made an early commit- ment to Michigan. But in late October, when it began to appear likely that a coaching change was in the works in Ann Arbor, he decided to reopen his recruit- ment to the 30-plus schools that had previously extended offers. He's since narrowed his list to Penn State, LSU, Ohio State and Virginia Tech. Taylor is expected to make a decision sometime in December. Four-star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins also took an official visit this weekend. The Suffield, Conn., prospect has been very quiet throughout his re- cruitment, but Penn State is part of a top six that also includes Boston College, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Stanford. Wilkins has also taken official visits to Stanford and Clemson, leaving Ohio State and Notre Dame as the final two schools he'll likely visit before mak- ing a decision. Neither of those two visits has been set. R E C R U I T I N G QUARTERBACKS Christian Hackenberg completed 12 passes in the first half, four more than the entire game last week, but his final throw of the second quarter was tipped, then intercepted in the end zone. By the time he regrouped after halftime, it was a little too late. GRADE C RUNNING BACKS Save for his 26-yard gain and ensuing 3-yard touchdown run in the third quar- ter, it was tough traveling for Akeel Lynch. He was limited to 15 yards on six carries in the first half. GRADE C- RECEIVERS Hackenberg had trouble syncing up with his receivers most of the day, often over- throwing the deep balls and failing to connect on the intermediate. There were some cru- cial drops, too, but like Hackenberg, the receivers improved as the game moved along. Just a little too late. GRADE C+ OFFENSIVE LINE Hackenberg was sacked only once in the first half, but things got worse in the second. He was dropped for a 9-yard loss and came up limping at the beginning of the third quarter, and another third-quarter sack caused a fumble that essentially ended any come- back hopes for Penn State. GRADE D DEFENSIVE LINE Jeremy Langford rushed for 69 first-half yards and broke containment on a couple of outside runs. But the D-line was able to pressure the quarterback on a few occa- sions, helping produce an interception by Anthony Zettel, his third of the season. But when they needed pressure most – when MSU was backed up deep in its own territory in the fourth quarter – they couldn't break through. GRADE B- LINEBACKERS Nyeem Wartman was laying the wood from the first snap to the last, and Mike Hull led the team with 13 tackles. But with Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda both out of ac- tion, this unit wasn't at full strength. GRADE C+ DEFENSIVE BACKS Only four passes were completed in the first half, and Adrian Amos and Trevor Williams had a couple of touchdown-saving deflections in the first quarter. But Connor Cook opened things up in the second half, completing 11 passes for 128 yards and a TD. GRADE C+ SPECIAL TEAMS Sam Ficken's first field goal attempt was his worst of the year, but he redeemed himself with a 41-yard conversion in the second quarter. Danny Pasquariello was strong in the punting game, too, downing three of five inside the 20, but Penn State never could overcome that opening kickoff return for a TD. GRADE C- COACHES Compared to the first 11 games, the season finale brought much of the same: an of- fense that struggled, a defense that was simply forced to handle too much and a special teams unit that had another untimely letdown. Acknowledgement to the staff, however, for landing a verbal commitment from four-star QB Jake Zembiec during pregame. GRADE C N o V E m B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 B l U E w h i t E o N l i N E . c o m 6 G A M E G R A D E S