Blue White Illustrated

Amid all the positivity and optimism that typically surround bowl season, it seems as though every year an inevitable question follows: With the regular sea- son over and another college semester in the books, which players – if any – will decide to transfer? At Penn State this season, as of this writing, there was only one who was opting out. As first reported by Blue White Illus- trated's Ryan Snyder Dec. 11, freshman quarterback Michael O'Connor, a four- star prospect who played his high school football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., will be leaving the program less than a year after arriving. His destina- tion was still unknown as of Dec. 14. The specific reason for the transfer was not disclosed, but head coach James Franklin said that O'Connor "felt like this was an opportunity for him to start over again. We support him and wish him the best of luck." O'Connor had been recruited by for- mer head coach Bill O'Brien and en- rolled at Penn State in January. It was originally agreed that he would take a redshirt year as a true freshman. He was later relegated to third-team duties in August after classmate Trace McSorley, who enrolled in June, was named the backup quarterback. Although O'Connor was the only player who had announced a transfer as of mid-December, he wasn't the only one who had gotten people talking. Starting quarterback Christian Hacken- berg was forced to answer questions about his future with the program after an up-and-down sophomore season. Encircled by more than a dozen re- porters following Penn State's 34-10 loss to Michigan State Nov. 29, Hacken- berg was peppered with questions. He had just been sacked for the 42nd time this season and had seen his touch- down-to-interception ratio flip from an impressive 2:1 as a freshman to almost 1:2 a year later. Prior to the Nittany Li- ons' season finale, Hackenberg's declin- ing productivity had given rise to specu- lation that the five-star QB, who was also recruited by O'Brien, might think of transferring. Being pestered about those items fol- lowing a 24-point loss wouldn't seem to be a quarterback's thing. But instead, Hackenberg moving forward QB debunks transfer talk, but Lions lose backup O'Connor F O O T B A L L NEWS & NOTES AIRING IT OUT Hackenberg finished the regular season as the Big Ten's fifth-leading passer with an average of 217.2 yards per game. Photo by Steve Manuel

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