Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/541265
catches the ball, people think it's what? It's a good decision, right? Those things factor into it. I didn't feel like he had a higher per- centage of poor decisions than other re- ally good quarterbacks across the coun- try. Those things were magnified be- cause of where we were at offensively. So when he did make a bad decision, it was magnified because of the situation we were in, and I don't think we had the playmakers to be "erasers." Allen Robin- son was an eraser. He could make plays, he could make things happen. Just like I think Hack's arm strength is an eraser – he can make throws that other guys just can't make. I think the head coach and the quar- terback get way too much credit when things are going well and way too much blame when things don't go well. This is the ultimate team game, and every piece affects the other. So, my point to you is, because of the lack of a running game and the things we needed to do like max protect and things like that, you become predictable on of- fense, and that's nev- er a good thing to do. The lack of erasers, the glaring weakness, and then the pre- dictability – it's a bad combination. So let's move in that direction – running back. We've seen flashes from Akeel Lynch but maybe not con- sistency. What is his outlook this sea- son? I actually think we'll be better at every single position on offense. We're better at quarterback, we're better at running back, I think we'll be better at wide re- ceiver, we're better at tight end, on the offensive line. Akeel's an interesting guy. A lot of times in coaching, in recruiting and in the draft, everyone gets focused on one special trait – a guy who runs a 4.3, a guy who's 240 pounds, a guy who's got "make you miss" capability. I don't know if Akeel's got one real special trait, but he does a lot of things really well. He's big and strong. He has good speed, especially for his size. He's got the ability to make you miss. I think the area he needs to improve on is running with power. Although he's a big guy, I think there are times he can lower his shoulder and run people over, but he hasn't shown that as part of his game yet. It's funny, because a lot of times I don't think guys know how big and strong they are. Maybe he never had to do that in high school because he was always faster than everybody. Now you get here and you have to be the complete back to have the type of success you want. You have to add that to your game. 2 0 1 5 P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L SHAKE ON IT Franklin says Hack- enberg will benefit from the strides Penn State has been making on the offen- sive line and in the wide receiver corps. Photo by Steve Manuel