Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/541265
to execute in that situation. But it's also a team game, so he has to rely on people around him to do their job in order to do his job to the best of his ability. There were times [last season] when he could have maybe made a better throw or read. Were there times when he might not have been able to make the play based on who was around him? Maybe. But there were also times where he could have made the play. When you can watch the film and realize that and learn from it, it's good. The guys around him are going to be better, and I think he's going to be better, so it'll be fun to see how it goes down. Was his decision-making an issue last season, or did circumstances force tough decisions? It's tough to tell. At the end of the year, the bowl game, being able to do some self-evaluation, being able to get some rest – I think that really helped our guys recharge the batteries, especially on the perimeter. We played faster, we made more plays, and I think maybe as the season went on, we maybe wore down a little bit. But I thought that having an opportunity to play in the bowl game gave us some good rest. We got some good prep in and were able to execute as good as we did all year. Do you view that game as a glimpse at what the offense might be able to do this season? Yep. I think that [the offense has benefitted from] just being able to sit back and evaluate the year, evaluate our oppo- nents, evaluate other people, do other studies, go through our spring practice, fully focus on what we want to do moving forward. I think you caught a lit- tle glimpse of it going into the bowl be- cause you had a three-week period to re- ally analyze what you did well and what you wanted to do and analyze your op- ponent. … Hopefully, the evaluation and the work in the off-season will lead to pretty good things this year. What are your hopes for the offen- sive line this season? Just watching the tape from the fall to the spring, there were definitely individ- uals who got better, so that's promising. I think [it's beneficial] that a redshirt group from last year can now provide some depth, be it a series, play or finish- ing a game. Whatever it might be, I think that will help. Them knowing our staff and Coach [Herb] Hand, knowing the verbiage and everything – I think that will help, too, as time goes on. It's just P R E V I E W FLY BY WIRE Hackenberg and Donovan confer during last sea- son's opener vs. UCF. Hacken- berg threw for 454 yards in a 26-24 victory. Photo by Steve Manuel