Blue White Illustrated

O c T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 13 N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M James Franklin was understandably ex- cited following his Nittany Lions' 39-0 win against Illinois on Saturday aCer- noon. The Big Ten victory featured highlight- reel offense and a dominating defensive effort to produce a shutout. So comfort- able was the win that quarterback Chris- tian Hackenberg was able to pull in a Nick Scott-thrown touchdown recep- tion, the program's first by a QB since 2004 and Hackenberg's first since his pee wee football days. Enthralled by the effort, Franklin's heightened rhetoric might have gone too far in evaluating his junior signal-caller. "Some guys are pro-style passers, some guys are dual-threat passers, then some guys hurt you in all three phases, and that's Hack," said Franklin. "He can hurt you with his legs, he can hurt you as a receiver and he can hurt you as a passer. Awesome." Hearing of the praise for the first time half an hour aCer Franklin's comments, Hackenberg was less sure of the asser- tion. "I don't know if I'd go that far," he said, beaming. The 14-yard completion began with a pitch to running back Nick Scott, fol- lowed by a toss back to a wide-open Hackenberg in the flat. Hackenberg capped the play by prancing into the end zone, giving the Lions a commanding 22- 0 lead. Said Hackenberg, "It was just being able to go out and execute the play. It wasn't just myself. It was how we called it, how we set it up and then obvi- ously Nick took care of business and the line took care of business." Though future opponents are unlikely to spend much time concerned with the first two components of Franklin's as- sessment, Hackenberg's sterling aCer- noon would be hard to argue against. Completing 21 of 29 pass attempts for 266 yards with two touchdowns, the Nittany Lion quarterback finished with a 172.2 passer rating to go along with his 14-yard touchdown reception and single, elusive 3-yard scramble. In the process, Hackenberg improved his tally to 12 touchdowns and no inter- ceptions through the Nittany Lions' past six games. Along with Penn State's 5-1 record through the same six games, Franklin said he sees his quarterback ex- celling in the categories that matter most for the position. "I think quarterbacks are graded by touchdown-interception ratio, third- down percentage, red zone and obvi- ously, most important, wins and losses," Franklin said. "In a lot of those statistics, he's doing really well, so I'm pleased with him." Harking back to the work he's put in on the practice field, Hackenberg said he's made steady improvements getting into a rhythm with his feet, then translating those improvements onto the field for game days. With Hackenberg coming off a weeks-long barrage of sour press for his statistics, his recent success has made his teammates proud. "I definitely think he takes a lot more criticism than he deserves, being the quarterback of Penn State. When things go wrong, there's different reasons for it, whether it's receivers not doing their job or the line not doing their job," said wideout Chris Godwin. "So I think the blame is equal when things are going bad, but I think the love should be spread when things are going well. I think this game was a big offensive game for us where we're spreading the ball around, everybody was getting their turn and we were just kind of clicking." And Hackenberg's receiving tech- nique? According to Godwin, all good. "He caught the ball, and that's all that matters at the end of the day," Godwin said. "He caught the ball and got in the end zone." DOING IT ALL Christian Hackenberg has a busy afternoon in PSU's romp over Illinois RECRUITING Lions welcome two 2016 prospects for Illinois game Penn State hosted two of its top re- maining Class of 2016 prospects for Saturday's game against Illinois. Four-star defensive back Damar Hamlin of Pittsburgh has been on campus a few times during the past year, but this was his first game in Beaver Stadium this season. Since vis- iting University Park for the Lasch Bash barbecue in July, the Rivals250 prospect has taken multiple unofficial visits to Pitt, as well as an official visit to Notre Dame on Oct. 16. Most re- porters believe that the Irish and Pan- thers are his top two teams, but both Penn State and Ohio State are firmly in the mix. Three-star athlete Khaleke Hudson of McKeesport, Pa., also made the trip. This past summer, the Nittany Lion coaching staff slowed down its pursuit of Hudson due to a lack of scholar- ships. But following the decision to drop defensive tackle Christian Colon, it appears as if Hudson is back in play. He'll take official visits to Virginia Tech and UCLA before Christmas, but there's reason to believe that Penn State could be the team to beat. –RYAN SNYDER

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