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ways to get stronger, find ways to tweak things." That obsession, Hackenberg came to realize, played into a personality trait he'd come to know intimately, a desire to control his own destiny. The quarterback position gave him exactly that, a way to control the game. No other position provided the same opportunity. Hackenberg helped lead the Blue Devils to a state runner-up finish as a senior while becoming a high school All-Amer- ican and the nation's top-rated pro-style quarterback prospect. He arrived at Penn State the following summer and won the starting job as a true freshman, eventually producing a highly encouraging 7-5 season. But in 2014, Hackenberg's feeling of con- trol began to wane. O'Brien's departure had generated the most off-season atten- tion, but Penn State also lost two-time Big Ten Receiver of the Year Allen Robinson and a veteran group of offensive linemen. In their places, the Lions welcomed a brand new coaching staff and brought in an in- experienced set of wideouts and a makeshift offensive line. The new starters struggled to recapture the success of their veteran predecessors, and as a result, Hackenberg struggled, too – and not just on the field. Faced with a reality that wasn't as he had envisioned, challenges that for the first time in his athletic career were beyond his control, he began to sense his person- ality changing. "I became very introverted. I kind of shut down," he said. Thrice- weekly phone calls from Fork Union coach Mickey Sullivan went unanswered and unreturned. During the season, he would barely speak to his parents and younger brothers. Even his friends, teammates and roommates found themselves shut out. "I don't know why I did it," Hackenberg said. "I can't answer that. I could have handled that better. I think that's just part of growing up." Every day, Hackenberg said, he fixated on solving every problem. When his best efforts produced little or no improvement, he would retreat further into isolation. "I just couldn't communicate with people," he said. But he learned from the experience and vowed to not let it happen again. As he broadened his sense of what mattered in life beyond the field, the highs and lows of the game didn't dominate every other aspect of his day-to-day. These days, he said, "I'm able to put the game down after the game. I'm able to hang out with my family and talk, have a great time, and not really think about it. And I'm content with that." Part of that process involved accepting one of Franklin's mantras: control what you can control. "To that point, that was the hardest ad- versity that I think I've faced in my entire athletic career," Hackenberg said. "So re- acting that way and being able to learn from it, that's something I'm very proud of." It's not the only lesson he has learned during the past three seasons. He's also gotten better at filtering out the analysis of fans and media, including the national personalities who have weighed in on his performances. He said he's always had a sense of what it means to ignore the noise, but he didn't know how to completely block it out until this year. "What I've learned is to genuinely not care. Like, literally not worry about what anyone's opinion is," he said. "Other than that, I understand it's your opinion and maybe you've been doing it for a long time, but you're not around me on a con- sistent basis. You don't know how I work. You don't know how I prepare. You don't know what I can do and what I can't do. So your opinion really doesn't matter to me because the only platform that you've seen me on is skewed at times." That platform remained wobbly for much of the past two seasons, but Hack- enberg's Nittany Lions have continued to win anyway. They were inconsistent this past fall but still won seven games in the regular season and improved to 4-4 in the Big Ten, guaranteeing that the team will finish with a winning record no matter what happens against Georgia in the Tax- Slayer Bowl. Along the way, Hackenberg's numbers and performances have painted a con- founding picture both of brilliance and at times deflation. This year's opener against Temple was a nightmarish begin- ning, as he completed just 11 of 25 passes for 103 yards and no touchdowns. He was sacked an incredible 10 times, the highest single-game total in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season. But he also had some spectacular af- ternoons, completing 21 of 29 for 266 yards and two touchdowns in a 39-0 rout of Illinois and throwing for 315 yards and three scores in a 31-30 win against Mary- land. He finished the regular season with 184 completions in 345 attempts for 2,386 yards and 16 touchdowns, with only five interceptions. Those numbers have boosted his career totals to the point where he is now the Nittany Lions' all-time leader in passing yardage (8,318), touchdown passes (48), attempts (1,221) and completions (685), among other records. Hackenberg understood when he signed his letter of intent that there was a good chance Penn State's circumstances would preclude 10-win seasons and Big Ten titles. So the adversity he's faced since his arrival on campus hasn't tainted his view of what's been accomplished so far. In fact, he finds plenty of satisfaction in having played a major role in maintaining THE HACKENBERG FILE YEAR ATT COMP YDS PCT TD INT LG AVG/GM 2013 392 231 2,955 58.9 20 10 68 246.2 2014 484 270 2,977 55.8 12 15 79 229.0 2015 345 184 2,386 53.3 16 5 59 198.8 TOTAL 1,221 685 8,318 56.1 48 30 79 224.7 > >

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