Christian Hackenberg, Penn State aren't finished products, and that's OK
BALTIMORE — As he sets and delivers during pre-game warmups, it seems only obvious that Christian Hackenberg could take a snap in the west end zone of M&T Bank Stadium and hit a receiver in stride three exits down the Beltway.
His throws leave his right hand on clotheslines. His footwork is precise, almost robotic. NFL scouts milling along the sidelines can only nod in approval, admiring a quarterback straight out of central casting — the square-jawed, strong-armed future star, possessor of physical gifts perhaps unrivaled by any prospect in his draft class.
Later, when warmups are replaced by live action, Hackenberg is a project. Then he’s not. Throws are zipped at full speed toward receivers within spitting distance, whose catches come in self-defense, if at all. Deep heaves under pressure are delivered on time and on point. At the end of a 31-30 win against Maryland, the junior has completed 13 of 29 attempts, far below average, yet thrown for a season-high 315 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s got so many things that people are excited about, including us,” Penn State Coach James Franklin told Paste BN Sports. “He has high expectations. Everybody around him has high expectations. He’s been in a tough situation, a tough spot, and he’s handled it extremely well considering all the things around it.”
If it’s said enough — Hackenberg as the most talented quarterback in college football — it becomes the truth, or at least accepted as fact. The truth is that Hackenberg, like Penn State at large, is not a finished product; the talent is there, if consistency is not. Yet to say that progress has not occurred on an individual and team level in Franklin’s second season ignores the obvious markers.
Penn State is now 6-2 overall, a first since 2011, and 3-1 in Big Ten Conference play. Those two losses, to Temple and Ohio State, came on the road against unbeaten competition. Last year’s team opened with four wins in a row before slinking into the postseason having lost six of eight, though the Nittany Lions secured a winning season by defeating Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Hackenberg has thrown 10 touchdowns without an interception in the Nittany Lions’ last five games even as the sieve-like offensive line fails to provide adequate protection, a “credit to his physical and mental toughness,” Franklin said. He threw 15 interceptions a season ago, clearly uncomfortable in Penn State’s shift toward a slightly tweaked offensive style.
PSU has found a running back in freshman Saquon Barkley, who many within the program believe to be the Nittany Lions’ best prospect at the position in a generation. Though still young, the entire receiver corps has become a more aggressive participant in the passing game. Despite a sluggish past two weeks — against Ohio State and the Terrapins — there’s again no doubting the defense.
“The most important thing is learning how to win,” said Franklin. “I think we’ve shown that we can do that.”
Penn State is nonetheless viewed as underachieving, if not adrift altogether. The program’s national reputation is so at odds with the markers in play — wins, record, production, growth, improvement — that it begs the question: Why?
“I think it all goes back to expectations,” said Franklin. “A program like PSU has a different expectation than a different program. So our record is very similar to other programs, but because of the expectations it is presented differently than the media. It is interpreted differently by our fans.
“You’ve got to embrace it. That’s part of it. There’s such a high ceiling here, there are such high expectations.”
Are the expectations fair? Probably not. Ohio State lapped the field in the Big Ten a year ago, though the Buckeyes have struggled matching their own expectations through the first two months of the regular season. Michigan has regained its stride under Jim Harbaugh. Michigan State’s process under Mark Dantonio is unshakeable. Remember: Penn State shares a division with these three national contenders.
And the reverberations from the scandal that rocked the university in 2011 still echo within this program, now felt strongest in depth-robbing scholarship restrictions. The Nittany Lions can return to an 85-scholarship roster next season, but the impact is still seen in the roster’s overwhelming youth.
“Take the last four years and put everything in perspective,” Franklin said. “We’re still not at our scholarship limits. We’re one of the youngest teams in the country. So to be 3-1 and win on the road in the Big Ten? To be 6-2 overall? Take it.”
For a program that measures success in individual Saturdays, the Nittany Lions’ place in the standings is the clearest form of tangible progress.
“It shows the growth,” wide receiver Chris Godwin said. “It shows how hard we’ve worked in our fundamental mentality. We stick together as a team. As a family, we fight together to go 1-0 each and every week.”
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