It took a few more weeks than originally planned but for at least one game Penn State has an established starting quarterback. Bill O’Brien has reportedly named true freshman Christian Hackenberg the Nittany Lion signal caller according to ESPN. Sources confirmed the report to StateCollege.com saying that the team has known “for a while now.”
Hackenberg was rated one of the top quarterback prospects in his recruiting class but has been in a tight competition with junior college transfer Tyler Ferguson.
“I’ve never had more fun coaching quarterbacks than I’ve had coaching these two guys,” O’Brien has said of the two signal callers. “They are both bright guys, they work at it, they compete in practice, they’ve got good presence in the huddle. I enjoy coaching these guys.”
“They both have the ability to throw the ball down the field, to make athletic moves on the perimeter of the defense.” O’Brien said. “They’re both athletic, even for their size, both those guys can run, and so we’ve seen a lot of that. They can throw on the run, so they’re more similar than they are different.”
Because of this O’Brien isn’t against the notion of both quarterbacks playing against Syracuse. While he has stated that the starting quarterback will play the majority of the snaps on August 31, O’Brien has acknowledged the need to get both of his young quarterbacks some playing time.
“These are two of the best young quarterbacks I’ve ever coached,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien has had little reservations playing whoever will most help the team but Hackenberg’s emergence as the starter is still an impressive feat given the depth and complexity of O’Brien’s offense and the speed of the college game. Rob Bolden is the most recent Nittany Lion to start at quarterback as a true freshman while at Penn State.
The future of the quarterback position will likely remain an open competition over the next several weeks but it seems unlikely that O’Brien would back down from his decision now that he has given the nod to Hackenberg. If Hackenberg spends an entire four years at Penn State, it is entirely possible that he will never yield his starting spot to another player over that span.
