Christian Hackenberg can’t do it all.
But for a long stretch against Northwestern on Saturday, he sure was asked to try.
From the Nittany Lions’ final drive of the first half until he was sacked and fumbled 18 seconds into the fourth quarter, Penn State ran 35 offensive plays.
Hackenberg had a hand in 34 of them.
To repeat: The young quarterback – 19 years, six months and 13 days old — was the Lions’ main offense for 34 of 35 plays for the middle 19:49 of their 29-6 Homecoming loss to Northwestern before 102,910 in Beaver Stadium.
He may be a Christian, but he’s not The Christian.
(The outlier was a nine-yard run by Bill Belton, on play No. 27 of the 35-play streak.)
There are two major reasons why offensive coordinator John Donovan repeatedly called Hackenberg’s number.
No. 1 is a Penn State running game that against Northwestern produced just 50 yards on 25 carries – and even at that it’s misleading. On the game’s final eight plays, Penn State ran the ball five times, gaining 35 yards of their overall 50. Before that, the Lions rushed 20 times for 15 yards. Admittedly, those numbers include sacks.
Nevertheless, that’s only 27 inches per carry for the first 52:42 of Saturday’s game.
Center Angelo Mangiro, as close as anyone to Hackenberg, fully comprehends Reason No. 2. “14 is a great player and we want the ball in his hands,” said Mangiro.
THE 79% NON-SOLUTION
Overall, of Penn State’s 71 plays against the Wildcats, Hackenberg produced 56 of them: 45 passes, 7 scrambles and 4 sacks. That’s 79%. Whew.
That number is astoundingly high – and by far the most Hackenberg’s ever been asked to do in his remarkable 17-game Penn State career. And it’s a college career that could hit its midpoint against Ohio State on Oct. 25, just two games from now. My math is based on the true sophomore going pro after the 2015 season, a real possibility if he continues to get banged up like he has this season. He’s already been sacked 14 times, an average of 2.8 per game. In all of 2013, he was sacked just 22 times.
Mangiro loathes to see that happen.
“I hate it when he gets hit. I hate when he gets touched,” said Mangiro. “He’s a good friend of mine and our leader. As an offensive lineman, you have that little something inside of you that says, “Ahh,” and sinks. You feel sick when he’s on the ground. So we have to do a better job with that.”
Back to that (over) reliance on Hackenberg:
Exactly 66.66% of the plays for which Hackenberg has been on the field this season (230 of 345), he’s either passed, run or been sacked. After Northwestern, the next highest single-game rates were 69% against Central Florida and 73% against Rutgers. In 2013, he passed, ran or was sacked just 46% of the time he was on the field. He had highs last season of 60% against Wisconsin, when he won the game with four TD passes, and 69% vs. Indiana, when Bill O’Brien maniacally had Hack pass 55 times.
Of course, things are now different. Very much so. In 2013, Hackenberg was a true freshman protected by O’Brien, a much more experienced offensive line and a Bill Belton-Zach Zwinak combo that rushed for 1,832 yards. After five games in 2014, Belton has 189 yards and Zwinak has 105. At this rate, they’ll have – combined – 706 yards in the regular season. It’s not like they forgot how to carry the ball.
A PASSING IDENTITY
After the game on Saturday, Hackenberg was asked if an inconsistent running non-attack hurt the offense. His answer at first seemed a bit malapropish, but read it twice and you’ll see the QB’s high IQ.
“That’s part of it,” he replied. “We just have to keep going from here. We have to understand what our identities are, what we do well and we have to do what we do well very well.”
Right now, all Penn State’s offense does very well is put the ball in Hackenberg’s hands and hope he spots the identities of DaeSean Hamilton (36 receptions), Eugene Lewis (29), Jesse James (15) and Belton (14). “That’s what every team is looking for – find what you do well and execute it consistently,” Hackenberg said. “We still have to build on that. We have to get better at that.”
Hackenberg finished the game with a passing line of 22 of 45 for 216 yards and a pick six. Even at that, he’s averaging 23 completions and 295 yards per game in 2014. Penn State head coach James Franklin, Donovan and quarterback coach Ricky Rahne know better than anyone – after Hackenberg himself – what those numbers mean in context. And Franklin promises to fix the situation.
“There’s no doubt that we want to limit the hits that Christian is taking,” Franklin said. “He’s taking way too many hits right now. We have to get that resolved. We have to get the running game going and we have to be able to protect our quarterback.”
THAT SUCKING SOUND
Hackenberg didn’t critically or substantially address the blocking – or lack thereof — after the game. No surprise there. No one has been more loyal to Penn State football over the past 27 months.
But the co-captain did mention how he felt about just the second Nittany Lion loss in the past eight games.
“I wouldn’t say any loss hurts more than another,” Hackenburg admitted.
“They all suck.”
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