Christian Hackenberg is a really good quarterback.
Trust me.
The former five-star high school quarterback has had an interesting run since committing to Penn State.
He remained committed even after the NCAA imposed a postseason ban that would have covered his whole career in State College. The ban has since been lifted.
He won Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season and then his head coach Bill O’Brien left for the NFL. Hackenberg stayed along for his fourth head coach since committing.
Now in his second season as a Nittany Lion, he has been saddled with one of the worst offensive lines I have seen this season.
It is a shame really. Hackenberg has the kind of arm that can make NFL style throws and he is a quality decision maker.
When you are being sacked a Big Ten leading 30 times , its not exactly easy to make plays. Those sacks don’t even take into account all the plays where he is under pressure and gets the ball out quickly.
It is even more of a shame because he has many talented playmakers he can get the ball to.
Freshman DaeSean Hamilton has 62 receptions for 728 yards and junior Geno Lewis has 577 yards for 15 yards per catch. Oh, and let’s not forget junior Jesse James, who recently set the school record for touchdowns as a tight end.
Many of these receivers thrive as downfield targets. Hackenberg has not been able to utilize them much in this way because he never has the time to make downfield passes nor the run game to set it up.
Penn State is last in the Big Ten in rushing offense, putting even more pressure on a quarterback who doesn’t have a good offensive line blocking for him anyway.
All of this is why Penn State has lost four straight games after a promising 4-0 start and why Hackenberg’s numbers have been going down.
Last week against Maryland, Hackenberg was sacked five times in the 20-19 loss. In addition, he had pressure in the pocket on nearly every single passing down. PSU has been trying to open things up with quick wide out screens but those have been slowing down as well.
The week before was difficult to watch against Ohio State.
He never had time to make a decision. When he did, the passing windows were extremely tight. It was impressive watching some of the passes he made with the smallest of openings.
Often, he would make a perfect pass through a small slot and the receiver would get hit by a defender and drop the ball.
There was not much Hackenberg could do.
He has become visibly irritated, appearing in news recently because of his frustration with the coaching staff about how things are going.
Luckily for him and the Nittany Lions, they will be coming to Bloomington next weekend to face the Hoosiers.
If Hackenberg has any time, he will have a field day against the IU corners.
He can launch the ball downfield and his receivers should be able to outplay them. Quick short routes will likely produce bigger gains.
Will he have time to throw?
Granted, this is a terrible offensive line, but IU’s pass rush looked poor last week against Michigan.
They sent as many as six men rushing on occasion and had just one sack in 60 minutes. The Hoosiers have only accumulated 15 sacks the entire season.
Basically, Hackenberg should have more time. If he does, he will be able to thrash this IU secondary and get that offense’s confidence back.
I don't think Penn State is a very good football team, but I think this is the perfect matchup for them.
Their best feature is their run defense, and it is not like Zander Diamont will exactly be able to carry the IU offense if the run game struggles.
My prediction: Penn State wins 31-13.
