STATE COLLEGE
He completed less than half of his pass attempts, again. He threw for less than 200 yards, again. Some of his best throws were flat-out dropped.
He got sacked three times Saturday, which adds up to 42 times he has been dropped this season, and no quarterback who has ever dropped back to throw in the history of the Big Ten has been sacked more in one campaign.
But on a Saturday that will serve as a nice summary of the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, near-misses and the delicate balance between high hopes and dreams deferred, it was Christian Hackenberg who had easily the most surprising take on it all.
The 2014 season, he said, was the best thing that could have happened to the program.
“Some people don’t go through that type of adversity in their entire careers,” Hackenberg said. “It’s one of those things I’m extremely grateful for.”
Say what?
The bottom line is, Penn State finished its season 6-6. It started 4-0 and ended with a thud, a 34-10 beating at the hands of a far-deeper, far-more-gifted, far-more-seasoned Michigan State squad. It had high hopes and a bowl bid possible, and some fans dared to dream something big could come of all this.
They didn’t let go of that dream, even when it started to look impossibly naive. And neither did the players. Guys like Hackenberg played every game like it would lead to a change in fortunes, as if that one play, here or there, that had been killing them all season would finally go their way.
There were as many games like this one against the Spartans, though, as there were stirring season openers in Dublin, or dominations of Massachusetts. As the season progressed and opposing coaches got more and more film and more and more of a clue that Penn State’s weaknesses on offense far exceeded its strengths, what doomed Penn State every once in a while became what doomed them over and over again against the Spartans.
They were far too young, far too inconsistent, to move the ball down the field against a defense that good.
They were far too beaten up on the defensive side of the ball to continually stop a bowling ball of a running back like Jeremy Langford, or rattle a cool customer in the pocket like quarterback Connor Cook, who seemed to make every play he needed to on third downs in the second half.
“The game comes down to, we had opportunities to make plays, and we didn’t,” coach James Franklin said. “Then we’d make too many critical errors.”
Here’s the bottom line: Penn State’s offense did things its best opponents would never do.
The Nittany Lions had three drives in the second quarter, and each started in Michigan State territory. If the Spartans had that many opportunities, with that kind of field position, you’d expect them to walk away with, what, 17 points? Maybe more?
Penn State got three.
One drive ended, unthinkably, with a punt.
The next, a field goal.
The last, an interception in the end zone by Trae Waynes on a pass that quite frankly should have been caught for a touchdown. But freshman receiver Chris Godwin sprinted up the sideline, leaped, positioned his body and ... dropped it. Just dropped it. Off his hands. Ball flipped backward. Waynes seemed almost surprised to find it resting in his hands.
Fans will call that poor execution and a missed opportunity and a back-breaking play. It could have been 13-10, they’ll argue. And they’re right. On all of it.
The Lions’ sophomore quarterback looks at it another way.
“That’s just tough,” Hackenberg said with a shrug. “It’s part of the game. You move on from it. Chris is going to make that play for us down the road.”
It’s a tough stance to take, because Penn State didn’t win this game. It’s a tougher one for everyone around the program to swallow, because it’s not as if the Lions are sitting at 6-6 and won every game they possibly could have, with as much grit and sound play as they could muster.
They know they could’ve been better.
They know they were a better play or brighter decision away from being much better than 6-6.
They know that even on Saturday, in what looked like a blowout on the scoreboard, there were plenty of chances to stick closer to the Spartans than they ultimately did. Just like there were plenty of chances to beat Michigan and Maryland and Illinois and even mighty Ohio State. And they lost them all, just the same.
But Hackenberg said he hasn’t lost sight of the attitude he brought into 2014, knowing that he and his teammates were walking into the teeth of the NCAA sanctions, uncharted territory for this program or any.
“I think I came into the season with sort of a ‘Whatever happens, happens’ type of mentality, whether it’s good or whether it’s bad,” Hackenberg said. “We were going to take it all with a grain of salt and continue to get better from it and build off of it. It has been good. Whether we had a lot of success one week or we didn’t, we had a lot of guys who came back out there the next week and worked hard at it. That’s a testament to the type of kids we have on this team.”
The kids on this team did OK.
They have a lot of talent.
They also have a lot to learn.
Experienced, seasoned teams find ways to win. They make plays on third-and-long. They gain a yard when they need a yard. They don’t beat themselves on special teams. They don’t break when the game is on the line. Michigan State showed that Saturday.
Inexperienced, talented teams find ways to lose. They miss blocks. They struggle in short-yardage situations. They make mistakes on special teams. They don’t keep games close when they have the shot. Penn State has shown that all year.
“I think we just need to continue to keep working,” he said. “We have a scheme here we’re starting to believe in more and more each week, and the coaching staff is starting to believe in each one of us more and more every week. I think it’s just one of those things where it’s going to be a progression. We’ll work at it. We’ll show up to practice each day, and we’ll take all of this as a learning experience based on all the things we’ve done this year.”
They’ve done well. They’ve done poorly. And now, the regular season is done.
The nicest thing that can be said is they survived it.
The best thing that could have happened? It sure wasn’t the worst.
(Collins covers Penn State football for Times-Shamrock. Follow him on Twitter @psubst)