STATE COLLEGE — For two years, he has played in two different times, simultaneously the hope for Penn State’s present and the promise of its football future.
With that comes pressure, Christian Hackenberg knows. When you sign up to be the starting quarterback with the Nittany Lions, you know it’s going to come with some scrutiny. Few have played their entire careers without having to navigate some potholes. The great ones, though, used them to become better.
Today, when Penn State takes the field for the annual Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium, Hackenberg will again be the star. He’ll still be the captain, as he was during his sophomore year. He’ll again have the spotlight. He’ll again have the keys to the offense, and the thought is that its ability to dodge all craters it will drive upon will depend on how Hackenberg mans the wheel.
For all that’s the same, though, one thing most players agree upon as spring practice winds down is that there’s something different about the man under center. Something that clicked. Something that will do maybe more to help him reach his immense potential than even his prototypical size and rocket right arm.
“It’s been more of a mind-set change, creating an identity and sticking with it and really hammering that home through the entire offensive unit,” Hackenberg said. “It’s about being able to be confident and believe in what we’re being asked to do.
“We’re all in, and that’s just been the biggest thing this spring.”
The change in Hackenberg goes back to what he saw on film last season. And not just what happened on the field.
During several games last season, television cameras captured him losing his cool on the sidelines. Once, he stormed away from offensive coordinator John Donovan. Another time he was caught screaming at nobody in particular.
Being sacked a Big Ten-record 42 times and tossing 15 interceptions can do that.
A star recruit coming out of high school, Hackenberg chose Penn State over many other elite programs. He came to Happy Valley to play for Bill O’Brien, an NFL coach running a pro-style offense that catered to Hackenberg’s strengths. He won the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year award playing in that system in 2013. Some analysts were opining that he might have been a first-round draft pick had he been able to leave school after his freshman year.
But O’Brien left, and James Franklin’s staff entered. Franklin’s staff did not run the same kind of offense. The plays were different. The schemes were different. The ideas were different.
Hackenberg says he always bought into that system.
“For people to view me as a guy that wasn’t going to buy into their plan, it hurt my pride,” he said.
But looking at the more vocal, more positive force under center Penn State will have on the field today, Franklin said he sees a player who has completely bought into the new staff.
“I think the fact we’re all on the same page is allowing Christian to be the type of leader he wants to be and can be,” Franklin said. “Leadership is so, so important at the quarterback position. But I think just as important is that the leaders are reinforcing the overall message, overall philosophy and overall values. Now that we’re all aligned, that’s helpful.”
It’s also noticeable.
Right tackle Andrew Nelson piqued attention when he said Hackenberg is “leading the offense a lot better than I thought he did last year,” calling him a more positive, effective leader.
“Obviously, if you look back at last season, nobody was happy with how the offense played,” Nelson said. “We all wanted to be better. Not only Hack, but all of us have come out saying we’re going to be much improved this year, let’s get after it, let’s be positive, let’s work hard at every single practice.”
Today’s is the last one before football happens for real in August, when Penn State will enter the second season of the Franklin era with what they hope will be a change in both attitude and results.
Hackenberg insists his improvement as a leader reflects how much he wants to be known as a player who helped knock down the walls between the new staff and the players the old one brought in.”
“I’m going to buy in and ride the storm out with them as best I can,” Hackenberg said. “They’re guys who have the same goals as me: They want to win games.”
College football
What: Penn State Blue-White Game
Where: Beaver Stadium
When: Today, 4 p.m.
Admission: Free, as is parking. Lots open at 8 a.m. and gates open at 2 p.m.