STATE COLLEGE — Christian Hackenberg is used to being part of touchdown passes.
Just not quite like this.
Breaking open what still was a two-score game in the third quarter, Hackenberg caught his first career touchdown pass, a perfect throw on a misdirection double pass from freshman running back Nick Scott that capped the opening drive of the third quarter and sent Penn State cruising to a 39-0 thumping of Illinois at Beaver Stadium.
“We just had to go out and execute the play,” Hackenberg said. “It wasn’t just me. It was how we called it, how we set it up, and obviously, Nick made a great throw.”
It was the highlight play of the game for a Nittany Lions offense that rolled against an Illinois defense that ranked among the top 35 in the nation heading into the game. But it was also a cap on Hackenberg’s most solid passing performance of the season.
He finished 21-for-29 for 266 yards and two touchdowns. In his last six games, Hackenberg has thrown 12 touchdowns without an interception.
That said, he saved most of the passing praise for Scott.
“I went up to Hack and congratulated him,” Scott laughed. “But he tells me in the locker room that I now have the best passer rating ever at Penn State.”
Mean Geno
The Eugene Lewis touchdown tour finally made a stop in Lewis’ backyard.
The junior from Wilkes-Barre caught his first-ever touchdown pass at Beaver Stadium in the first quarter, making good yet again on what has become his signature catch.
Lining up wide to the left on a first-and-goal from the Illinois 6 following Troy Reeder’s 44-yard interception return with 4:21 to go, Lewis sprinted to the end zone, turned and leaped high over 6-foot Illinois cornerback Ethan Spence to haul in the high, arching pass thrown by Hackenberg.
Lewis finished with two catches for 15 yards.
Keep the line moving
Just when Penn State started to get healthy up front, the injury bug hit again last week.
As expected, right tackle Andrew Nelson missed Saturday’s game after leaving the Maryland contest with a leg injury. Sophomore Brendan Mahon started for Nelson at right tackle, giving Penn State the sixth starting offensive line combination it has used this season. It hasn’t started the same five players up front in back-to-back games since the third and fourth weeks of the season.
The only offensive lineman to start every game in the same position is right guard Brian Gaia.
“We’ve got better practice depth (overall), but at some positions like the offensive line, we still don’t have the type of game depth we need,” head coach James Franklin said. “When your tackle goes down, we don’t have a backup tackle just to go in. You have backups coming in the game, but when he comes in, usually two guys are switching positions.
“For two years now, that’s how we’ve had to manage it. It is what it is. We just have to keep developing our young players.”
The Lions were also thin in the secondary, as sophomore cornerback Christian Campbell sat out with an undisclosed injury. Freshman John Reid saw extended action in his place.
Tight end Adam Breneman (knee) missed his second straight game, and backup offensive lineman Chasz Wright, who also left the Maryland game with an injury, sat out.
Grass is greener
Penn State players broke in the new Beaver Stadium turf Saturday without any noticeable quality issues.
It was a terrific start for the new turf, even if this 70,000 square foot area of Kentucky Bluegrass won’t get as memorable a debut as the last one.
The first game played on the old turf was Oct. 8, 2005, and Penn State fans might remember that one well. Led by Tamba Hali, Paul Posluszny and a ferocious defense that stymied Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith, the upstart Nittany Lions beat No. 6 Ohio State, 17-10, in front of the first White Out crowd in Beaver Stadium history.
O’Neill, oh no
Controversial referees never die. They just hope to fade away and become anonymous again.
The head official Saturday was John O’Neill, and for now, he’s exactly what a referee doesn’t want to be: A recognizable face.
When O’Neill infamously last officiated a Penn State game, the Big Ten wound up issuing apologies days after the Nittany Lions lost in double overtime to Ohio State last season. A replay malfunction that gave Ohio State an interception on a ball that clearly bounced led to a Buckeyes touchdown in the first quarter of that game, and O’Neill’s crew failed to recognize the play clock had been expired for several seconds.
This time, Penn State fans probably liked the job O’Neill did. The Illini were whistled for eight of the first nine penalties called in the game.
Nittany notes
Hackenberg completed his 44th and 45th career touchdown passes in the first quarter, moving him within one of tying Scranton native Matt McGloin’s all-time school record of 46 career touchdown throws. ... Penn State’s 12 first-quarter points were its best in the opening quarter since scoring 14 against Purdue in 2013. ... When Illinois blocked Joey Julius’ first two extra point attempts, it gave it a nation-best fourth and fifth blocked kicks of the season. ... Members of the Red Land Little League team that won the United States championship at the Little League World Series in August were honored on the field during the first quarter.