STATE COLLEGE — Christian Hackenberg simply stared.
He gazed around Beaver Stadium. He took it all in. His eyes, at that point, told the story. Not just of another physical beating from another hard-rushing defense, but of another Penn State loss.
If that look from the sideline in the closing minute of the Lions’ 28-16 loss to No. 13 Michigan on Saturday was a tacit goodbye, he didn’t say.
With speculation he might leave Penn State to enter the NFL Draft next season seemingly always surrounding him, Hackenberg made it clear he was thinking more about his teammates in that emotional moment.
“I was taking everything in,” he said. “But it was more of a frustration that we couldn’t get it done today, for a lot of reasons.”
Hackenberg got sacked four more times — bringing his career total to an almost inconceivable 101 in less than three seasons — and a few key throws couldn’t help improve on a 13-for-31, 137-yard effort.
“It means a lot to me, playing here with these guys, these seniors,” Hackenberg said. “It was disappointing we couldn’t get it done.”
Streak over
Defensive end Carl Nassib’s impressive season-opening sacks streak came to an end Saturday.
In his defense, he didn’t get many chances to add to his national-leading total.
The Nagurski Award candidate started, but he played just one series before leaving the game because of the upper-body injury he suffered two weeks ago in the closing minutes against Northwestern.
“Carl was limited, obviously from the previous game,” head coach James Franklin said. “He was limited (in practice) all week, and we hoped by us limiting his reps that we would see how he felt on Saturday. But I could tell Friday at the walk-through he wasn’t feeling great. And then, on Saturday, you could tell during warmups he didn’t feel great. Once we saw he wasn’t going to be able to go out and help us and help himself, we pulled him out.”
His replacement, freshman Torrence Brown, had two tackles and a sack in his stead.
Numbers game
Earlier this season, senior safety Jordan Lucas wore No. 5 for a few games, shedding his usual No. 9 so he could honor injured teammate and Valley View grad Nyeem Wartman-White.
With Lucas out for the season with an arm injury now, teammate Malik Golden did the same for him. Normally No. 6, Golden wore No. 9 on Saturday
to honor what Lucas has meant to the program.
“Jordan is like a brother to me,” Golden said. “We came in together. We’re from the same area, basically. He texted a few of us before the game, just to say good luck and that he loved us. ... He’s my brother, so he was pretty happy that I did it for him.”
Golden filled in pretty nicely on the field, too, for Lucas, finishing with eight tackles.
Nittany notes
Representatives from the Peach, Holiday and Music City Bowls were in attendance at Saturday’s game. ... RB Saquon Barkley’s 56-yard run in the first quarter tied a career high, matching his 56-yard run in the loss to Ohio State. ... Hackenberg’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Saeed Blacknall in the second quarter was the 46th of his career, tying Scranton native Matt McGloin for the Penn State career record. Hackenberg did establish the career record for total offense, with 7,818 yards, passing Zack Mills’ 7,796. ... The Nittany Lions sacked Michigan QB Jake Rudock twice. They’ve recorded at least two sacks in 11 consecutive games. ... Von Walker’s blocked punt in the second quarter was Penn State’s first punt block since Mike Hull got one against Ohio State in 2012.