STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — With all his physical gifts, and few college quarterbacks have more, Christian Hackenberg was still at a loss to fix Penn State’s issues last season.
New coaches. New offense. Inexperienced teammates. Hackenberg was not at his best, and the players around him did not provide much help. Hackenberg, the player with the arm that screams future franchise quarterback, often had Nittany Lions fans screaming something different.
Hackenberg said the bumps and bruises to his body and psyche had made him stronger. He enters his third — and possibly final — season at Penn State as the Nittany Lions’ trump card.