A name like Christian Hackenberg isn’t the kind that automatically strikes fear in the hearts of men, unless maybe if you’re an underdog character in a 1980s college movie.
Then why would someone as successful and established in the game of college football be so worried about a guy with a evil frat boy villain kind of name?
Because when you’re Urban Meyer, and you’ve never lost at Ohio State—yet still are looked at nationally as a question mark of a national title contender—you fear anything that can derail those championship plans. Especially something that likely will exacerbate the Buckeyes’ already struggling pass defense.
OSU is 79th nationally in pass defense, allowing 240.7 yards per game, and its pass efficiency defense is 72nd. Not the kind of numbers you’d expect from the defense of a Top 5 team.
Meyer referred to his pass defense situation this week as “alarming,” acknowledging how his team’s 4-2-5 defense is getting burned a lot. And that’s even before facing the combo of Hackenberg and Allen Robinson, PSU’s top receiver who has four games with more than 120 yards this season.
Hackenberg, a true freshman quarterback who came to Penn State as the top-rated passer in last year’s recruiting class, has so far done little to disappoint Nittany Lions fans. He’s already won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award three times, most recently in PSU’s last game when he piloted the team to a thrilling 43-40, four-overtime win over Michigan.
The 6’4″, 220…
Continue Reading: Why Christian Hackenberg Is Keeping Urban Meyer Up at Night
