How Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg Can Rebound in 2015

Christian Hackenberg took a mighty step back in 2014, throwing 15 interceptions to 12 touchdowns and submitting a QB rating (109.44) that ranked outside the national top 100.

But the former 5-star recruit is not a lost cause. He is still 6'4". He still has a nuclear cannon for an arm. He still completed 21 of 30 passes for 339 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions on the road against Wisconsin as a true freshman.

Not a lot of guys can say they've done that.

Hackenberg ended his disastrous 2014 season on a high note, too, leading Penn State to a 31-30 win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. He threw four touchdowns (to zero interceptions) and had a QB rating of 156.73, both of which were season highs and the most he had recorded since the 2013 Wisconsin game.

Is there any good way for Hackenberg, whom at one point many considered the No. 1 overall prospect for the 2016 NFL draft, to recapture the magic of his high school days and freshman year? Or is he doomed to repeat the history of his sophomore campaign?

And what must he do to make that first part a reality?

Let's take a look.

Manage the Pocket

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The bane of Penn State's season was its leaky offensive line, which played a big role in Hackenberg's struggles. But facing pressure is part of the game—especially for a quarterback such as Hackenberg, who prefers to set his feet in the pocket.

Hackenberg isn't a statue, though; at times he has shown great pocket awareness. It just happens that those times came mostly back in 2013. He regressed when facing pressure as a sophomore, struggling to feel the rush and take advantage of space.

Part of this might have been mental. A fatigue comes with facing such consistent pressure, to the point where one might sulk and forget one's coaching. Another free rush off the edge? Why even bother?

That is not a very healthy attitude.

The video above shows a poorly timed slide protection, one which leaves a 205-pound running back (Bill Belton) on a 285-pound defensive end (Keith Bowers). That is not a matchup many backs can win, and Belton, predictably, gets bull rushed.

On a binary scale—one in which quarterbacks either "are" or "aren't" responsible for a sack—this is not Hackenberg's fault. He barely had any time. Maryland called the right play in the right situation.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

But that doesn't mean he didn't have options. There was space to the left for him to step up and extend the play—so much that he might have even been able to tuck and run. There was Geno Lewis flashing across the middle on a drag. Hackenberg didn't have tons of time to see Lewis, but he did have enough to get the ball out—and he would have had even more if he'd acknowledged the mismatch in blocking (which should have been apparent before the snap) and stepped up sooner.

These are plays NFL quarterbacks make. They're plays good college quarterbacks make, too. Cody Kessler at USC, for example, has vastly inferior physical tools to those of Hackenberg, but he's the more effective college player, at least for the time being, because he's so good at maneuvering in the pocket.

Hackenberg doesn't need to be great at this (it's admittedly harder for big, long-limbed quarterbacks than small ones), but he does need to be better. Penn State finished No. 122 in the country with 3.39 sacks allowed per game. Most of that was on the offensive line.

But a lot of it was on Hackenberg too.

Stay Aggressive at All Costs

USA TODAY Sports

Of the many criticisms lobbed at Hackenberg this season, the fact that he kept turning the ball over was among the most pervasive. His touchdown-to-interception ratio, which until the bowl game was 8-to-15, became a punchline for opposing fans.

But the real trouble with his season had less to do with turnovers and more to do with conservatism. After pushing the ball downfield in the first four games of the season, his yards per attempt fell off a cliff.

	Attempts	Yards	Yards / Attempt
First Four Games	160	1,318	8.24
Next Eight Games	287	1,345	4.67
Pinstripe Bowl	50	371	7.42

Yards per attempt is not a perfect reflection of aggressiveness, but there exists, at the very least, a strong correlation. Hackenberg played to his strength (his vertical arm) during the first third of the year but was timid stretching the field once the offense started to struggle.

Part of this had to do with the way opposing defenses played him. Penn State tried and tried to get a running game going but never could. It finished No. 120 in the country in rushing yards per game (101.92) and No. 125 in yards per attempt (2.97).

Defenses knew they could keep two deep safeties over the top, defend the run with seven (or sometimes even six) and still keep Penn State's ground game in check. They realized this after Penn State's 4-0 start to the season—the stretch in which Hackenberg averaged 8.24 yards per attempt—and were quick to react to the film.

All of this precluded Penn State from stretching the field most of the season; but Hackenberg proved in the Pinstripe Bowl that if he's willing to test the deep third in spite of the run game, this offense still functions better than when he takes what he is given.

The Nittany Lions gained just 82 yards on 29 carries against Boston College, struggling as always to make their opponent respect the run, but Hackenberg took the top off the defense with a 72-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin for the first score of the game:

"

GIF - Hackenberg pass to C. Godwin for 72 yds and the TD #PinestripeBowl https://t.co/7HkkcXYkNA

— FanSided GIF (@FanSidedGIF) December 27, 2014"

Once he found a rhythm, he started sliding and throwing dimes like this 16-yard touchdown to DaeSean Hamilton:

"

VINE - Hackenberg pass to D. Hamilton for 16 yds and the TD #PinstripeBowl https://t.co/b4QVZ03Hpk

— FanSided GIF (@FanSidedGIF) December 28, 2014"

Ideally, Hackenberg wouldn't struggle with interceptions next season as he did in 2014. But if forced to choose between attacking and turning the ball over or checking down and…well, still turning the ball over, Penn State might as well go down swinging.

Part of this is out of Hackenberg's control; it depends on the running game showing a pulse. Any bite Hackenberg can get on play-action passes would help immeasurably.

Either way, though, he has the vertical arm and the big-play weapons to make this work. Godwin and Lewis both averaged 13 or more yards per catch this season. Hamilton averaged more than 10.

All three return in 2015, and with tight end Adam Breneman coming back from injury to join Kyle Carter, Hackenberg already has all tall, physical, underneath and middle-third targets he needs.

What he really needs is to play to his strengths.

Keep His Head on Straight

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

When Penn State was winning, Hackenberg was a lovable figure. He was putting up numbers despite an obviously flawed offensive line and appeared to have the temperament of an NFL franchise player.

When Penn State started losing, however, Hackenberg was sullen and ill-tempered. He berated teammates on the sideline and grew visibly frustrated with his lack of protection. Instead of fixing some of the deep-rooted issues around him, he amplified them.

So pointed were some of Hackenberg's outbursts that the rumor mill churned with (unsourced) speculation about his wanting to transfer. The quarterback's father, Erick Hackenberg, promptly shot that down in a phone interview with Lancaster Online, but that it even went so far speaks volumes about the 2014 season.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

"He's frustrated," head coach James Franklin admitted after the regular-season finale, a 34-10 home loss to Michigan State. "…I don't think there's any doubt he's frustrated moving forward in what he wants to do."

But he can't let that frustration spill onto the field.

The shouting matches with teammates are one thing—that can be chalked up to the emotion of the game—but the turnovers, the mistakes, the recklessness—all of that needs to go. He can't sulk once his team starts losing. He can't force reckless throws. He has to keep his wits about him, play every down like it's 4th-and-goal in the fourth quarter of the College Football Playoff.

Basically, he has to never do this:

If we grant that Hackenberg has NFL-caliber physical tools, and that those physical tools didn't disappear overnight, the only possible reasons for his step back were (a) mental issues or (b) improper utilization by the players and coaches around him.

The truth lies somewhere between those two options, which means part of fixing Hackenberg is up to Franklin, offensive coordinator John Donovan, offensive line coach Herb Hand and the players who surround Hackenberg on next year's PSU offense.

The other part is up to Hackenberg himself; and for what it's worth, he's saying all the right things in interviews.

"I thought it was the best thing that could possibly happen to me," Hackenberg told reporters after the Michigan State game, when asked to sum up his "eventful" sophomore year. "I learned a lot."

That looked to be the case against Boston College, and there's no reason to think it can't remain the case in 2015. After Steve Muench and Kevin Weidl of ESPN.com (Insider required) snubbed him from their list of the top 25 underclassmen in college football, he might, for the first time ever, even come out with something to prove.

This is uncharted territory for a kid who, until now, has been decorated and deified as America's next great quarterback. The 2015 offseason is the most important of his young career.

Maybe this was the best thing that could possibly happen to him?

Note: Recruiting data refers to the 247Sports composite rankings

Follow Brian Leigh on Twitter: @BLeigh35