Christian Hackenberg Hurts NFL Draft Stock in Penn State's Ugly Loss to Temple

Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg, the most polarizing prospect in college football, began his junior season the way he played for long stretches as a sophomore: ineffectively.

In fact, he set a new low bar for the worst performance of his career, completing 11 of 25 passes for 103 yards (4.1 yards per attempt), no touchdowns and one interception in a 27-10 loss to Temple.

After leading the Nittany Lions to 10 points on their first two possessions, Hackenberg struggled to make decisions, refused to push the ball downfield and wilted beneath a Temple pass rush that was too much for his offensive line to handle. The Owls planted a flag in Penn State's backfield and recorded 10 sacks for the game.

"There aren't a lot of plays in the playbook when you can't protect or run the ball," head coach James Franklin said, according to Ben Jones of StateCollege.com.

But Hackenberg still needs to do more.

One thing that bears mentioning before we continue: Temple has an awesome defense. And not just an awesome mid-major defense. An awesome defense, period. 

The Owls returned all 11 starters, along with most of their backups, from a unit that last year ranked No. 16 in the country, per Football Outsiders' S&P+ ratings. That Tyler Matakevich guy who kept bursting through the line and drilling Hackenberg? He's one of the 15 best linebackers in college football.

Still, Penn State's offense looked as ordinary, insipid and predictable as it did in last year's lowest moments, and Hackenberg was the biggest culprit.

Yes, he had no protection, but he also made some flagrantly bad decisions, highlighted by this crucial interception when the game was tied 10-10 in the third quarter:

Temple scored a touchdown two plays later, forced a quick defensive three-and-out and then drove 50 yards for its second straight TD. There were still 11 minutes on the clock, but the game felt effectively over.

Then the Owls forced another three-and-out—Penn State's fifth consecutive drive without a first down—and kicked a field goal to make it 27-10.

At that point, the game was actually over.

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

It didn't have to be like this. Penn State led 10-0 and had a chance to make it 17-0.

On 3rd-and-11 at the Temple 43-yard line, wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton broke open. Hackenberg tried to float one over the defender and hit Hamilton in stride, which likely would have resulted in a touchdown, but the quarterback couldn't find the touch and overthrew his receiver:

Matakevich sacked Hackenberg on the previous play—Temple's fourth sack in three possessions. You could see his pained expression before he got up. Then he made his worst throw of the first half and probably his second-worst throw of the game.

The timing there is not coincidental.

Hackenberg's performance is linked like glue to his protection. When his pocket breaks down, so does he.

That sounds like it's making excuses—Penn State's offensive line is almost comically bad—but it's not. It deserves to be held against him in the scouting process. Pressure affects him more than other quarterbacks, and it gets worse as the game wears on.

Not every sack is either the quarterback's fault or the blocking's fault. The blame doesn't have to be singular. There can be, and this is often the case for Penn State, multiple players at fault.

Hackenberg's problem is that he, unlike any of his linemen, was a 5-star recruit in high school, per 247Sports, and is considered a first-round draft prospect. ESPN's Mel Kiper ranked him as the No. 8 overall player on his early 2016 big board. He's supposed to make his teammates better and play well even when they struggle. 

Right now that's just not what Hackenberg does, and his draft stock will plummet because of it.

Penn State's season won't be far behind.

Brian Leigh covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @BLeigh35