Monday, December 2, 2013

Some Quick Notes on Penn State-Wisconsin

That Blue and White team that trotted into Camp Randell Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin this Saturday looked like a totally different team from the rest of the season. Here are some of the most important, and maybe even interesting, stats and notes I could come up with after this game.

Christian Hackenberg

  • Man, that was fun to watch! #HotTakes
  • Penn State fans have to be encouraged with what they saw out of youth on Saturday, especially on defense. While there may have been bigger performances on the offensive side of the ball out of Adam Breneman, Geno Lewis, and the one kid playing QB, the defensive performances may have been more significant. Penn State's defense has struggled for most of the year, especially at safety, and at times at linebacker. True Freshman LB Brandon Bell had his second straight week wreaking havoc in the opponents backfield, and this time he received the start as well. RS freshman and former WR Malik Golden also saw serious action in the second half, and made a huge play and impressive read to knock down a screen pass attempt by Joel Stave in the 3rd quarter. With Penn State in desperate need of safeties for next year that have the athleticism to keep receivers in front of them, Golden is an X factor. Saturday indicated that his knowledge of the position seems to be catching up with his athleticism, and Penn State's options at Safety could be at least a little less cloudy for next year.
  • Geno Lewis everybody. With Big Ten Receiver of the year Allen Robinson likely headed to the NFL, Penn State was looking for someone to step up, and Geno Lewis seemed to offer himself up as a potential option. The RS Freshman, who actually played QB in high school, is still learning to run good routes, but the athleticism, the hands, and the talent are clearly there. Call me crazy, but by the time he's done here I think we will be looking at another WR that has made his presence known in the PSU record books. Whether or not he's ready to be the #1 guy next year, we will see, but Saturday certainly gives PSU fans plenty to be optimistic about. 
Geno Lewis
  • Saturday was for all intents and purposes day 1 of year 2 of the Hackenberg era. QB's have statistically made their biggest jump between their Freshman and Sophomore seasons, and Hackenberg gave fans a little taste of the future. When Peyton Manning was a freshman at Tennessee, he threw 11 TD's and 6 Int's. Matt Stafford threw 7 TD's and 13 Int's. Projected number one pick Teddy Bridgewater threw 14 TD's and 12 Int's. Hackenberg threw 20 TD's and 10 Int's this year. When you looked at these guys Sophomore seasons, you see that Manning improved to 22 TD's and 4 INT's, Stafford to 19 TD's and 10 INT's (oddly similar to Hackenberg's FRESHMAN numbers) and Bridgewater to 27 TD's and 8 INT's. Moral of the story: The B1G needs to look out. Also...
RELEASE THE HACKENNN!! (A guy yelled this about 25 times behind me at a football game. I can't decide if it is funny or annoying)
  • Here's the doozy of this blog. Through 3 Big Ten home games, the Badgers had only given up 19 points. On the season at home? Only 36. This Saturday? 31 points! This was by far the most success anyone had against Wisconsin's defense at home, and the only two comparable performances came on the road when they gave up 40 points to the world-beating OSU offense and 32 points to Illinois in a game that was over at the end of the first quarter.
Long story short: Saturday was pretty awesome, and I want August be here tomorrow. I'm ready for next season already.

RELEASE THE HACKENNNNN!!!

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