Hackenberg leads Penn State rally

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers cheerleaders walked up the empty stands, plastered with looks of disgust. Thousands of zombie-like fans, decked head to toe in red, slowly filed out of the stadium. Some stuck around on the concourse and simply stared at the lit-up field.

A night full of "R . . . U!" chants, defensive pressure and hope was undone so swiftly. Rutgers led Penn State for 98 percent of the game - all but the last 73 seconds.

But, of course, those were the only seconds that mattered.

After so many ups and downs, High Point Solutions Stadium had hit a low point.

The Nittany Lions, led by Christian Hackenberg, drove 80 yards in six plays and 1:49 minutes for the game-winning score and 13-10 win Saturday night, shocking the record crowd of 53,774 and ruining the Scarlet Knights' Big Ten launch party.

Penn State (3-0), now 23-2 against Rutgers and just three wins away from bowl eligibility after sanctions were lifted last Monday, came together late in the fourth quarter while the Rutgers' defense, which held had firm all evening, unraveled.

"We're a really hurting team right now," Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said. "It's devastating."

Hackenberg, who was sacked five times and seemingly eating grass more often than not, had precious seconds in the pocket to throw on the Lions' final drive. That allowed him to stand tall in the pocket and find his receivers, including Geno Lewis for a 53-yard gain on the first play of the drive.

The quarterback's mental makeup, similar to the vast majority of the evening, was tested late after a touchdown pass on 3rd-and-2 from Rutgers' 19-yard line was negated by a holding call.

Hackenberg's response? He threw his best pass of the night, connecting with Lewis on a double move for 23 yards to the 6-yard line. From there, it took Bill Belton two rushes to get the deciding score.

Hackenberg isn't foreign to late fourth-quarter drives; the sophomore coordinated a game-winning drive against Central Florida in the season opener and last season's finale-minute magic against Michigan won't soon be forgotten.

Hackenberg said he and his teammates are used to this sort of pressure.

"There's nothing that really needs to be said," Hackenberg said about the huddle during the final drive. "We just looked at each other and knew we needed to get it done."

With that uncanny sense of maturity and confidence, Penn State coach James Franklin believes Hackenberg is "light years ahead" of other sophomore passers.

"When you're getting pressured and sacked as many times as he's getting and the running game isn't where we want it to be, it puts a lot on his shoulders," Franklin said. "I think he's handled that all extremely well."

Hackenberg, who spent his time on the sideline talking to each individual wide receiver and the offensive line instead of sitting down, said being the "rock" of the offense is a part of his job as quarterback - even if he's younger than some of his fellow starters.

Penn State center Angelo Mangiro, a redshirt junior, said the offense relies on Hackenberg to be a "tremendous leader."

Even Flood acknowledged Hackenberg's play late in the fourth quarter and his willingness to stay in the pocket to deliver passes despite the surrounding defensive pressure.

And yet, there's still a level of deflation with the way his team finished.

Flood said last week that first impressions count.

Falling apart at home in the waning embers of a landmark game isn't what he had in mind for Rutgers' inaugural Big Ten game.

"They made the play at the end and we didn't, and I'm disappointed," Flood said. "I'm disappointed in us as a program that we didn't make that play."