Hackenberg draws raves from UMass coach Whipple
After 31 years in coaching, Mark Whipple decided to take last year off from the sidelines. He spent a lot of time at Penn State, where his son was a walk-on quarterback, and watched freshman Christian Hackenberg practice and play for the Nittany Lions.
After 31 years in coaching, Mark Whipple decided to take last year off from the sidelines. He spent a lot of time at Penn State, where his son was a walk-on quarterback, and watched freshman Christian Hackenberg practice and play for the Nittany Lions.
Whipple, now the head coach at Massachusetts, was enormously impressed by what he saw last season, and he's been even more enamored watching him on tape the last few days as the Minutemen prepare for Saturday's game against Penn State at Beaver Stadium.
"If he'd come out this year [for the NFL draft], he'd be the first player picked," Whipple said Monday on a conference call with Mid-American Conference coaches. "I watched every game last year and watched him practice. He's a great player. I wish I was sitting there in the stands maybe this week."
Hackenberg has passed for 1,082 yards, sixth in FBS, during Penn State's 3-0 start. He hit a pair of clutch completions Saturday in an 80-yard drive that led to Bill Belton's game-winning, 5-yard touchdown run late in a 13-10 win at Rutgers.
Whipple's son, Austin, who transferred to UMass shortly after his father was named head coach Jan. 14, roomed for a time with Hackenberg. Whipple talked football with then-head coach Bill O'Brien, a close friend, during his Happy Valley trips.
Mark Whipple said Hackenberg reminded him of Ben Roethlisberger. Whipple became the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterbacks coach in 2004 when Roethlisberger was a rookie, and the two won a Super Bowl together the next season.
"The guy is a winner, and I couldn't say enough about him," Whipple said of Hackenberg. "I've seen him play every game. I've seen his practice habits, seen him in the meeting rooms. I've seen the way he worked with Billy O. He's the real deal.
"He's just got it all. Of course, he's gotten better. It's obviously a different system, but he's handled everything. I think it's going to be fun having a chance to watch him. I just have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a player and how he plays the position. It's a joy to watch."
In their fourth season in FBS, the Minutemen (0-3) have had their share of bad luck, including a pair of three-point defeats. Whipple returned to UMass this season after spending six years as head coach there from 1998 through 2003, when it was an FCS school.
On Saturday, Vanderbilt scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, one on a blocked punt, to beat UMass, 34-31. The Minutemen have allowed 218 rushing yards per game, an apparent remedy for a Penn State rushing attack that is gaining just 75.7.
Still, Whipple is looking forward to his return to Penn State.
"I don't know if last week's game is going to help us or hurt us," he said. "Our guys will be ready. It's a great place to play, tremendous history. We'll just see what it's like."
Williams honored. Penn State junior cornerback Trevor Williams was named Big Ten defensive player of the week after picking off Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova twice on Saturday.
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