will them to victory. Against Northwest-
ern, the offensive line finally caught up to
them, and they weren't able to do anything
on offense.
"All across the board, you have guys that
shouldn't be handling the responsibilities
they are — they're just too young for it —
but out of necessity they are forced to."
One youngster who has thrived is red-
shirt freshman wide receiver DaeSean
Hamilton, who leads the team with 36
catches for 502 yards. He clearly has a
connection with Hackenberg and is com-
plemented by redshirt sophomore counter-
part Geno Lewis, who has 29 receptions
for 495 yards and a touchdown.
Although Hackenberg has all of the
physical tools of a future first-round draft
pick, the quarterback has regressed from
a strong rookie campaign due to the woes
up front.
"The defenses know there is no danger
in the run game," Owen said. "They can
just play the pass the entire time. They're
putting six or seven defensive backs in
coverage or they're bringing the house.
"Against Northwestern, he just made
sloppy passes. I think it's a mixture of hav-
ing pressure in his face all of the time and
not having a run game to balance things
out. Another thing I've seen is because he
is so good — I've never seen a quarter-
back at Penn State that is as talented as he
is — that he tries to do too much. He's not
playing within himself because so many
things are breaking down."
