ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Christian Hackenberg shook his head side to side, lifted his arms up to his shoulders and made his way to the sideline.
Penn State’s sophomore quarterback was flushed out of the pocket, heaved the ball back across the field and was intercepted just moments earlier. It was in the third quarter and the play didn’t immediately result in any points for Michigan, but the Wolverines settled for a 42-yard field goal four plays later to tie the game at 13. The play represented what has been Penn State’s success and frustrations this season.
Penn State is playing with a small margin of error, relying on an offensive line that struggles to keep the quarterback upright and thus taking down all of Penn State’s offense with it. Hackenberg was sacked a half dozen times in Penn State’s 18-13 loss to Michigan (3-4, 1-2 Big Ten) Saturday night at Michigan Stadium. Hackenberg completed 21 of 32 passes for 160 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
“I think he’s frustrated, obviously,” coach James Franklin said. “I think he’s had some success since he’s been here at Penn State and he’s getting way too many pressures and too many hits and when those things happen that’s when you really have to be mentally tough and you have to be physically tough and you’ve got to make sure that you’re not staring to fall into bad habits and that’s easier said than done.”
Penn State’s defense held Michigan to 195 yards entering the fourth quarter and used an Anthony Zettel interception in the second quarter to set up Hackenberg. On Michigan’s first drive of the second quarter Devin Gardner’s pass was picked off by an outstretched Zettel with the Michigan native returning the ball to the Penn State offense at the Michigan 28.
Four plays later Hackenberg fired a bullet to DaeSean Hamilton in the middle of the end zone for a 10-yard score to put Penn State up, 13-7. Hamilton, a redshirt freshman, recorded his first touchdown of his career, but after that Penn State’s offense lacked big gains and a rhythm.
Go-to receiver Geno Lewis didn’t appear in the first series of the game and was used sparingly throughout. Lewis caught three passes for 17 yards and Franklin didn’t shed much light on why the player who entered the game with 29 catches for 495 yards wasn’t relied on. Penn State used true freshmen Saeed Blacknall and Chris Godwin more than they did through the first five games.
“Just the way the whole week worked out with practice and some other things based on film and things we’ve been evaluating all year long,” Franklin said. He added that he “would not get into injuries,” sticking to his usual policy. “There are a lot of factors that went into it, not just one specific thing.”
Running back Bill Belton rushed for a team-high 69 yards, including a long of 31. The senior said he “wasn’t sure” how Penn State lost the game. The lack of rhythm on offense continued for another week and like it’s done before this season Penn State tried to use the wildcat to jumpstart the offense, even having Belton attempt a pass to tight end Kyle Carter that fell incomplete. While the wildcat has worked to give the offense glimpses of success this season, even that wasn’t enough.
Offensive coordinator John Donovan called the game from the sideline, a move that was new for him after previously saying he preferred to do so from the booth. Franklin said it was a decision the two made during the off week to mix things up and improve communication. Franklin barked at Donovan during the first quarter on a fourth-and-2 play when the offense stayed on the field but a communication breakdown resulted in the Lions burning a timeout. Penn State settled for a 32-yard field goal from Sam Ficken instead.
Penn State tried a fake punt with speedy returner Grant Haley in the third quarter on fourth-and-11 at the Michigan 37, but the Wolverines sniffed that out too, shedding a blocker and dropping the freshman for a 2-yard loss.
“It’s hard to call a game when you can’t consistently run block and you can’t consistently protect the quarterback,” Franklin said. “That’s our issue and I’m not just saying it’s the o-line, the tight ends. We weren’t able to get separation at wide receiver today in the passing game. There are a lot of things that factor into it.”
The crowd at Michigan Stadium cheered at the start of the fourth quarter when quartetrback Devin Gardner re-entered the game. Gardner missed the previous two series as trainer’s examined his ankle on the sideline, but returned to relieve backup Russell Bellomy. Gardner hit wide receiver Dennis Norfleet for a 24-yard gain, a play that helped Michigan put away Penn State.
The catch ultimately set up kicker Matt Wile for a 37-yard field goal that gave Michigan a 16-13 lead with 11:24 left.
“Just not coming out with the win is frustrating,” cornerback Jordan Lucas said. “I have no control over what the offense does, I don’t know anything about the offense, I’m not an offensive player.”
Penn State’s defense gave up a 43-yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess midway through the first quarter on a play where safety Ryan Keiser was bracing himself to make the interception but ended up out of position to defend the pass.
Funchess had success against Penn State last year too and Lucas said plays like that, as well as ones where the Lions had a chance to swing the momentum like a near-interception by linebacker Mike Hull, are what the defense will have to live with until Penn State returns to the field Oct. 25 to play Ohio State at Beaver Stadium.
“As of right now I don’t know how we lost that game,” Belton said. “We kind of let one go. … We’ve just got to keep grinding away. We’ve got a bye week, a chance to get ready for Ohio State and get back on track.”
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.
First Published: October 12, 2014, 3:14 a.m.
Updated: October 12, 2014, 4:46 a.m.