The former Penn State record setting quarterback took home Pepsi Rookie of the Week honors following his impressive first NFL start that resulted in a 28-23 win for the Oakland Raiders on the road against the Houston Texans.
It seems like just yesterday that Christian Hackenberg made his Beaver Stadium debut against Eastern Michigan in a 45-7 thrashing. On Saturday, the Nittany Lions (6-4, 3-3) will close out their home schedule against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-3, 4-2). In front of a home crowd, the Penn State senior class will be honored as Joe Paterno's second-to-last recruiting class heads out the door.
“There has been a word that has been thrown around about this team -- resiliency -- a bunch of guys who never quit and never give up,” Carson said of the senior class's legacy. “We have gone through a lot of ups and downs, not only this season but in our football careers, but I think we will be remembered as that word."
With one year and one Senior Day under his belt, O'Brien knows what to expect heading into Saturday's matchup with Nebraska. He said at his Tuesday press conference that the coaches will bring the seniors onto the field to be honored before going back to the locker room to get re-focused on the game. What's most important to O'Brien though is that the stadium is packed with fans to support the seniors in their final Beaver Stadium matchup. He discussed that, Matt McGloin, selfies, and more at his weekly press conference.
The Nittany Lions took advantage of one of their worst opponents of the season, dominating the Purdue Boilermakers en route to a 45-21 victory at Beaver Stadium. The defense was shaky early on, but buckled down and allowed Christian Hackenberg and the running back corps to do some major damage on offense. After taking a couple days to digest what went down on Saturday, we handed out some grades to the team.
Penn State had its best offensive game of the year on Saturday against a Purdue team that falls to 1-9 on the year. The Nittany Lions ran for 289 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-21 win over Purdue that was not as close as the score indicated. Here's what we can take away from the win.