Penn State WR coach Marques Hagans takes pride in blocking and wants his receivers to do so, too.
All season long, Penn State fans are going to judge the receiving corps based on catches, yards and touchdowns.
That’s true for, well, any group of receivers, but especially one that went an entire College Football Playoff semifinal without a catch.
But there’s more to the position, and Hagans knows it.
“We’re going to block our ass off,” Hagans told reporters via Zoom Thursday. “That’s important to us.”
MORE FROM HAGANS
“We just hold them accountable when they don’t (block),” he said. “So we celebrate it in practice and watching the film. We point it out, celebrate it, and when guys don’t block for their teammates, we hold them accountable. There’s accountability for it. There are guys on every play doing something to help us get open when we throw the ball. So when the ball is handed off or the ball is thrown on the perimeter to other guys, it is our responsibility to make sure our guys are making the play. Does it always happen 100 percent of the time? No. But that is our intent every play. We’re going to do whatever is required on the perimeter for the guys to get to the second level. Guys take pride in that. It’s a big part of who we are in our room, and it also carries over in special teams. We are blocking for punt returns and kickoff returns.”
THE PROOF IS IN THE NUMBERS
The numbers agree with Hagans.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.In Penn State’s 46-11 win over Nevada Week 1, the team’s two highest-graded run blockers were receivers in Liam Clifford and Trebor Pena.
Penn State’s receivers also blocked well last season, which led to head coach James Franklin saying the group had “turned into a strength” days before the Notre Dame game.
“Where are the explosive plays coming from?” he said. The receivers owning all of the responsibilities of being true wide receivers. Some of these guys may have gaudy numbers in terms of catching, but their run game, blocking numbers, things like that, is disgusting, and the NFL people watch that and they see that. So real football people know what to look for, and I think Marques Hagans and those wide receivers in that room have done a really good job of making plays at critical times, being explosive.
The group proceeded to not catch a pass against Notre Dame, which is partially why the personnel looks way different from last season.
But the solid blocking remains the same.
No. 2 Penn State is scheduled to take on FIU at noon Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
