If anyone knows a thing or two about coaching young players, it’s Illinois defensive coordinator Tim Banks. His defense is as young as they come, especially in the secondary.

But when his defense goes up against true freshman Christian Hackenberg at Penn State this weekend, Banks isn’t being fooled by the quarterback’s youth.

“To be a young pup, I think he’s really good,” Banks said. “He’s going to be special.”

Hackenberg has started all of Penn State’s games and has passed for 1,784 yards and 12 touchdowns, while keeping Penn State (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) afloat in the Big Ten, despite being ineligible for postseason play.

Illinois (3-4, 0-3) head coach Tim Beckman praised Hackenberg’s intelligence at the quarterback position. Beckman said it’s easy to see why he was given the opportunity to start as a freshman.

Throwing Hackenberg off his game is one focus, but stopping his top receiving threat will be key. Junior wide receiver Allen Robinson is one of the most talented targets in the Big Ten. His 878 receiving yards leads the conference and his six touchdowns put him right up near as well.

“He’s just big and strong, very athletic,” Banks said. 

“He can go up and get the ball. He’s a playmaker. Definitely one of the most talented receivers we’ve seen.”

Like Illinois, Penn State has had a rocky first half of the season. The Nittany Lions have looked good at times (a four-overtime victory over Michigan on Oct. 12) and bad at others (last week’s 63-14 loss to Ohio State). Bill O’Brien’s squad is not going to surprise anybody like it did last year.

“Penn State is Penn State,” Beckman said. “They’re very physical. They do what they do well, which they always have. And I think Bill O’Brien’s done a great job with this program.”

Illini offensive coordinator Bill Cubit has never coached a game at Beaver Stadium, which seats 107,282 people; although he did see it once on a recruiting trip while coaching at Stanford.

His quarterback, Nathan Scheelhaase, remembers the place well. The last time Illinois played at Penn State, the Illini lost when a last-second Derek Dimke field goal that would have tied the game clanked off the upright. That was in 2011, the loss was the third in a six-game losing streak for Illinois.

Any Illini upperclassman understands how losses can snowball — like they did in 2011 and like they did last season. It’s starting to feel like the Illini might be in the midst of a long skid right now. Penn State provides a chance to put an end to the three-game losing streak Illinois is facing now.

“I know you guys know this, that’s why I’m always nice to y’all, but I don’t read the papers,” Banks told the media Monday. “You just go about your business. You work as hard as you can. As long as you can look yourself in the mirror and know that you’ve worked to the best of your ability.

“That’s what you tell your kids.”

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @sean_hammond.