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Brooks Bollinger throws pass against Virginia in 2001. He was sacked 40 times the next season as a senior when his wide receiver corps was limited to inexperienced underclassmen.

(AP photo)

When I left a voice message for former Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Bollinger on Tuesday and said I was seeking his insight on what being sacked a lot does to the psyche of a quarterback, he was surprised. He had no idea he was the second-most sacked Big Ten QB in a single season since the statistic began being kept in 2002:

"I honestly did not know that stat."

Maybe something best forgotten, I replied. He laughed an agreement.

Bollinger was tackled for loss trying to pass on 40 occasions during the Badgers' 2002 season that ended 8-6 with a bowl win but 2-6 in Big Ten play – the worst year of coach Barry Alvarez's 16-season tenure other than his rookie year.

Bollinger has something of a kindred spirit in Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg. The PSU sophomore has accumulated 37 sacks, within striking distance of record-holder Jake Christensen of Iowa (46 in 2007) and just behind Bollinger.

It is apparent he has regressed some since his prodigious freshman season, partly from the pure physical abuse, partly from an apparent reaction to the sky falling on him so often. He has thrown 14 interceptions, seems to be holding the ball too long waiting for receivers with inadequate separation, and is missing other targets even when they are open.

Bollinger understands Hackenberg's plight because he lived it. His stats were considerably better in his freshman season (142.6 NCAA passer rating in 1999) when he took the Badgers to the Rose Bowl and ended up on The Tonight Show talking to Jay Leno than his senior one (129.3 in 2002) when the Badgers plunged to 2-6 in the Big Ten. It's not coincidence that in '99 his O-line was stacked with veterans and Ron Dayne was behind him running for a Big Ten-record 2,043 yards and 20 touchdowns. In '02, Dayne was in the NFL and star wideout Lee Evans had ripped up a knee in spring ball and was lost for the season. Bollinger had no Dayne to handoff to and nothing but young receivers to throw to.

None of that stopped Bollinger from becoming an NFL pro himself; he spent all or part of seven seasons with four different NFL clubs (2003-09) after being drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round. Bollinger said he's watched Hackenberg with interest partly because of what he calls his "one degree of separation" on an adjacent limb of the Bill Belichick tree, via his association with onetime Jets head coach Eric Mangini:

Bollinger in 2005 with the Jets.

"I loved [Hackenberg] last year. He's a tough kid. From what I can see, he's a pretty competitive kid, too, and I know I was."

But Bollinger can empathize with the effects on Hackenberg's game that he thinks many fans simply can't quite understand when they haven't been caught in the maelstrom:

"Confidence in any sport, at any level is the utmost importance. That's especially true at a position like quarterback where you have to make split-second decisions and do so with trust in your teammates.

"Anything that shakes that confidence affects the quarterback's mindset. You think just a little bit more. You hesitate more. And you don't have that time. It doesn't exist."

That speaks to the several occasions Hackenberg has been caught scanning the field as the ersatz pocket crumbles around him. Bollinger tried to describe the chain reaction ignited from too many sacks, no matter the root cause:

"Football is the ultimate team sport. For a passing offense to be successful, it takes a number of guys doing exactly the right things at the right time. A lot of it comes down to that confidence and that trust.

"When a quarterback's getting hit, it detracts from his confidence of being able to look down the field and trust what's going on.

"When bad things start happening, you start losing that trust and everybody reacts a different way. Sometimes you have a tendency to press too much and force things to happen, maybe overcompensate for mistakes that are made.

"Football doesn't operate that way. In other sports, like basketball, you can kind of take the game over, just take it on your own shoulders, maybe just keep shooting. In football, you gotta punt the ball."

Bollinger also cited the shift in offensive philosophy and language with the new James Franklin coaching staff on the heels of Bill O'Brien:

"A change in the offensive system forces a quarterback to process things that much slower. Protections are new. That can cause a quarterback to hold the ball."

In so many ways, the dilemma for Hackenberg comes back to the age of big-money contracts and transient coaches. The players are pawns of the business.

Bollinger dabbled in analysis of college football games for the Big Ten Network. And he took a shot at college coaching himself as an assistant on Paul Chryst's staff at Pitt in 2012 and 2013. But he said he gradually became disillusioned with what the game has become – a corporately run career-climb for various millionaire coaches, wannabes, administrative suits and network executives.

The native North Dakotan is now in the financial planning biz in Minneapolis but has visions of returning to coach high school football at some point; he took a Twin Cities-area high school team to the Minnesota state playoffs in 2011 in his rookie year. If so, you'd think he would be sensitive to any teenage quarterback who at some point might lose his mojo. Bollinger has been there.

During his career at Wisconsin, he enjoyed peaks and endured valleys commensurate with his support, much like that Hackenberg has so far at Penn State. He understands the O'Brien system because he's worked with it himself and has several friends in the business from the Belichick cabal. His Pitt quarterback last season was Tom Savage who now is playing for O'Brien with the Houston Texans.

So, Bollinger said he grasps what Hackenberg is going through attempting to adapt from one system to another:

"I don't know [Hackenberg] personally. I know a lot of people from that same tree that O'Brien came from. I know they're damn good with their quarterbacks and they're damn good at getting the ball out and they're kind of built for a pocket passer, which he is. It's certainly different from most college systems.

"You hate to see him struggle because I think he's really, really talented. I really do."

DAVID JONES: djones@pennlive.com.