Offense: B
It’s hard to really knock 31 points in conference play but Penn State was far from perfect on Saturday. 3-of-13 on third downs is killer against any other team and Penn State couldn’t move the ball late in the fourth quarter with great field position and the chance to ice the game. The Nittany Lions lose this game if Maryland can make something of its final drive thanks in large part to offensive issues on Penn State’s final few drives.
After a 2-of-8 first quarter, Christian Hackenberg finished the afternoon with 315 yards passing and three scores. Take away the first quarter and he went 11-for-22 for three scores and 237 yards. Chris Godwin’s ability to catch 50-50 balls alone was worth a bump up in the grade and six different receivers getting in on the mix only helped. Godwin leading the way with 4 catches for 135 yards. Four different player ended the night with a catch of over 25 yards and three with a catch over 35.
Saquon Barkley was held in check with 67 yards rushing (and a score) but Maryland was well prepared for a Barkley-first attack. Four fumbles as a team was surprising as well. To Barkley’s credit, he has been strong in pass coverage.
This grade should be higher but Penn State did enough things poorly that it has to out weigh at least some of the good. If the Nittany Lions had protected the ball and iced the game given the chance this isn’t a half bad outing for this group. Also, two wasted timeouts in the second half to fix communication issues isn’t a good look.
Defense: C+
Giving up 30 points against a pretty average if not below average team is a bit of a shock for Bob Shoop’s crew. If anything is working in his favor as far as a grade it’s the fact Penn State is banged up and playing a lot of minutes with Penn State’s offense struggling.
Troy Reeder led the way with 10 tackles while Marcus Allen had a strong 9 tackle outing that included one sack. Carl Nassib also upped his season sack total to 12.5 and added two tackle for a loss to his resume. Penn State has now recorded a sack in 30 straight games.
Grant Haley was exceptional in coverage for most of the evening breaking up at least one big play and picking up an interception. In total Penn State forced five turnovers and broke up three passes.
Maryland went just one better than Penn State on third down converting 4-of-13 chances but missing out on both fourth down attempts. The Terps had nearly 500 yards of offense which is pretty unheard of against Penn State on most occasions.
The saving grace here was the final four Maryland drives all result in either turnovers or turnover on downs. When Penn State needed a stop it got four straight thanks to some outstanding defense. An interception to seal the deal put a strong finish to an up and down game. For as much as Penn State struggled at times, the Nittany Lions made plays when they had to. The formula worked this week.
Special Teams:
- Field Goals: C-
- Everything Else: C
Joey Julius for as much fun as he is, one kickoff went out of bounds and he was simply just shaky on Saturday. Julius’ miss from 45-yards would have given Penn State a four point lead instead of a single point late in the game.
Everything else though was decent. Penn State managed too keep return star Will Likely under control and a modest long of just 30 yards on a kickoff. His longest punt return just 10 yards on three tries. Equally so, Daniel Pasquariello had a good afternoon keeping the ball from Likely with directional kicks and an opening punt of 55-yards. His 39 yard average wasn’t great on paper but none of them were shanks and none went straight into Likely’s hands, in the end that’s more important.
This grade goes down for three reasons, Penn State’s own kickoff return game appears to always be a block away but the block never comes. Just a 27-yard high return mark for both Brandon Polk and Nick Scott and nothing else to speak of. In addition Penn State’s roughing the kicker penalty could have proved costly but still ended up being just a field goal again a few plays later. Add in a fumbled kick return recovered by Maryland and it’s struggle city.
Penn State’s special teams went about 66% on Saturday with good punting and coverage but poor field goal kicking.
Overall: B-
Two makable field goals, and a stronger first quarter and Penn State could have maybe won the game by a touchdown or more. But between a few missed tackles and struggles on third down the Nittany Lions found themselves in the rock fight of a game. 300+ yards through the air and big plays on offense help the overall grade. In the end Penn State found a way to win and that hasn’t always been a guarantee as of late. If nothing else all three units helped the effort. The offense scored, the defense made stops and special teams did enough good to make up for the bad. No unit played a complete game, so this grade can’t go higher.
