This was more or less what you’ve come to expect from Penn State and Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights do a few good things early and then the rest of the game happens. Interestingly enough, Penn State has scored 30+ against Rutgers only twice in the last eight meetings, which made Saturday’s final well above the general average as of late. Then again, if you score in all three phases it’s hard to lose. Here are the grades.
Offense: B
Penn State scored 21 points off of plays unrelated to the offense – a 100-yard kick off return by Nicholas Singleton and two different fumbles returned for touchdowns – so while 55 points is 55 points, it’s not as though Penn State’s offense can take complete credit for that outcome. The Nittany Lions came out looking a bit indifferent on offense and it took until the 6:11 mark in the second quarter for Penn State – on its seventh drive – to record its first offensive touchdown. Sean Clifford had a pretty pedestrian day going 17-for-26, getting 157-yards to his name in the process and was otherwise more effective with his feet, racking up 35-yards on the ground and one touchdown. That said, Kaytron Allen and Singleton managed 117-yards and 62-yards respectively, both looking the part as per usual. Clifford doesn’t need to carry the day when those two backs carry the ball like that.
In the receiving game the absence of Parker Washington opened the door for KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Trey Wallace III who managed six catches and 58-yards between the two of them. Mitchell Tinsley led the way with five catches for 63-yards. Nobody in this bunch had an overwhelming night but, between the running game and unorthodox scoring, nobody in this group needed to. Singleton had a fumble but that was Penn State’s only turnover on the night. Going 4-for-16 on third down doesn’t help the cause but a perfect 6-for-6 in the red zone doesn’t hurt it any either. All told this was a fine night for the offense, but not overwhelmingly so —even with the final score.
Defense: A
Rutgers averaged .9 yards per carry.
Another massive tackle for a loss night highlighted yet the latest game dictated by Penn State’s defense. In total 15 TFLs came from 11 different players while Curtis Jacob’s return from injury saw him make two of his own. Kalen King led the way with six tackles in a full-on group effort and Abdul Carter looks to be poised to become Penn State’s linebacker great of the future. Two different fumbles returned for touchdowns helped Penn State open up this game and Ji’Ayir Brown’s fumble return ended a second-half opening drive by Rutgers and pretty well killed-off any comeback hopes right off the bat. Johnny Dixon had a pick-six of his own but it was called back for a block in the back.
Rutgers went 4-for-19 on third down and didn’t even end up attempting a single fourth-down conversion. Rutgers’ quarterback Gavin Wimsatt helped Penn State as much as the Nittany Lions did with an inaccurate night all evening long. A 167-yards of total offense pretty much sums this game up. Penn State’s defense gets some credit in the early going too, among the first seven Scarlet Knight drives, two started on Penn State’s side of the field while two more started past Rutgers’ own 40. For all that Rutgers came away with just seven points.
Special Teams: B
Singleton’s 100-yard return was great – duh – and the first real sign of a legitimate return threat in ages. Penn State also got lucky when a dropped/blocked/fumbled punt didn’t count due to a Rutgers’ penalty which masks this mistake. It was a windy day but Barney Amor wasn’t his usual self at first even if he did end up with four punts inside Rutgers’ 20. This wasn’t a bad night for Penn State’s special teams but the fumble that should have been – that wasn’t – hurts the grade as a matter of principle. Alex Bacchetta continues to look promising at punter and his one 42-yarder help his cause for the future. Jake Pinegar made his only field goal attempt but 22-yards is nothing to care too much about.
Coaching: B+
Penn State’s offense coming out flat doesn’t help matters any but the Nittany Lions made plays in all three phases and the only mistakes probably weren’t ones that happened for a lack of not being in the department of “things that we should work on.” If a teams wins a game 55-10 there’s only so much you can pick on. Using Drew Allar as a battering ram in the red zone probably seems okay in the future but right now maybe don’t. Otherwise no complaints.
Overall: A-
It was 55-10. This offense has had better nights than this but it also says something about where this team is right now that having over 200 yards rushing and scoring 14 or more points in every quarter but one somehow feels like it could have been better. A slow start, a fumble that wasn’t and some mistakes that took points off the board hurt the grade but it was 55-10, so there’s that.
