WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Well, that was something. Penn State came out on top against Purdue with a last-minute comeback victory Thursday night to the tune of 35-31 after more than its fair share of mistakes, bad luck and ugly Week 1 play. This team will need to get a lot better if it wants to do anything of note this season, but wins are wins. That doesn’t mean the grades have to be sparkling though, so here they are.
Offense: C
This game was really the quintessential Penn State experience of the past two years. The Nittany Lions did good things on offense but also somehow made you forget about all of those good things nearly as soon as they happened. Sean Clifford ended the night with four passing touchdowns and a rushing score but also walks away with a near game-losing interception fresh on the mind. The running game had moments that looked like it may have finally turned a corner — Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton both were a sight for sore eyes — and yet still Penn State’s ground game only averaged 3.1 yards per carry. Penn State’s receiving corps managed big plays down the stretch but also had several drops that proved plenty costly to Penn State’s momentum.
Penn State went 5-for-14 on third down but scored 21 points in the red zone. It scored 35 points on 73 plays and managed 193 yards after the catch but also had just one rushing play of more than 10 yards. For every bad thing there was something good and for every mistake there was the game-winning drive during which Clifford completed six of his final seven passes.
At the end of the day Clifford has to be better, the receivers have to be better and the offensive line has to be better. This is maybe not a huge surprise but makes it no less urgent. You can’t score 35 points (21 of those in the second quarter), generate 406 yards of offense and pull a game winning drive out of your pocket and still get slammed in the grades.
Honorable mentions to Mitchell Tinsley who finished the night with seven catches and the duo of Brenton Strange and Tyler Warren in the tight end room for being exceptionally hard to tackle. Also to Drew Allar for looking the part in his brief stint at quarterback.
Defense: C-
Penn State’s defense was a lot like its offensive counterparts on Thursday in the sense that it did good things and it did bad things. It’s going to be a very long year for everyone if opponents decide the best way to move the ball is hope Joey Porter Jr. gets called fo pass interference. Penn State’s coverage guys are very physical so those calls aren’t always going to go your way. Nevertheless, it’s never a good sign if an alleged No. 1 corner keeps getting targeted. Penn State did end up breaking up 10 passes by the end of the night and had good moments in coverage but it always felt like a roll of the dice. Linebacker Curtis Jacobs was solid with six tackles and the Nittany Lions gave up just 70 yards on the ground to a team that doesn’t much enjoy running the ball. In turn, Purdue went 5-for-15 on third down.
One would be hard pressed to say that this is the best Penn State’s defense has looked in recent years — and presumed anchor Ji’Ayir Brown had a surprisingly poor showing — but the Nittany Lions got stops late and did just enough to give their offense a chance to win. That’s all you can really ask for. It wasn’t pretty by any stretch but it didn’t need to be. This grade is low because it took all game for those moments to occur, and maybe it’s unfair to hate on someone for doing something really well at the absolute last minute, but this group can be – and will need to be — better.
Special Teams: A
Barney Amor has waited a while to be the guy and he responded in the punting role with a 46.9 yard average, three punts of 50+ yards and three downed inside the 20 out of eight on the night. Nick Singleton seems like a solid kick return guy and Parker Washington’s 10-yard punt return was fun if nothing else. Penn State needed Amor to be good on Thursday night, and he was. It also needed return guys not to make mistakes and they did that as well. This group was a bit of an unknown with so much change and it turned out to be Penn State’s best group on Thursday night. One game does not a pattern make, but it sure was a good start.
Coaching: C
This is about as lukewarm as it gets. Penn State doesn’t appear to have the line to run the ball yet and while Singleton is fun to watch it’s hard to justify making the run a major part of the offense until further notice. Penn State ran the ball 32 times and threw it 41 and it seems like you could have lopped 10 runs off of that total. Manny Diaz is doing what he can with the defensive personnel he has, but the duo of Mike Yurcich and James Franklin needs to decide what this offense is and what it isn’t and stick with that. Penn State scored twice when it went up-tempo and got away from the run. It was much more of a mixed bag when that wasn’t the case. There wasn’t a singular failure from Penn State’s coaching staff and the game was managed well — not running out the clock to end the first half resulted in a touchdown — but this also wasn’t anyone’s best work.
Overall: C
This game was ugly at times — most of the times — but Penn State also won, scored 35 points, got stops, had good special teams and managed a last-minute comeback win. All totaled up this game was equal parts good and bad and that’s how we’re going to grade it out. Just average.
