Penn State started 2021 looking like a team still hungover from 2020’s 0-5 start and eventual 4-5 finish. But the difference this time around? The Nittany Lions figured it out in the second half and Penn State’s struggling offense went from getting just one first down in the first half to scoring and moving the ball far more consistently. All of this was backed up an outstanding defensive effort that managed to keep Wisconsin to just 10 points despite running nearly 100 plays.
There was good and there was bad, but a win is a win, and here are the grades.
Offense: C
It’s hard to give a good grade to an offense that has one first down in the first half and spent a not insignificant portion of the game with negative rushing yardage. That being said, you have to give Penn State some credit for a few things: turning the game around in the second half and Sean Clifford avoiding any unforced errors in a game that could have very easily turned on a mistake.
Noah Cain was a relative bright spot on the ground gaining 48 yards on eight carries with most of those yards coming in the fourth quarter. Saturday was his first game in action back from injury in almost a year. In the pocket, Clifford missed on a few throws but otherwise did what he was asked to do and finished the day with 247 yards on a 18-for-33 outing. He has played better but he has also played a lot worse. At the end of the day he just needs to make smart choices and make more throws than not. He did that on Saturday.
Jahan Dotson was Jahan Dotson and pretty much had his way as a deep threat against the Badgers. Overall, he posted a five-catch, 102-yard outing and was joined by a solid production afternoon from KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who made four catches for 71 yards, while Parker Washington was quiet but still pulled down four receptions for 47 yards. This group did what it had to for the most part.
Penn State’s offensive line will have to be better, but given the fact the Nittany Lions only had the ball for 17 minutes of the entire game and still won – can’t argue with that.
This grade would be worse, but if you turn your entire operation around and win a game against a top 12 team on the road, you can’t get blasted too much. Then again, 3-for-13 on third down is something else. This group will have to be better, but it did enough to win.
Defense: A+
It can be hard to quantify these sorts of things, but top to bottom this was among the best defensive performances Penn State has had against a quality team in a long time. Wisconsin was very Wisconsin, opting to run the ball [58 times!] and did so with some success, but Penn State held the Badgers to 10 points and just one score on four trips to the red zone. The Nittany Lions forced/were on the right side of three turnovers and probably should have had one or two more.
Different players made impacts at different levels. Arnold Ebiketie made an impact in his first game as a Nittany Lion with a field goal block, multiple pressures, two tackles for a loss, a sack and seven tackles overall. Jaquan Brisker had a ironman performance after multiple injury scares but had a pass breakup and what was effectively the game-winning interception deep in the red zone. Ellis Brooks led the way with 11 tackles while Brandon Smith had a solid, eight-tackle outing of his own.
This group was on the field for 40 minutes and faced 95 plays and still only gave up 10 points. Hard to fault much of that at all.
Special Teams: C-
Penn State got called for close-but-questionable kick catch interference, missed an extra point and a fairly short field goal. So not a great day for a unit that had otherwise been fairly solid in 2020. Jordan Stout struggled with his kicks but had an excellent outing from the punter spot averaging almost 54 yards a punt, including a 76-yard bomb. Five of his seven punts went 50 or more yards. Penn State had an unremarkable afternoon in the return game but only had four return opportunities all day.
The penalties and the misses hurt this grade but Stout flipping the field was key.
Coaching: B
You could argue that Penn State should have looked better out of the gate in this game on offense, but overall Mike Yurcich and James Franklin made the adjustments they needed to in the second half and that’s half the battle. Nobody would say that the Nittany Lions looked good in the first half aside from a stout defensive performance, but figuring out a way to turn things around in a tough environment against a quality opponent isn’t anything ignore. All things consider this was a solid coaching effort if we’re looking at how Penn State started and how it finished. Brent Pry’s defensive unit was outstanding all day and that counts for something as well. Franklin’s late first half timeout was weird but also didn’t make a difference in the least. Also credit for going for it on fourth down early. It didn’t work out but it was the right idea.
Overall: B
It wasn’t always pretty but Penn State doesn’t come across top 15 wins on the road all that often, so credit where it’s due. It might turn out that Wisconsin was overrated to start the season, but wins are wins, especially for a program and a team that started 2020 at 0-5. Road wins in the Big Ten don’t come easily. If you can start poorly and turn around and win a game that goes down to the wire, you take it and run. Penn State will have to be better, but you’ll have to do worse than this to get a bad grade when you’re beating Wisconsin at Camp Randall.
