Week 2 Grades

Week 2 proved to be a much better showing for Penn State than a shaky week 1, although they faced admittedly weaker competition.  The defense stepped up big, posting a shutout, and their grades reflect as much.  The offense again started off slow and ineffective, including a costly fumble that gave Eastern Michigan its only points of the game.  But once the jitters subsided, true freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg yet again showcased the talent that his 5-star recruiting rating carries, breaking a record in the process.

So let's roll out some week 2 grades!

Offense

QB: (B+) Say what you want about the early mistakes, Hackenberg lit it up in the 2^nd half and showed why he’s the future, throwing for 311 yards and setting the freshmen single game record in the process (beating Zach Mills). Still, he’s a freshman and the butterfingers fumble and tendency to overthrow was pretty sloppy.  Ferguson also played well in garbage time and will serve as an excellent backup in case of emergency.

OL: (A) Much better than last week!  The line opened up great holes all day, keeping Hackenberg's jersey relatively clean and allowing for the awesome rushing stats we saw.

RB: (A+) Speaking of rushing stats, I'll let them do the talking: Zwinak 43 yds/2 TDs, Belton 108 yds (personal best)/2 TDs, Lynch 108 yds/1 TD… are you kidding me?!  Great job guys!

WR: (A) 6 different receivers caught a pass, along with 2 TEs and 2 RBs.  The offense caught a total of 25 passes for 323 yds, and that’s just fun to see.  Although Hackenberg overthrew them a bunch early, when he settled down and got the ball to them, the receivers straight up made plays.  Oh, and that guy Allen Robinson was scary good as always (7 recs/129 yds/1 TD).

TE: (B) With Lehman out for the season, we're going to see more of Breneman eventually.  But all we saw of him on Saturday was a holding call that brought back a decent Zwinak run.  James and Carter combined for 4 catches and 62 yds, but frankly, given O'Brien's reputation, I expected to see a little more production from this group.

Defense

DL: (A-) Da’Quan Jones was an absolute beast!  But Barnes continued to be noticeably absent in the first two games.  Usually it's the DT who takes up blockers and allows the DE to put up stats... somehow these two have reversed that trend.  Still, Eastern Michigan's total of 61 rush yds shows what this group pulled off.

LB: (A-) There was nothing fancy here (aka no forced fumbles), but they just got the job done, as a defensive shutout would indicate.  Wartman played great in the first half and looks to have the makings of the next great Penn State LB.

DB: (A-) Just like the linebackers nothing fancy (no interceptions), so the only big stat was the defensive shutout.  Things started out a little sketchy in the 1^st quarter with EMU getting into PSU territory 3 consecutive times, mostly on short passes, but the defensive backfield settled in nicely the rest of the game.

Overall: (A-) A nice early season blowout never hurt anyone.  It was a solid performance all around.  Even though Hackenberg's nerves got the best of him to start, once everything settled down we saw why this team has so much potential.