Week 3 Grades

Week 3 was a disappointing week as Penn State suffered its first loss of the season.  Although the offense played admirably, the defense couldn't provide a single key stop all game.  But I think my wrap up yesterday did a good job of summing up what went down, so let's roll out some week 3 grades!

Offense
QB: (A-) Christian Hackenberg was named the Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week for the 2nd time in 3 weeks, and deservedly so.  All the 18 year old true freshman did was go 21-28 for 262 yds through the air.  Week after week, he just keeps getting better and showing off why he was so highly recruited.  Let's just hope Ferguson doesn't get frustrated and transfer.

OL: (B+) Hackenberg is still getting rushed too often, although on a number of plays he seemed to have all day to throw.  This line is big, powerful, and has outstanding chemistry.  They've set themselves up for success, now we just need to see it translate into consistent play on the field.  Still, overall you have to give them credit for opening up big holes for Zach Zwinak and the running game.  Speaking of which...

RB: (A-) All Zwinak did on Saturday was run the ball 21 times for 128 yds.  That's more than 6 ypc!  Oh, and he scored 3 TDs too.  He was Penn State's workhorse all night long and the reason PSU even stood a chance at a comeback.  But Optimus, why doesn't he get an A+ then?  That's simple; his fumble at the end of the game almost single-handedly killed the comeback.  For all the good he did, sometimes it's that one mistake that people remember.

WR: (A+) It's hard to imagine a game this season where the receivers aren't going to get an A of some kind, simply because they have Allen Robinson.  And what more do you really need?  The guy is ridiculously good and was yet another bright spot in this game, snagging a conference leading 9 catches for 143 yds.  He's statistically the 4th best receiver in the country and currently #1 in the Biletnikoff Award fan voting.  Not much more I can say.

TE: (B) It's very interesting when the Nos 2, 3, & 4 receivers are all tight ends.  Together they accounted for 8 catches and 75 yds.  That's amazing for most teams, but for some reason, I'm not impressed.  I expect bigger production from Bill O'Brien coached TEs.  One great thing is that Hackenberg's recruiting buddy Adam Breneman is finally showing off his skills and seems to be Hackenberg's new favorite outlet with 4 catches on the night.  Here's hoping the group continues to improve.

FB: (A) Pat Zerbe is Penn State's lone scholarship fullback.  The only time I honestly noticed him was on one of Zwinak's TD runs.  He cleared a nice hole for Zwinak up the middle which lead to the score.  I figured he deserved a shoutout for his efforts.

Defense
DL: (D) No sacks, and no pressure all night allowed Blake Bortles to pick apart a young and inexperienced secondary all night long.  In addition, a defensive line that gave up less than 60 yds to each of their previous 2 opponents gave up 219 yds... that's just inexcusable.  Even Da'Quan Jones, who continues to lead the team in tackles, was rendered more or less useless.  Still, as long as Larry Johnson is in charge of this line, I expect the appropriate adjustments to be made and a dominant DL to emerge again.

LB: (C) The good news is Mike Hull and Ben Kline are back!  The bad news is Linebacker U was no help with either the passing or running games against UCF.  But again, given who their position coach is, I don't expect ongoing issues with this unit.

DB: (D) The 2 first year starters at CB (Jordan Lucas and Trevor Williams) were simply no match for Blake Bortles and his receivers.  They were doomed from the opening play, so much so that defensive coordinator John Butler had to move Adrian Amos back to CB halfway through the game.  When your starting CB is your leading tackler, you have a big problem.  We may have depth in the secondary now, but it's obvious we still need more talent.  The lone bright spot was Malcom Willis picking off Bortles for the first time in over 230 passes, too bad it made little difference.

Special Teams
K: (A-) Sam Ficken set the record for consecutive FGs made at 15 with a personal best 47 yarder, but then missed on a 57 yarder that, frankly, was wishful thinking to begin with.  Still he is proving to be a great kicker and an even better comeback story.  The other good news is that we may have found our kick returner for the foreseeable future.  Geno Lewis ran back 4 kicks for 106 yds, averaging 26 yds per return... not bad, Geno, not bad at all.

P: (B) Alex Butterworth is a decent enough punter whose stats are skewed because of all the short punts he's made.  But if you look at his ability to pin the opponent within their own 20, his stats look a little better.


Overall: (C) The offense actually played really well, especially considering this is a Penn State offense we're talking  about here.  Unfortunately, the defense played uncharacteristically un-Penn State defense and we lost to a team that we really shouldn't have lost to.  Thankfully, next week the Lions play MAC punching bag Kent State and follow that up with a bye week.  Plenty of time to lick their wounds, heal up, fix their mistakes, and get ready for Big Ten play!