Week 6 Grades

I think I did a good enough job summing up a terrible game in Bloomington during my wrap up yesterday.  No need for small talk, let's just get to the grades...

Offense
QB: (D) Everyone is blaming the offensive line.  We'll get to that in a second, but seriously people, this was all on Hackenberg.  Numbers can be deceiving, and yesterday was no exception.  The quarterback put up 340 yds, sure, but he also screwed up handoffs, was too scared to run when he needed to, committed stupid penalties like intentional grounding, overthrew his receivers per usual, and generally took all day to throw (including when he took so long he got tackled for a safety).  He looked like every other in-over-his-head freshman, instead of the elite recruit he's supposed to be.  I love the kid as much as anyone, but that was just terrible.

OL: (B) Unlike everyone else, I think the offensive line actually did pretty well. They seemed to get a decent push and PSU converted more 3rd downs than any other game this season.  As stated above, Hackenberg had absolutely all day to throw.  It's not the O-line's fault when the quarterback makes bad decisions or the running backs don't want to run hard.  I will say that they need to stop the stupid false start penalties and block better in special teams, but I think they're getting too much blame for yesterday.

RB:(C-) On one hand, it seemed like Zwinak was in typical form breaking tackles and picking up hard earned extra yards, especially early.  At times, Belton also performed well, and looked as shifty as ever, even pulling in a receiving TD.  But for every good play, there was a bad one.  Every first down picked up was followed by getting stuffed for no gain or tackled for a loss.  The net yardage from all that inconsistency came out to a mere 70 yds and 1.8 yds/play.  Not good!  In a league like the Big Ten, you better run the ball way better than that or you're going nowhere.

WR: (A-) Allen Robinson was his usual amazing self, posting career best stats as he grabbed 12 passes for 173 yds and 2 TDs.  Outside of him, the other receivers did a decent job filling in for Brandon Felder who was out with an injury.  Eugene Lewis had 6 catches for 35 yds and Richy Anderson had 3 catches for 29 yds, both respectable.  Lewis made one big mistake, but it came on special teams, so we'll get to that a little later.

TE: (D) I'm glad to see that Kyle Carter is back to his old self as he had 6 catches for 79 yds.  Outside of that... um... where were these guys?  No Breneman and no James anywhere to be found.  Not really sure what that was all about.

Defense
DL: (C) Defensive statistics are hard to find, and even harder to analyze accurately.  Still, outside of a sack by Zettel, I don't know where these guys were all game.  Barnes was the freshman of the year last season, but so far this season he hasn't looked like a dominant DE, let alone in this game.  Jones is still a very good DT, but he can't do it all alone.

LB: (B) I didn't really see anything particularly wrong with their play.  A lot of people see 44 points scored by an opponent and think the defense sucked, but special teams mistakes put the defense in impossible situations all game.  Given the circumstances, I think they played admirably.  It's becoming quite obvious, though, that depth at linebacker is this team's biggest concern.  We're basically playing with 2 guys, Carson and Hull, and you're not going to be able to stop anybody that way.  They get a B for effort.

DB: (B+) Sure, Cody Latimer put up huge numbers, but he was going to do that anyway; he's just that good.  Given how potent this passing attack can be, and what they were held to, I give our secondary credit for a well played game.  Special props to Adrian Amos for the interception.  Like the linebackers, these guys were put in some bad spots and did the best they could.  I think they actually showed a lot of promise.

Special Teams
K: (F) This isn't all on Ficken, although he didn't put enough air under a 42 yd attempt causing it to be blocked.  Most of this grade goes to everyone else around him that made this look almost as bad as the Virginia game last year.  Ty Howle took over long snapping duties and Alex Butterworth took over holding duties for the injured Ryan Keiser.  On the very first FG attempt, Howle bounced the ball past Butterworth for a 31 yd loss.  Are you kidding me?!  Then, as Penn State tried to mount a comeback, Eugene Lewis fumbled a kickoff return which lead to yet another IU touchdown.  Every aspect of the kicking game was a mess.  We'll just leave it at that.

P: (D) Butterworth's major issues were as the holder in the kicking game.  In his punting duties he was Ok, I guess, but he still isn't giving Penn State the kind of field position they'll need to win close games this season.  At the same time, the punt returners are doing next to nothing.  O'Brien needs to figure the special teams out ASAP!

Overall: (D) Despite some valiant efforts by certain players on the field to try and salvage a respectable performance, the mistakes and miscues by other players happened at all the wrong times and added up to arguably the most embarrassing Penn State loss in a very long time.  Hopefully next week goes a little better.

As always, follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and check back tomorrow for my awards... that'll be fun.