Week 8 Grades

Double your pleasure, double your fun.  I give you part 2 of today’s blog post double-header!  It was an ugly game against the Terrapins from Maryland, especially on offense, and it was made that much uglier by the shenanigans prior to kick off.  The conference stepped in and punished basically everyone involved, so now we can officially move on.  Lots to talk about here that I couldn't get to in the wrap up, so without further adieu, let’s roll out some grades!

Offense

QB: (F) No more excuses, it’s time to address the elephant in the room head on.  Forget about overthrowing, underthrowing, interceptions, or holding on to the ball way too long.  The real problem right now is simply that Hackenberg does not like James Franklin, or at least he doesn't like Franklin’s offensive philosophy.  That’s understandable because 1. He was recruited by Bill O'Brien into a completely different system and 2. When Franklin came to Penn State, he stressed at his introductory press conference that he does not use systems, but instead tries to tailor his style to his personnel.  Yet he continues to implement a style, complete with the outdated wildcat formation, which his star QB and team captain hates.  The most telling line from Hack?  “This is what we signed up for.”  That sounds like a defeated player who has resigned himself to just getting through the rest of this season.  On the other hand, he showed a lot of fight on Saturday; a little too much fight if you ask me.  Throughout the afternoon he could be seen flailing his arms and screaming at WRs, TEs, OL, and even his coaches.  And it doesn't take a trained lip-reader to know what kind of language he was using either.  His emotional outbursts, especially when contrasted with his cool demeanor last year are becoming embarrassing.  Luckily, the way he hid his face from cameras in the 2^nd half shows he probably understands that everyone is watching, and maybe he’ll wise up soon.  For more takes on Hack’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year, check out some links here, here, and here.

OL: (C-) Everyone has taken their shots at the offensive line this year, myself included, and with good reason.  However, in my humble opinion, they took another step forward this week.  Sure they let up another 5 sacks and still can’t get any push to allow for a decent running game, so they’re not exactly getting an A anytime soon.  But just going by the “eyeball test” I saw an already bad line, missing its only experienced piece and reshuffled yet again, finally give Hackenberg a little bit of time to make decisions.  Hack didn't use that additional time particularly well, but it was definitely there.  If we can just get through this season, next year should be a completely different story with Herb Hand still coaching, the (hopefully) extra bowl game practices, and a slew of big time OL recruits coming in to fill in the gaps behind the starters.  Just be patient.

RB: (C-) As I predicted, Akeel Lynch received the bulk of the carries, 21 to be exact, and he turned those into a respectable 51 yds.  There just isn't enough push by the offensive line for us to realistically expect much more than that right now.  Lynch remains the best option at RB and should finish out the season as the starter if this coaching staff knows what's good for them.  Bill Belton continues to disappoint, though, and neither RB seems capable of blocking in pass protection.  Not much else to say; this unit will continue to struggle until other pieces of the offense get their act together.

WR: (B-) Hamilton did not have his normal videogame-like numbers in this one.  He finished the day with only 5 catches for 42 yds.  Still, those 5 catches came just when Penn State needed them.  On the Lions’ only TD drive of the day, Hamilton was responsible for two 1^st downs and by the end of the game he would break the freshman receiving yds record!  Congrats Daesean!  As for the other WRs, we didn't see Saeed Blacknall for some reason, but Chris Godwin continues his streak of having at least one catch per game.  Geno Lewis had the longest catch of the day, a 35 yarder on a 3^rd and 23 in the 4^th quarter which set up a FG, but he also missed a would be TD in the 2^nd quarter.  Like Hamilton, Lewis finished the day with 5 catches.

TE: (A-) Jesse James finally had himself a showcase game catching 5 passes for 48 yds and more importantly a TD.  The score was the 11^th of his career, and helped him break Ted Kwalick’s record for career TDs by a TE set back in the late 60s!  Kyle Carter was no slouch himself pulling in 2 grabs for 21 yds.  The minus comes from freshman Mike Gesicki who couldn't secure either of the 2 passes thrown his way, drawing the ire of an already upset Christian Hackenberg.  Getting all 3 of these guys clicking at the same time will be imperative moving forward if this offense is going to find any kind of identity.

Defense

DL: (A+) Deion Barnes had 2 sacks against the Terps, and now leads the team with 6 on the season.  He has definitely returned to form.  In the 3^rd quarter, Anthony Zettel forced a fumble that was recovered by CJ Olaniyan and gave the offense exactly the spark it needed to score their only TD of the day.  Not much else to be said about this group other than the fact that they've been flat out dominant all year long.  Even the backups are impressing nearly across the board combining for 8 tackles, 3 for a loss, and 2 sacks.  Oh, and their dirty little secret?  Olaniyan is the only senior.

LB: (A) For the first time all year, Mike Hull didn't lead the team in tackles, although he was second with 9.  Instead he focused his attention more on turnovers, this time passing up on an interception in favor of a fumble recovery.  Brandon Bell had himself a solid day, racking up 5 tackles, 1 for a loss, and 2 pass breakups, and Nyeem Wartman added another 2 tackles in there as well.  Freshman Jason Cabinda got into the action with 2 tackles of his own in limited action.  His fellow freshman Troy Reeder is apparently redshirting this season.  We haven’t seen much of the backups this year, mostly because there aren't many backups to talk about (especially with Ben Kline out for the season), but walk ons Von Walker and Jordan Dudas each recorded a tackle, so congrats to them on contributing!

DB: (B) Statistically the defensive backs didn't have a bad game.  However, when tempers started to flare up, they were the main offenders.  CB Jordan Lucas was called for a late hit early in the 1^st quarter, and on the same play S Marcus Allen was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after he was seen mouthing off to the Maryland sideline.  That play cost PSU 30 yds!  Allen wasn't done, though, and would later be called for another personal foul at the start of the 2^nd quarter.  I know he’s only a freshman, but he’s clearly talented and crap like this diverts the focus away from an otherwise well-played game.  In fact, Allen became the first defensive player this year to surpass Mike Hull in tackles, recording his second straight 11 tackle game!  He’s an exceptional, hard hitting safety that just needs to learn how to channel that emotion and he’ll be elite in no time.  Meanwhile CBs Grant Haley and Trevor Williams combined for 5 tackles and a forced fumble.

Special Teams

K: (B) I know what you’re thinking, and Ficken was great.  In fact, his incredible 4 FGs, 3 of which were from longer than 45 yds away (46, 47, and 48 to be exact) were good enough to earn him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors.  That’s his second time this year winning that award, and the fourth time in his career.  But this grade isn't just about FGs, it encompasses the entire kicking game.  Unfortunately for Ficken, freshman Grant Haley fumbled a kickoff return immediately following one of Maryland’s FGs.  The fumble was recovered by Maryland and led to their second TD of the day.  Those 10 points in approximately 1:30 minutes cost Penn State the game and the kicking game it's A+ grade.

P: (D) Dan Pasquariello, the freshman punter from Austrailia, got the nod this week over redshirt freshman Chris Gulla.  He repaid the coaches’ confidence in him by sailing his first punt a mere 23 yds.  Penn State’s punting game is atrocious right now, and it was all the more evident when compared to Maryland’s Nathan Renfro who averaged nearly 10 yds more per punt and had a long of 53 yds, 6 yds better than Pasquariello's best punt of the day.  Renfro consistently nailed his punts 40+ yds and pinned the Nittany Lion offense deep in their own territory.  Flipping the field position continues to be a struggle that has put both the offense and defense in bad spots all year.  Something needs to be done here, I'm just not sure what.

Today’s bonus grade goes to sportsmanship, and frankly, both teams get an F.  Yes, Maryland appears to have started everything, and it even seems that they came into the game with a clear goal of riling up the Nittany Lions.  But here’s the problem with trolls like that, if you react (which Penn State definitely did), they win.  The “chippiness” displayed by both teams was embarrassing and has no place in football.

Whew.  It was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to spoil all of you rotten with 2 posts in 1 day!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for the weekly awards.  Go like me on Facebook already, and be sure to share the good word of PSUOptimus to all your friends.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!