Week 1 Grades

That game was so ugly team captains Christian Hackenberg and Jordan Lucas got the players together, found some shovels, and buried the game film under the practice field (it probably looked something like this).  Afterwards they said, "we will never speak of Temple again."  Hopefully that means they'll never play like that again too.  Either way, today's post should go fairly quickly so let's roll out the unfortunate first grades of the season...

Offense
QB: (D+) Hackenberg went a measly 11/25 for 103 yds, 0 TDs and 1 INT... not good.  He lost all confidence somewhere around the fifth sack.  His coaches either don't know how to use him or just don't want to use him correctly out of spite at this point.  It's that simple.  I feel so bad for him; he's literally losing millions of dollars in draft potential with every game.  It really sucks that we were finally able to recruit an elite QB but our line is too incompetent to protect him.

OL: (F-) 10 sacks.  That is all.

RB: (B-) Akeel Lynch is for real if he's ever given adequate running lanes to work with.  Despite the break down of the o-line, he still managed 78 yds and a TD on only 10 carries.  As for his backups, I have a feeling you'll know pretty much all their names by the end of the season (hint: they're all pretty good).

WR: (N/A) Who knows?  Chris Godwin seems to be good with 5 catches for 81 yds.  It would sure be nice if we could find out how good the rest of them are.

TE: (N/A) See WRs above.  Literally no TE caught a pass.  Don't know what else to say here.

Defense
DL: (A) These guys actually lead the entire country in tackles for a loss!  The scoreboard (with 7 points coming from a Hackenberg pick-6) was deceptive.  The defensive line did their job and for the most part shut down Temple's run game.  Unfortunately, they can't do everyone else's job for them.  Coming into the season, everyone knew we were set at DT.  It was at DE, where we were replacing both starters that people had questions.  Well Carl Nassib provided answers in a big way!  He is set to become the next star defensive lineman at PSU.  He led the team in tackles with 10 including 2.5 for a loss and a sack.  His partner on the other side, Garrett Sickels, wasn't too shabby either with 4 tackles of his own including 1 for a loss.

LB: (C-) Brandon Bell is legit, especially if he heals up and plays at 100% the rest of the way.  Along with fellow LB Jason Cabinda, Bell was 2nd on the team in tackles with 7.  However, unlike Cabinda, he also had 2.5 tackles for a loss, a sack, and a forced fumble!  As for the other LBs, they're all still too young.  Gary Wooten, who took over for the injured Nyeem Wartman-White, is the lone veteran amongst the backups, but he's also always been a backup for a reason.  His leadership abilities, especially from the middle, just aren't up to par.  He'll need to improve if this defense hopes to reach the level they hit last year.  It's hard to judge a unit when their best player goes down, but we should get a better reading this week.

DB: (N/A) Trevor Williams highlighted this group with 6 tackles including 2 for a loss.  After him was true freshman John Reid who impressed in his collegiate debut with 5 tackles.  Senior captain Jordan Lucas added another 4 while Marcus Allen underwhelmed slightly with only 3 tackles to his name. Overall, the defensive backfield wasn't horrible, but they didn't record a single pass breakup or interception either.  They also allowed Temple's WRs to get open all afternoon and rack up 168 passing yds on only 16 completions.  Hopefully, CB Grant Haley will be back in the lineup this week and, like with nearly every other position, we'll get a better read on how this group has progressed.

Special Teams
K: (A+) Joey "Big Toe" Julius is going to be a star!  He played well in limited action completing his lone FG and extra point.  He also killed it on kickoffs, averaging 65 yds.  If the season really starts to go south, we've always got the Toe!

P: (C-) Daniel Pasquariello, on the other hand, has some work to do.  He looked better than last year, but that may not be good enough considering how hard this offense may force him to work.  He'll need to work on his hang time and direction if he hopes to stave off Chris Gulla.  The good news is he should get plenty of in-game practice.

Your bonus grade for Week 1 is a big, stinking F- to John Donovan and the rest of the offensive coaching staff.  I really wish there was an even lower grade I could use.  In fact, I wish there existed a grade so low that receiving it felt like a punch to the gut.  They deserve that grade and they should all be ashamed of themselves.  They'll have one last shot this week.  If things don't improve, James Franklin may need to start trimming the fat.

That should wrap up my coverage of Temple week.  Much like the players, we're burying this game (at least in our minds) and moving on to Buffalo!  My Prediction post should be up sometime on Friday.  In the meantime, head on over to my Facebook page and give it a like or even a share.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!