Week 4 Grades

With good weather and a somewhat easy opponent, Penn State played their best offensive game of the season and earned their third straight win.  However, it came with a cost as a number of starters fell victim to one of the worst injury bugs to hit the program in years.  Regardless, the team is now half way towards bowl eligibility and building momentum.  With that said, let's roll out some grades!

Offense
QB: (A-) This was definitely Hackenberg's best performance of the season.  His final stats were 21-35 passing for 296 yds (just 4 shy of the elusive 300 mark), 3 TDs, 0 INTs, and only 2 sacks.  Per usual, he still has much he can improve upon, but it was definitely his best showing of the year.  The offense will need his leadership as much as anything down the stretch.  The talent is there around him, but they're still young and need guidance.  Also, 4th string RB Nick Scott completed a nice pass to Chris Godwin on a trick play, so points to him too.

OL: (B) After blanking the sack column the last two weeks, the line finally relented and gave up 2 against the Aztecs.  That's not awful, 1-2 sacks/game is to be expected from even the best lines.  The big take away was the improved pass protection which allowed Hackenberg to take some shots down the field and open things up offensively in a way that James Franklin hasn't been able to basically since he arrived in State College.  I'll be interested to see this week against Army how the line blocks for less talented RBs who can't make something out of nothing like Barkley and Lynch, should they remain out with injuries.

RB: (C+) This group gets docked for the two injuries, but get points for perseverance.  Onward State said it best, Saquon Barkley is a human cheat code!  He's not only a gifted play maker, his mere presence in the huddle seems to spark everyone around him to play better.  Without him, things just aren't the same.  Two good things, though: Barkley's injury looked less severe than Lynch's, and the team should be fine without both against Army.  After that it's going to get real bumpy if we don't get at least one of the starting two back.

WR: (A) Welcome back Saeed Blacknall!  He got involved for the first time this year and grabbed 4 balls for 101 yds!  Stalwarts Daesean Hamilton and Chris Godwin had 5 catches each for a combined 118 yds and Godwin even got a TD.  They also helped move the chains all day long.  Interestingly, the TDs scored by RBs Mark Allen and Saquon Barkley each counted as receptions, so this group gets credit for 3! (That was a big reason for the grade)

TE: (B+) Mike Gesicki had a pair of nice grabs for 11 yds and is finally contributing.  He still makes the occasional bonehead mistake, though, like when he was called for a 15 yd chop blocking penalty.  Kyle Carter showed that he actually exists with 3 grabs for 47 yds.  He also drew a crucial penalty before getting out of bounds at the end of the first half to preserve the clock.  That drive eventually led to a TD.

Defense
DL: (A+) Let's start off with the fact that Anthony Zettel won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week!  He showed his emotional toughness, playing for his father who passed away the day before the game, while still leading the team with 7 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, a sack, a pass breakup, and even a fumble recovery!  His fellow tackle Austin Johnson only had 2 tackles, but it was his 71 yd scoop and score fumble recovery that got all the attention.  DEs Garrett Sickels and Carl Nassib played phenomenally too, with Nassib forcing the fumble that led to Johnson's TD.

LB: (A+) All you need to know is that 3 of the top 4 tacklers were LBs.  They were absolutely all over the field on Saturday!  Troy Reeder continues to play out of his mind, especially for a redshirt freshman, recording 6 tackles.  Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell each had 4 tackles of their own.  It's starting to look like this unit can successfully absorb the loss of Nyeem Wartman-White, but they probably can't absorb much more on the injury front after that.

DB: (A-) In freshman CB John Reid I see a star being born.  I'll say it again, he is the Saquon Barkley of the defense - a true freshman star who sparks everyone around him.  Like the RBs, this group losses some points for the injuries to safeties Jordan Lucas and Marcus Allen.  But since their back ups Troy Apke and Malik Golden played so well, they end up with a higher grade.  Just a few short years ago the secondary was desperately low on bodies, let alone talent.  Now, they have an influx of both and it's starting to show on the field.  When the Lions play pass-happy Indiana in two weeks, we'll really get a feel for how good the defensive backs can be.

Special Teams
K: (D+) Alright, Joey Julius made all 4 of his extra points and 3 out of 4 FGs (and even that one was a 55 yarder that was blocked).  But he also had a kick off go out of bounds, and even worse, had one returned 100 yds for a TD.  Definitely not his best day.  Luckily his worst game thus far came against an opponent that stood little chance of winning.

P: (D) After a promising week, Chris Gulla regressed back to his 2014 self, punting short with much less hang time.  Even more disappointing was DeAndre Thompkins, who miffed a punt return that was recovered by San Diego State and eventually led to a TD due to the short field.  The operative word on special teams moving forward is consistency.

This week's bonus grade should be obvious: the injury bug gets an F!  It's not just Penn State, schools around the country are seeing some of their best and/or most important players go down seemingly every week.  I can't tell if training techniques are to blame, or if it's all one big coincidence, but I hope for everyone's sake it ends soon.

That will do it for this week.  Check back on Friday as I breakdown the Army game.  In the meantime, head on over to my Facebook page to get the latest news and notes on all things Penn State football.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!