Week 8 Grades

As a way of keeping you informed about the larger world of college football, I feel I should briefly mention all the coaching moves across the country of late.  In the Big Ten alone, Rutgers has suspended their head coach for another 2 games, and there's no telling what kind of leash he'll be on when he comes back.  Illinois and Maryland both fired their head men, and Minnesota's Jerry Kill retired earlier today for health reasons.  Former Penn State player, Al Golden, is out at Miami for poor performance on the field, while USC's Steve Sarkisian was fired mostly for his performances off it.  Then there's a man so legendary he's simply known as "the old ball coach."  South Carolina's Steve Spurrier shocked everyone when he suddenly retired two weeks ago at the mid-season mark.  Yes the coaching carousel spins ever onward, and we still got 5 weeks left!

With all that out of the way, there was a Penn State game this past Saturday!  The Nittany Lions were the victors, and they are now officially bowl eligible!  So let's get right to it and roll out some grades!

Offense

QB: (A) I already know this one’s going to be controversial, but hear my out.  Hackenberg broke TWO all-time Penn State records in the same game, and that’s awesome!  He also threw for 315 yds and 3 TDs in just 13 completions while once again going interception-free!  So what if he’s only good at slinging it down the field?  That kind of offense is exciting and it won Brett Favre (among others) a Super Bowl.  Besides, he's protecting the football and finally starting to put it in the endzone.  Hackenberg had TD passes of 37, 20 and 27 yds, to go with his completions of 40, 38, and 31 yds.  Those are the big plays we've been missing.  If Barkley can get back in a groove, there's no telling how far this offense can go!

OL: (B-) As it feels like we always do, let's start with the 4 sacks, which is unfortunately good for this squad.  I have to say, as the season goes on, more and more of those sacks are on Hack for holding the ball too long and/or not throwing it away.  So they get a slight pass there.  I can’t complain too much about the pass blocking with the numbers we put up, although Hack had a lot of pressure throughout the game.  Instead, they earn their minus due to their run blocking.  When Saquon Barkley can't go anywhere, you're doing something wrong!  Speaking of which...

RB: (D) To put it bluntly, the running game was not good this week.  Barkley only had 65 yds (and a gimme TD) on a sizable 20 carries, while Akeel Lynch didn’t do anything except drop an outstanding pass from Geno Lewis.  Nick Scott was effective in the return game, but as a RB, his single yard left much to be desired.  Granted, Maryland's game plan was to focus solely on stopping the run, but let's hope this doesn't become a trend.

WR: (A+) This was one of the best receiving games that I can remember in the past 10 years.  Absolutely everyone got involved, and almost everything they did was highlight reel worthy!  Chris Godwin, however, was the king of the night, collecting an astounding 135 yds and a TD on just 4 catches!  Deasean Hamilton added 96 yds and a TD of his own on 5 catches.  Saeed Blacknall and Geno Lewis each had a grab of 38 and 27 yds respectively, with Geno also scoring a TD on arguably the best catch all game.  We knew the talent was there, and we finally got to see it on display.

TE: (D) We get it, Bill O’Brien is gone.  That's no excuse for how these guys are playing.  They're still pretty awful at blocking and Mike Gesicki has some of the worst hands I've ever seen.  I cringe whenever Hackenberg looks towards #88.  And 5th year senior Kyle Carter, despite having a catch, seems to have lost his QB's confidence a long time ago.  This position went from a strength to a potential liability in one coaching change, and that's sad.

Defense

DL: (B+) Not their best game statistically, but stats don’t measure the pressure they put on QB Perry Hills.  In fact, both Evan Schwan and Austin Johnson had pass break ups from the line.  Speaking of Johnson, he continues his monster season with 9 tackles, and 1.5 for a loss.  Not far behind was fellow DT Anthony Zettel with 7 tackles and a sack.  Carl Nassib only had 4 tackles and they came late in the game, but the nation's sack leader picked up another one up against the Terrapins.  The kind of pressure they bring usually causes QBs to make a lot of mistakes, but it just never happened with Hills.  Sure, he turned the ball over 4 times, but he also gained 381 all-purpose yds and scored 2 TDs, while leading Maryland in both rushing and passing in the process.

LB: (C+) As a whole, the defense really struggles with running QBs, especially on the road (and luckily, we don’t really play any more of them this season).  The sad truth is, when you can't defend against mobile QBs, it usually means there's an issue with your LB corps.  Sure they got a lot of tackles, but as I just mentioned, Perry Hills got a ton a yds.  They tended to take bad angles and just couldn't bring him down on first contact in most cases.  Either way, Troy Reeder actually led the team with 10 tackles, and Jason Cabinda wasn't far behind with 8.  Brandon Bell got 6 tackles, and 3.5 of those were for a loss, including a sack.  Jake Cooper and Manny Bowen each had 2 in backup duty.  These guys are young; wait until they're talented AND experienced!

DB: (A) This is quickly becoming the strength of the defense.  Marcus Allen led the group with 9 tackles, including a sack, and a fumble recovery.  Fellow safety Jordan Lucas had 7 tackles to go with a pass breakup.  CBs Grant Haley, John Reid, and Trevor Williams had a combined 7 tackles, but more impressively Reid forced a fumble while both Haley and Williams grabbed interceptions.  They fly around the field and shut entire receiving corps down in most games.  Like the LBs they're incredibly young but already performing at a high level.  It's just going to get better in the future.

Special Teams

K: (C+) It's becoming predictable that Joey Julius will boot at least one kick off out of bounds per game.  Sure enough, he kicked one right into Testudo the Terrapin's hands this time.  He also missed 1 of his 2 FGs.  But he did hit all 4 of his extra points!  Sadly, the most entertaining kicker in all of college football is sinking into mediocrity.  Next year we have the nation's #1 kicking recruit coming in.  It will be interesting to see if Julius can hold him off.

P: (B-) Danny Pasquariello did a decent job at keeping the ball away from Will Likely.  On the other hand, despite a 55 yarder to start, he only averaged 39 yds per punt.  This position is still a dumpster fire.  Like at place kicker, we have the nation's #1 punter coming in next year.  Let's just say, he can't get here soon enough!

This week's bonus grade is a little R E S P E C T from and for interim head coach Mike Locksley and his entire Maryland team.  They showed a lot more class this year than last year and if they keep it up, and keep playing us close like this, they might just get that rivalry they crave so much.

Alright boys and girls, that will do it for Maryland week.  On Friday I'm going to hopefully put my Prediction post up a little early so I can head into the city (Philadelphia) to prepare for College Gameday!  That's right, Temple (1 of only 2 teams to beat PSU this year) is 7-0 for the first time in school history, ranked #22, and taking on the #9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  So of course, the Gameday crew is crashing Independence Mall and I'm going to be right in the thick of it.  This city hasn't been this excited since... well, like a week ago because the Pope visited... but still, there's a buzz in the air around here and it's palpable!  I know I don't need to tell you by now, but 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!