Everyone has heard it time and time again. It's a two game season for Penn State. A two game season. Ohio State and Michigan. Well, yes, you need to take care of business against the other 10 teams on your schedule, at a macro level those are the only two games that matter.
Well, for a third consecutive season, Penn State has gone 0-2 in those games. It may prove to be a second consecutive season in which those are the only two games the Nittany Lions lose.
Quarterback: D
This was the worst home start of Drew Allar's career. While he did a good job utilizing his legs on Saturday, as a passer he left a lot to be desired. This led to Allar finishing the game 10/20 for 70 yards, a career low for a game he started, and a touchdown.
Allar did rush for 49 yards and a touchdown, but a big reason Penn State lost this game was the struggles of the passing game. Allar often times got happy feet too quickly in the pocket and failed to go through progressions.
Allar also had his fair share of poor throws. On a key 4th quarter third down he had Kaden Saunders open but threw the ball behind him when it would have been an easy first down had he led him. Tyler Warren failed to bring in a high throw in the 4th quarter, a throw behind KeAndre Lambert-Smith led to a first down incompletion in the first half, and even the ball Saunders brought in for a 2nd quarter fourth down conversion was a poor throw.
All in all, it was not a good day for the sophomore quarterback.
Running Backs: A
Part of what made this loss so frustrating is the day that Penn State's running backs had. Facing a tough rush defense, Penn State found success running the ball. Kaytron Allen averaged 6 yards per carry rushing for 72 yards on 12 carries. Nicholas Singleton had just 10 carries but rushed for 43 yards while running with a conviction and authority that has been missing for much of the season. The running back duo did their job to set Penn State's offense up for success on Saturday.
Wide Receivers: D
Sure, the wide receivers suffered from Allar having a poor game. That said, they did not give him a ton of help either. Malick Meiga failed to convert a 3rd and 1 when he caught a quick hitter from Allar. There was a lack of separation again. Dante Cephas failed to catch a would be touchdown on a fade route that should have been caught. There were drops, even though Allar contributed to some of those. Wide receiver continues to be a big issue for the Nittany Lion offense.
On the day, Penn State wide receivers had just 5 receptions for 29 yards. Yikes.
Tight Ends: C
Tyler Warren and Theo Johnson tied for the team lead in receptions with a whopping 2. Warren had 25 yards, while Johnson had 10 yards and a touchdown. Warren had a 4th quarter "drop," but as was mentioned above it wasn't a great throw. Johnson missed some key blocks on the day. All in all, an uninspiring performance from the tight end room.
Offensive Line: B
Everyone may not agree with this, but the offensive line played more than good enough to win on Saturday. Penn State consistently ran the ball well on first down throughout the day and stayed ahead of the sticks. The Nittany Lions rushed for 164 yards and averaged 4.7 YPC.
The passing blocking was also more than good enough. Even though there were some issues with pressure, Allar was only sacked once and for the most part had more than enough time to make throws. The offensive line was the least of the problems for the offense against Michigan.
Defensive Line: C+
The defensive line started the game very strong for Penn State. Sherrone Moore and Michigan then adjusted to combat their aggressiveness, and it took the defensive line too long to settle back in.
Adisa Isaac and Dani Dennis-Sutton both had strong games. Chop Robinson flashed at times returning from injury. For the most part, it was a good but not great day for the Nittany Lion defensive line as Michigan averaged 4.9 YPC while rushing for over 200 yards.
Linebacker: A
Outside of Tyler Elsdon who continues to struggle, it was a good day for Penn State's linebackers.
Abdul Carter only had 3 tackles, but was all over the field. Carter finished with a sack and a pass breakup, he also blew up multiple plays. Kobe King had 9 tackles while Curtis Jacobs recorded 7. Dominic DeLuca had good moments as well.
Secondary: A
Kalen King was called for defensive pass interference, a defensive pass interfernece that should have been an offensive pass interference and may have resulted in an interception otherwise. Outside of that, the secondary truly was not tested.
KJ Winston recorded a team leading 12 tackles and was all over the field. Outside of Winston flying around the field, the secondary was not noticeable. That is largely due to Michigan only throwing 8 passes. That said, you still give the secondary a good grade.
Special Teams: A
Hardy had a strong punt return negated by a ticky tacky at best holding call on Malick Miega. Outside of this, Stacy Collins' special teams units were once again a strength for Penn State.
Riley Thompson averaged 49 yards per punt. Alex Felkins made his lone field goal attempt but was not summoned to attempt any PATs, which is another conversation in itself. It was also a strong day for Gabe Nwosu and the kick-off unit.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
