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7lm, of course – Bill O'Brien referred to the process as "self scouting " – but Franklin simply uses a new method. "Basically, you grade each play," ex- plained Pry, a native of Altoona, Pa., who also serves as Penn State's assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator. "The way we do it here, across the board, is that we grade guys on a 0-, 1- and 2- [point] system." Whether it's a linebacker or a kicker, each player is evaluated using the same formula. Zero is the worst possible score. In Franklin's parlance, it means that "you didn't get the job done." A defensive back might blow a coverage, for instance. A quarterback will throw an interception; an o9ensive lineman will miss a block. You don't want a zero. A 1 is an average or neutral grade. "You got the job done," Franklin said, "but we would have liked maybe your technique or execution to be better." Two, on the other hand, is a play that fully meets or even exceeds coaches' ex- pectations. "It's a clinic tape," Franklin said. "It's exactly how I want it done. I can show a younger player that this is how it's done." A;er grading each snap, the coaches average all the 0s, 1s and 2s in order to come up with a 7nal score for each player who saw the 7eld, special teams included. If the average is 1 or higher, it was a "pos- itive" performance. If it's less than 1, it was a "negative." With some of his impressive down7eld catches, one can only assume DaeSean Hamilton has had some plus outings. Mike Hull, too. Whereas the o9ensive line has probably seen more 0s than it had ever hoped. "There are ways that guys can hurt your success, so we reward guys for the positive plays," Pry said. "We just kind of keep it neutral if they do their job, which is what we expect, and there's nothing spectacular. And if there are issues on the play, we're going to 7nd out why and we're going to be downgraded there." Although each player is evaluated using the same point scale, there are some po- sitions at which it's more di:cult to score highly than at others. As Franklin ac- knowledged, an o9ensive guard isn't likely to earn an abundance of 2s, because con- sistency is the goal at that spot. O;en, it's either a 0 or 1; he either did, or he didn't. At some positions, players aren't nec- essarily involved in every play. For example, if a cornerback is on the backside of a run sweep, he probably won't have any impact on the play's outcome. That's an easy 1, or maybe even a 2. But whenever the quar- terback throws in his direction, that same cornerback has a chance to score a 2 with an interception or some sort of exemplary play. "If 15 runs were away from you and you were just running the backside, then it's a lot easier to get a 2 on that grade than it would be as a guard inside battling every play," Franklin said. Franklin added that the defense is eval- uated using an extra "production grade," which is essentially a way to earn bonus points for fumbles, interceptions and de- 8ected passes. The coaches highlight them all – good and bad – to begin the Sunday schedule, having already spent several hours re- viewing the video before taking the 7eld for practice. Just as a professor will go over an exam from the previous class, this is when the coaches explain their evalua- tions. At 10 a.m., the defense meets and the coaches go over mostly everything while watching 7lm. They highlight the 2s. They also point out the 0s in order to address the high and low points of the game. At 11 a.m., the o9ense meets. Then the special teams do the same at 12:30. This is the process every postgame Sunday. While Penn State doesn't publicly release the grades – one can only assume there were more 0s a;er the Northwestern de- feat, more 2s a;er the UMass victory – the coaches are brutally honest and up- front when explaining their 7nal evalua- tions. "We're very forthright with our players here," Pry said. "Everybody is accountable. We address liabilities and concerns as a unit, and I think that helps the guys to mature and grow and understand that we are in this together and we're going to learn from each other's mistakes and learn from each other's positives. That is kind of how the system works, and I think our guys have a good understanding of it at this point." ■ M I D S E A S O N R E P O R T QUARTERBACK In any other year, Christian Hackenberg's yardage total would seem to reveal an A-plus per- formance. But this hasn't been like any other year. With the rushing attack ranking as one of the worst in the coun- try, Hackenberg has been forced to sling it early and o;en. That's resulted in some spectacular moments – too many to count at Rutgers – but it's also led to some facepalms, notably a pair of dev- astating late interceptions vs. North- western and Michigan. GRADE C RUNNING BACK It's been a rough go for this group, especially in the 7rst half of games. Take the statistical totals of seniors Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton, for example. In the 7rst halves of the UCF, Akron, Rutgers and Northwestern games – when Penn State's o9ense was most stagnant – they combined for less than 25 yards. Their pass blocking has been on and o9, Belton has had a few nice catch-and-runs and even Akeel Lynch has had a couple of strong outbursts, in- cluding a 46-yarder vs. Massachusetts. No doubt the inexperienced o9ensive line has made it rough traveling (we'll Position Grades Lions show potential, but there's plenty of work to be done

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