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GAME GRADES QUARTERBACKS The weather had an impact, but it wasn't raining nearly as hard as it did during the games against Rutgers and Buffalo, so I can't really find too many excuses for Christian Hacken- berg. The soggy conditions and wind definitely impacted a few of his throws, but missing easy passes is becoming a theme this season. Give him credit for not turning the ball over and completing a 49-yard pass to Chris Godwin at the end of the third quarter. But the incon- sistency throughout most of the game really hurt the offense. GRADE D RUNNING BACKS When you consider the fact that Penn State is now down to its third-, fourth- and fifth-string run- ning backs, I actually thought Nick Scott, Mark Allen and Johnathan Thomas were better than the statistics showed. Both Scott and Thomas fought hard for extra yards, while Allen picked up a few key blocks to buy Hackenberg some time. GRADE C RECEIVERS The receivers have been criticized for not creating separation these past few games – and there is some truth to that – but I think it's also important to note that, on the majority of passing plays, the staff is only send- ing out three receivers to maximize pass protection. That's going to make it ap- pear as if they're not getting open when there are five or six defensive players dropping into coverage. GRADE C OFFENSIVE LINE After showing signs of improvement these past few weeks, the line looked to me as though it took a step back today. Not having Andrew Nelson, and now potentially Angelo Mangiro, definitely hurts, but the fact that Penn State only totaled 264 yards of offense is a major letdown. That's not totally on the offensive line, but you could tell that Army's defensive front seven just wanted it more. GRADE D DEFENSIVE LINE As has been the case throughout the season, Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel did their jobs. Army double-teamed one of the two on basically every play, yet they still to- taled eight tackles between the two of them. I thought the defensive ends started the game well when it came to shutting down the pitch, but they were regularly caught out of position in the second half. GRADE D LINEBACKERS Penn State played a few of its young linebackers against Army, and I thought they did a solid job. The triple option can make a defense look silly at times, but I thought both Manny Bowen and Troy Reeder were consis- tently in the right places. However, tackling was an issue across the board on Saturday. GRADE D DEFENSIVE BACKS Because of Army's scheme, the defensive backs weren't tested much in the passing game. They supplied solid run coverage early on, but I saw some very sloppy tackling when the Knights were able to get into the second level. It was just a lack of effort at times, especially late in the game. GRADE D SPECIAL TEAMS Chris Gulla's 12-yard punt in the first quarter is what most fans will remember from the special teams today, but the kick-coverage team also allowed Marcus Hyatt to rack up 85 yards on four returns. Give credit to Joey Julius though. He had two very important field goals for the Nittany Lions and has been consistent through- out the first five games. GRADE C COACHES The play-calling garnered a lot of criticism from fans, and there were definitely some questionable calls, but what stood out to me the most was just a lack of effort in all three phases. The players deserve their fair share of the blame, but at the end of the day, these coaches are well paid to make sure the team is ready to go week in, week out. I think it was pretty clear today that Penn State thought it could go through the motions and still get an easy win. I have to put most of the blame on the staff for that. GRADE D CROWD PSU announced the game as a sellout, but anyone with two eyes could tell you that was far from the case. The weather was really poor, so I give credit to the 70,000 or so who did show. I would have left at halftime if I had been sitting in those bleachers. GRADE C O c T O B E R 3 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 9 PSUtixman@gmail.com www.PSUtixman.com Get your PSU Football Tickets at go t ti cke t s? k c i t t t e k man@g .PSUtixm www.PSUtixman.com at ootba Get yo k c i t t o gm .PSUtixman.com all ur s t s e k R Y A N   S N Y D E R | B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D

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