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GAME GRADES QUARTERBACKS It was clear from the first play that the offense planned to be very aggressive, and I thought that really suited Christian Hacken- berg's game. Indiana's secondary is clearly its Achilles heel, but whenever a quarterback ends the game with a 127.2 QB rating, he's doing something right.Hackenberg did miss a few easy passes, which is why I was originally leaning towards giving him a B, but I'm going to bump that to an A because of his pocket presence and his ability to make plays with his legs. GRADE A RUNNING BACKS Both Nick Scott and Mark Allen ran hard throughout the game. The offensive line played well, but I thought Indiana was able to get some pressure during obvious rushing situations, so it wasn't as if they con- sistently had wide-open holes to break into the second level throughout the day. Allen continues to really shine in pass blocking, and Scott was also suc- cessful at picking up the blitz through- out most of the game. GRADE B RECEIVERS Penn State's top receiver, Chris Godwin, isn't a burner, so defen- sive backs do tend to stick with him on routes that are 15 yards or longer, but he's proven throughout the year that he's excellent at using his body and can come down with the ball in tight spaces. Geno Lewis, Brandon Polk and Mike Gesicki were able to create sepa- ration for the majority of their comple- tions, so I thought this unit had a solid day. GRADE B OFFENSIVE LINE Penn State received a big boost with Andrew Nelson back in the lineup. Brendan Mahon did his best holding down the right tackle spot while he was out, but it's obvious that his future is at guard. Wendy Laurent was also solid filling in for Angelo Man- giro, but Paris Palmer is still having is- sues with not only his first three steps, but also keeping leverage. As a whole, I thought the O-line was able to give Hackenberg the time he needed to make his reads throughout most of the game. GRADE B DEFENSIVE LINE Austin Johnson was consistently in the right place at the right time, racking up nine total tackles for the Nittany Lions. Whenever you hold a zone read team to just 34 yards rushing, the defensive line is getting an A from me. GRADE A LINEBACKERS Brandon Bell didn't have a great game statistically – he had just three total tackles – but you can't overstate how important he is to this de- fense. With Nyeem Wartman-White out for the year, Bell has become the leader of this unit. Jason Cabinda had a solid day with nine tackles, while Troy Reeder rallied after a slow start. GRADE B DEFENSIVE BACKS After missing the past few games, Marcus Allen didn't miss a beat against the Hoosiers, rack- ing up nine tackles. As has been the case throughout his short career, I thought Allen's run support was excel- lent. Zander Diamont and Danny Cameron were able to dink and dunk at times, but the secondary didn't allow any big plays. GRADE B SPECIAL TEAMS Joey Julius has been solid all season, so he was probably overdue for a few mistakes. But his two missed extra points were definitely head-scratchers. I thought that having a different holder, Robby Liebel, may have had an impact, but James Franklin wouldn't have brought in Tyler Davis if that were the case. GRADE C COACHES I don't think fans can gripe much about John Donovan's decision- making today. I understand why some may have thought that he became too conservative at times in the second half, but when you consider the fact that Indiana was down to its third- string quarterback, I understand his mindset. But once it became clear that the Hoosiers were going to stack the box, he allowed Hackenberg to make plays with his feet and arm. GRADE A CROWD Today's official attendance was 97,873. You'd like to see over 100,000 for Homecoming, but I doubt too many fans were circling the Indiana game when the tickets went on sale. Overall, I thought the atmosphere was average for a noon game, but the sta- dium was still full late in the fourth quarter. GRADE B O c T O B E R 1 0 , 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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