Blue White Illustrated

GAME GRADES QUARTERBACKS Erratic at first, es- pecially on short passes, Christian Hackenberg started off by completing just one of his first 10 passes while tak- ing an unnecessary sack. But then he found some rhythm and completed 14 of his next 22. His interception, though, in the fourth quarter at the Northwest- ern 32-yard line took potential points off the board that could have helped Penn State seal this game. GRADE C- RUNNING BACKS Saquon Barkley ini- tially struggled to find running room, gaining a net of just 3 yards in the first quarter, but once the second half rolled around, the true freshman carried this team. He totaled 120 yards and two TDs, both of which were run out of the wildcat. Barkley finished with six catches for 50 yards, too, although one accounted for 32. GRADE A RECEIVERS Chris Godwin was solid like he's been all season, finishing with seven grabs for 92 yards, and Geno Lewis's deep pass to DaeSean Hamilton for 32 yards on a broken trick play gets this unit bonus points, as it finally put momentum in Penn State's favor, even if it was short-lived. Otherwise, most of the receivers struggled to get open, especially in the first half, and a few drops – one from Hamilton, a couple from Mike Gesicki – spelled disaster once again. GRADE C OFFENSIVE LINE Penn State commit- ted more penalties along the line of scrimmage than it could afford, which is atypical. What was typical, however, was an opposing pass rush that pres- sured Hackenberg on all but a few of his attempts. This unit had some bright spots, but when they needed a push most on third-and-1, backed up in Northwestern territory, they couldn't come up with it. GRADE C- DEFENSIVE LINE It wasn't the dual- threat quarterback who gave this unit fits. Rather, it was running back Justin Jackson, who finished with 186 total yards. Not all of those yards are attrib- utable to the D-line, as Jackson was mostly contained before ripping off a chunk play here and there to give him the bulk of his yards. In spite of three sacks from the DL, this wasn't the dom- inant performance that we've come to expect from this unit. GRADE C+ LINEBACKERS Brandon Bell recorded 3.5 tackles for loss in the first quarter alone, but he quieted as the game moved along. Jason Cabinda and Troy Reeder were porous up the middle in the first half, both in the run game and in defending the pass. Cabinda's sec- ond-half interception was timely, but otherwise Penn State's linebackers just didn't get the job done. GRADE C- DEFENSIVE BACKS They hit hard – Marcus Allen all but knocked Clayton Thorson out of the game in the first quarter – but the safeties were a liability. Late in the fourth quarter, Grant Haley could've saved the grade for this unit – and the Penn State win, for that matter – but he allowed a would-be intercep- tion to fall to the grass. GRADE D SPECIAL TEAMS Daniel Pasquariello averaged more than 45 yards per punt in the first quarter, including a 60- yard long, but as has been the case all season, his punts shortened as the game moved along. But the real killer today was Northwestern's kickoff re- turn for a touchdown to give the 'Cats a two-score lead heading into half- time. Without that special teams fail- ure, Penn State would've won this one. GRADE F COACHES James Franklin emphasized all week how opponents tend to suffer slow starts in day games at Ryan Field. As it turned out, he was prophetic, be- cause Penn State looked flat through- out most of the first half. To the coaches' credit, the team came out with a different energy in the second, but it wasn't enough to overcome the clock management late in the game. With a 1- point lead as the clock was winding down, Penn State waited to use the first of its three timeouts with only 22 sec- onds left. GRADE F CROWD Northwestern's total atten- dance number barely eclipsed 34,000, but they accomplished exactly what Franklin hoped to avoid all week long. Kudos. GRADE A N O V E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 10 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 T I M   O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . c O M

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