Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/722949
GAME GRADES QUARTERBACK When it comes to the read option, I think Penn State fans should feel encouraged by what they saw. Considering it was his first game in this system, Trace McSorley showed that he has a good sense for when to hand it to Saquon Barkley and when he should keep it himself. He performed as I expected Saturday. He did enough to get the win, but clearly has a lot to im- prove on. GRADE C RUNNING BACK What's there to say that hasn't already been said about Saquon Barkley? Between the tackles, he consistently cranks out extra yards after the hit. When he's in space, his hop step is one of the best in the nation. GRADE A WIDE RECEIVER Penn State has a good group of receivers, but there's one issue that continues to hurt them and that's their lack of separation against the opposition's secondary. As the game went on, that improved a bit, but I do think this is something we'll have to keep an eye on moving forward. GRADE B OFFENSIVE LINE Penn State's new scheme will help mask some of the is- sues as the year progresses, but this group continues to struggle with some of the basics. GRADE C- DEFENSIVE LINE We all knew this group was going to take some time to develop, but give them credit for step- ping up and creating sack after sack after sack in the second half. With that said, we won't really know what this group is made of until next week- end. GRADE B LINEBACKER This will be one of the team's strengths this season, but they showed some rust Saturday. As we saw at times last year, slot receivers and run- ning backs don't have many issues find- ing space in the short to intermediate passing game against this group. I also saw too many arm tackles. GRADE C+ DEFENSIVE BACKS Once the line was able to create some pressure in the second half, I thought the secondary played well. John Reid continues to show that he has what it takes to be a special player, while Amani Oruwariye's interception kept this game from being much closer than it needed to be. GRADE B SPECIAL TEAMS Penn State has a true punter now, which is important. That killed the Lions on multiple occa- sions last season. We also saw the greatest tackle by a kicker in the history of football. GRADE A COACHING The offensive play call- ing has definitely improved, but I also think it's pretty clear that the Lions took Kent State lightly. GRADE C CROWD When you consider that 95,000 is the new normal for games like this, I think today was a good showing from the fans. The beautiful weather and eight-month wait for football didn't hurt that. GRADE B S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 6 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