Blue White Illustrated

GAME GRADES QUARTERBACK Trace McSorley connected on only 12 of 23 attempts, but his receivers were responsible for a few of those incompletions. He ultimately led Penn State to its most lopsided Big Ten victory in more than a decade. The last time the Nittany Lions defeated a conference opponent this decisively was in 2005, when they ripped Illinois 63-10 in Champaign. GRADE A- RUNNING BACK Many expected Saquon Barkley to have an excellent performance, and he didn't disappoint, totaling 207 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He was also a major weapon in the passing game, catching three passes for 70 yards. But it wasn't just Barkley who hammered Purdue, as Andre Robinson, Mark Allen and Miles Sanders all scored at least one touch- down. It doesn't get much better than that. GRADE A+ RECEIVER Chris Godwin caught five of the six passes on which he was tar- geted, totaling 58 yards and two touch- downs. But for the rest of the receiver corps, it was an up-and-down after- noon. GRADE B OFFENSIVE LINE Penn State's offen- sive front paved the way for 511 yards of total offense. That was the team's sec- ond-highest total of the season, coming in just behind the Maryland game, in which it finished with 524 total yards. The O-line also allowed just one sack for the second consecutive week. GRADE A DEFENSIVE LINE The front four to- taled just one sack against the Boiler- makers, but they also allowed only 42 yards rushing. Through the first four Big Ten games, opponents were averag- ing 223 yards rushing against the Lions, so that's a major step in the right direc- tion. Having Bell and Cabinda back helps, of course, but it all starts up front. GRADE B+ LINEBACKER Tackling was a serious issue in the first half, but the lineback- ers stepped up their performance as the game progressed. Brandon Smith's interception at the start of the third quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. GRADE B DEFENSIVE BACK Purdue totaled 281 yards passing, but the Boilermakers also threw the ball 50 times, more than any opponent this season. There were a few blown coverages that weren't ex- ploited in the first half, but when it mattered most, the defensive backs ex- ecuted the staff's adjustments in the second half. GRADE B SPECIAL TEAMS Tyler Davis was 2 for 2 with a long of 33 yards, while Blake Gillikin only punted the ball three times all game, averaging 41.3 yards. There weren't any major plays in the return game, but no major mistakes either. GRADE B COACHING Penn State's defense was shaky in the first half, but Brent Pry made some excellent adjustments. Joe Moorhead also called his best game in his short career at PSU. The Lions could have scored 70-plus today. GRADE A O c T O B E R 2 9 , 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 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – With Penn State leading Purdue 41-24 at the start of the fourth quarter, offensive coordi- nator Joe Moorhead had a question for James Franklin. "Coach, after this 81-yard touchdown, do you want to go for two or kick the extra point?" Moorhead asked. There were 14 minutes, 9 seconds left to play in the game, and Penn State had the ball at its own 19-yard line. Franklin and the Nittany Lion players standing nearby did a double-take. But Moor- head knew what he was talking about. Taking Trace McSorley's read-option handoff five yards deep in the Nittany Lion backfield, sophomore star running back Saquon Barkley saw his opportu- nity. Running into a wall of Penn State offensive linemen, Barkley bounced to his right, past three Boilermaker de- fenders and down the Purdue sideline into the end zone. "Everyone kind of looked at him like he was crazy, and then there goes Saquon jumping over three people and scoring a touchdown," Franklin said. "[Offensive lineman Derek] Dowrey comes back to the sideline and says, 'Do you believe that!?' " For the record, the Franklin decided on the PAT rather than a two-point con- version. A mix of patience and game-changing electricity, Barkley's 81-yard touch- down carry capped a remarkable after- noon for the star tailback. With his 18 carries for 207 yards and two touchdowns against Purdue, Barkley improved his rushing average to 111.0 yards per game through eight games this season on only 147 carries. The number is likely to propel him into the nation's top 20 rushers in per game average, while propelling his yards-per- carry average up to a 6.0. Taking on three receptions for another 70 yards, Barkley produced a remark- able 13.2-yard average for his 21 total touches on the afternoon. Seeing Barkley's carry from the side- lines, linebacker Jason Cabinda de- scribed just how important the running back is to not only to the Nittany Lion offense, but also the team as a whole. "That guy is a freak. Not only does he have the vision and speed to get to the outside, he has the third gear to finish those 70- and 80-yard runs. You saw him going up the sideline and no one was catching him," Cabinda said. "He is a special guy. He is such a spark. Once he gets going, it just doesn't stop, it be- comes the Saquon show. For us seeing him get going like that gives us a huge boost." –NATE  BAUER Barkley's big afternoon fuels offensive surge by Nittany Lions

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