Blue White Illustrated

GAME GRADES QUARTERBACKTrace McSorley threw for 332 yards, which is just 3 shy of his career high (335 vs. Minnesota). How- ever, he also had two interceptions, one of which led to a Hoosier touchdown. But as he's proven multiple times this season, McSorley is just a winner, leading Penn State to a 14-point win after being down by two scores in the third quarter. He also hurt his ankle early in the game, so the lack of a rush- ing game from McSorley is under- standable. GRADEB+ RUNNING BACKSaquon Barkley had nowhere to run from start to finish, but he came up clutch when it mattered the most. The 13-yard rush to set up his winning touchdown in the fourth quar- ter was one of his best runs of the sea- son. GRADEB RECEIVERPenn State's receivers struggled to get open throughout the first half, but they came down with some big catches after going down two scores. Tight end Mike Gesicki led the team with five receptions for 88 yards, while Chris Godwin has now scored five touchdowns in the past four games. GRADEB OFFENSIVE LINEPenn State lost an- other offensive tackle early in the game, as Paris Palmer was forced to exit in the first quarter. That forced some big changes, and it showed, as Barkley averaged just 1.8 yards per carry on the day. The Lions have two winnable games to finish the year, but this could be an issue down the stretch. Both Rutgers and Michigan State don't have much going for them, but the de- fensive line is a strength for both teams. GRADEC DEFENSIVE LINEKevin Givens regis- tered just one tackle on the day, but it was a sack to force a fourth down. He then had the most important play of the game, knocking down Richard Lagow's pass on fourth-and-2 after the Lions went up 35-31 late in the fourth. Garrett Sickels added 2.5 sacks on the day, moving him to No. 4 in the Big Ten with nine total. GRADEB+ LINEBACKERBrandon Bell and Jason Cabinda each had nine tackles. Bell put the icing on the cake, forcing a scoop- and-score for Torrence Brown when the Lions were up only one score late in the game. PSU's defense ultimately held the Hoosiers to just 110 yards rushing (2.7 ypc). GRADEB DEFENSIVE BACKIt wasn't the best day for Penn State's secondary, as Lagow was able to take advantage of a few blown coverages. GRADEC COACHINGJoe Moorhead wasn't going to abandon the run, no matter how often Barkley was stopped at the line of scrimmage. That mindset led to the fleaflicker and some of the other big plays we saw late in the game, but you can argue that 45 total rushes was too many considering the situation up front. But when it mattered the most, Penn State was able to score on four of its final five drives. GRADEB N O V E M B E R 1 2 , 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 BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Saquon Barkley wasn't going to scream or yell at his offensive line in the midst of a chal- lenging afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The group in front of him had enough to deal with already. Confronting a season-ending knee in- jury to starting right tackle Andrew Nelson and last week's injury to starting left tackle Brendan Mahon, Penn State's offensive line dealt with adversity be- fore kickoff against the Hoosiers. Mid- way through the first quarter, matters were made even worse, as starting left tackle Paris Palmer was forced out of the game with an apparent knee injury. Sensing blood in the water, Indiana's strong, physical defensive front took ad- vantage of the Nittany Lions' weakened state. Bottling up Barkley for just 58 yards on 33 carries for the afternoon, many going backwards, the Hoosiers forced Penn State's offensive line to grind out the game with what it had. "If I was an O-lineman and I'm block- ing for a running back and a running back is yelling at me, I'm not going to be like 'Oh, I want to block for this guy,' " Barkley said. "Obviously if the box is loaded, they're going against so many pressures and we've got new guys in dif- ferent positions. That tends [to cause] mistakes. So I wasn't frustrated at all." Nor were the Lions up front, they said. Center Brian Gaia said the "next man up" mantra that has carried the pro- gram through the past three seasons held true Saturday afternoon against the Hoosiers. Dealing with an injury to the team's third tackle, line assistant Matt Limegrover began shifting pieces. Left guard Ryan Bates shifted out to tackle, bumping backup Derek Dowrey to the guard position next to Gaia. Chasz Wright remained at right tackle, with true freshman Connor McGovern taking up the right guard spot. Later in the game, the group suffered another injury, as McGovern went down, forcing backup guard Steven Gonzalez into action at right guard. But Gaia said Penn State was equipped to handle the absences. "Luckily this year we have depth. If this would have been last year, we would have really been scratching to find peo- ple to go in just because they had been so young or redshirts or something like that," Gaia said. "We all have confidence in each other. Coach Limegrover does a really good job making sure I get reps with Gonzalez in practice or I get reps with Dowrey. They mix and match peo- ple in groups, so that way in case some- thing like today does happen, we have the experience." –NATE BAUER Offensive line battles through injuries in victory over Hoosiers

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