Blue White Illustrated

OFFENSE B I'd say they're below ex- pectations only because they have a video game cheat code in Barkley and showed so much promise in the way they performed last year. Are fans' ex- pectations unreasonable? Maybe, but I think the offensive line, Trace, and Barkley can all improve. I'll go with a B for now. DEFENSE A+ Again, expectations. Maybe expectations were too low, but they're playing absolutely lights-out right now. The only defense in the country to average less than 10 points per game and have momentum-chang- ing turnovers weekly. Anything less than an A+ is unfair. SPECIAL TEAMS B- Right now, I'd say a B- given some of the FG woes bal- anced out by Blake Gillikin being ridiculous, but this has a chance to snowball downhill quickly if the field goal unit isn't cleaned up soon. Penn State can't beat Michigan and Ohio State leaving points on the board through easy field goals. Also, Blake should be a dark horse for MVP. He has the potential for more game- changing plays than almost anyone on the team. jup540 OFFENSE B+ Clearly our offense has been productive, but I think the ceiling is much higher than its performance over the last six games. DEFENSE A- Great play through six games. Lots to clean up, but again, I was surprised how well they have played and stayed healthy minus John Reid and now Torrence Brown. Love the intensity, the ball hawking, and hopefully the staff doesn't get too greedy in giving up some big plays down the line. Love how Grant Haley always seems to be near the ball. SPECIAL TEAMS B Have been great and have been poor at times. Need to get the field goal kicking under control. COACHING As a fan with no coaching experience but who reads lots of the posts by guys who are respected for their background, it seems there are times where play-calling on offense could be less scripted perhaps? Again, I'm not a coach and I'm sure I don't see what they see in practice and in real time during the game. However, we are 6-0, and improvement, growth and execution can and should get better. As much as I like the idea of Barkley for the Heisman, I hope the offense con- tinues to scorch teams through the air if that's what is open. Love watching this team. nittany64 OFFENSE B+ Recent O-line struggles and consistent running game, along with some red zone struggles, bring down the grade, but points scored, "chunk" plays, and solid play at TE/WR and even QB keep the grade high. Room for improvement, but still good through six games. DEFENSE A- Defense has been stout, creating turnovers very evident this season. Pass rush could improve in the way of more sacks. Overall though, very hard to complain about anything S I T E L I N E S B W I . R I V A L S . C O M R E A D E R S O F F E R T H E I R plosive player in college football," the Lions were ranked seventh in the Big Ten in rushing through six games, averaging 165.0 yards. They also had given up 16 sacks to rank 11th in the conference. Injuries have had an impact here. No one has been lost for the season, but the only players to start every game at the same position in the first half of the year were center Connor McGovern and left tackle Ryan Bates. Right guard Brendan Mahon and right tackle Chasz Wright have both missed games, and one of the team's most experienced linemen – tackle Andrew Nelson – is only a year removed from a knee injury that ended his junior season. It also bears mentioning that this unit is still pretty young. Against Georgia State, the Lions started three sopho- mores (Bates, McGovern and left guard Steven Gonzalez), a redshirt freshman (left guard Will Fries) and a redshirt jun- ior (Wright). Penn State was able to reassemble its opening-day starting five for the game against Northwestern, with Mahon and Wright holding down the right side op- posite Bates, Gonzalez and McGovern. Even so, the Lions only managed 95 yards rushing and gave up five sacks. So head- ing into the Michigan game, this was still very much a work in progress.....GRADE C DEFENSIVE LINE You really have to dig through the layers to find any fault in this position group. Not only does it spearhead the only defense in college football that surrendered fewer than 10 points per game on average throughout the first half of the season, but it does so by involving so many players. More than a dozen defensive linemen were regular parts of Penn State's strong defensive effort through its first six games. With a cast of worthy and capable con- tributors, this unit was able to absorb the loss of one of its most experienced lead- ers when Torrence Brown suffered a sea- son-ending injury against Georgia State and still maintain its momentum. No single player has separated himself – Shareef Miller and Shaka Toney were tied for the team lead with three sacks apiece heading into the Michigan game – but the total group effort has the look of something that's built to last.....GRADE A LINEBACKER Jason Cabinda assumed his rightful place atop the tackles board after a 14-stop outburst against Indiana. He entered the Michigan game with the same number of tackles (40) as his jersey

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