Blue White Illustrated

GAME GRADES QUARTERBACK Against the top pass- ing defense in the country, Trace Mc- Sorley completed 17 of 26 attempts for 282 yards and a score. He finished with a 106.9 quarterback rating. McSorley was also very good with the read option, totaling 76 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Aside from a few poor throws, which you're going to see from nearly all quarterbacks at this level, Mc- Sorley was excellent. GRADEA RUNNING BACKSaquon Barkley set the tone early with a 69-yard touch- down on only the second play of the game. He saved his best play for the fourth quarter, pulling in a 42-yard touchdown pass after it looked like he was going to drop it. His Heisman Tro- phy campaign took a major step in the right direction. GRADEA RECEIVERDaeSean Hamilton tore up one of the nation's best secondaries, totaling six receptions for 115 yards. Tight end Mike Gesicki only had two catches on the night, but both were key moments. Juwan Johnson added three receptions for 53 yards. GRADEA OFFENSIVE LINEThis unit had a lot of pressure on it, and it performed pretty well. Barkley could have benefited from a few more holes at times – he averaged less than 3 yards per carry if you take away the opening touchdown – but the offensive front also allowed only two sacks while paving the way for over 500 yards of total offense. Saturday's per- formance should boost players' confi- dence heading into next weekend's showdown in Columbus. GRADEA DEFENSIVE LINEParker Cothren, Kevin Givens, Shaka Toney and Curtis Cothran all registered an individual sack on the night. This unit was also a major reason why Michigan barely broke 100 yards rushing. GRADEA LINEBACKERJason Cabinda led the way with 13 tackles, adding a sack. Koa Farmer added seven tackles, while Manny Bowen had six. They let up a few easy passes across the middle, playing conservative at times, but that was likely by design considering John O'Korn's struggles. GRADEA DEFENSIVE BACKMarcus Allen had six tackles, including a few great stops in run support. Christian Campbell added a sack. As with the linebackers, the approach felt a little bit conserva- tive at times, but that was likely by de- sign considering Michigan's lack of big plays. GRADEA SPECIAL TEAMSTyler Davis wasn't tested in the field goal game, but he did hit all of his extra points. Blake Gillikin continues to be one of the best punters in all of college football, averaging 49.5 yards per punt on the evening. GRADEA COACHESIt's tough to find fault in tonight's game plan. Joe Moorhead got Barkley going early, while Brent Pry made sure that O'Korn was going to have to beat his defense on the night. The senior quarterback wasn't able to do that. GRADEA CROWDPenn State drew a crowd of 110,823, beating a stadium record that had stood since 2002. As always, the White Out looked great. GRADEA O c T O B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 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 | S N Y D E R 4 2 0 8 8 @ G M A I L . c O M Sizing up the Nittany Lions' performance in their victory vs. Michigan Defensive end Ryan Buchholz gets the drop on Michigan quarter- back John O'Korn. The Nittany Lions finished the game with seven sacks. Photo by Steve Manuel

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